Reuben Tsang in Concert
I enjoy several genres of music, they accompany my emotions. However, growing up playing and listening to classical music, it connects with me on a deeper level, as if it is a force of nature. I have been to many orchestra performances since I was a kid, and although I cannot recall the last time I attended one, I was delighted to see Rebuben Tsang’s piano recital at Queensland Symphony Orchestra Studio this Sunday. As I sat in the concert hall waiting for the recital to begin, I was suddenly transported back in time to how I always remembered the ‘classical’ atmosphere.
Pianist Reuben Tsang entered the stage in a black suit to applause and seated himself at the Steinways Sons grand piano. He commenced his afternoon performance with the three short sparkling sonatas K119, K132 and K427 by Domenico Scarlatti, which immediately captivated the audience in a room of silence. Written in the Baroque period from 1600 to 1750, the use of ornamentations in the sonatas is evident, such as trills, repeated notes, and appoggiaturas.
Image supplied by promoter.
Scarlatti had a modal view of music, one could speculate this sonata was written in Scarlatti’s early times in Spain, as he incorporated flamenco modality into the pieces. Tsang performed the pieces skillfully, included the fast hand-crossing, scales run, block-like chords with a range greater than an octave in K119, and the chromatic dissonances and arpeggios with beautiful, lush harmonies in K132.
Fast forward to the Romantic period, Tsang introduced Brahms’ Piano Sonata No.1 in C major Op.1 to the audience. He indicated that Brahms was only 20 years old when he composed this piece, and that Tsang himself is also at the same age currently. As a romantic period piece, Brahms’ sonata is a lot of more expressive than Scarlatti’s sonata. It explores both the dramatic side of the composer as well as the symphonic possibilities of the piano. Tsang conveyed the passion of all four movements with his expressive hands and body gestures throughout. Staying true to Brahms’ notes, Tsang performed the piece with a wide range of extreme dynamics, three of the movements in Allegro, loud and fierce, contrasting to a somber, quiet and dark second movement.
Tsang’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Sonata No.3 in Bb major K.281 was a clean touch of ‘simplicity’, which was characterised by the homophonic texture of classical period music. Aside from the sixteenth note triplets and trills in the piece, Mozart used two surprising pianissimo vorschlag notes at the end of each main theme, it created a joking echo effect. Tsang showcased this playful essence of this virtuosic work with a subtle pedal use.
Similarly, Tsang captured ‘the spirit of the moment’ in the three Impromptu Op. 25, 34 and 102 by Gabriel Faure. With a shimmering lightness of touch, he delivered legato whirling arpeggios in the highest register, reminiscent of a music box.
The highlight of the day was Franz Liszt’s Rhapsodie espagnole S 254. This suggestive traditional Spanish music opened with a cadenza, included rapid chords and octaves, that was spiced with the feeling of improvisation. Tsang dazzled me with his exquisite piano techniques and I was impressed by the way he swept those 88 keys so blazingly.
As the recital came to an end, the encore ‘Romance Without Words’ by Faure had me imagining myself in a beautiful garden full of flowers. Reuben Tsang performed the masterpieces brilliantly. With a promising career ahead of him, I look forward to seeing what this talented young man accomplishes next.
