Saturday,
August 28,
2021,
8 pm at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Presenting
Daniel Hsu
徐翔piano Bronze
Medalist, Fifteenth Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition
Photo
Credit: Jeremy Enlow/The Cliburn
~ Program ~
Robert Schumann
(1810–1856):
Scenes from Childhood, op. 15 Of Foreign
Lands and Peoples
A Curious Story
Blind Man’s Bluff
Pleading Child
Happy Enough
An Important Event
Dreaming
At the Fireside
Knight of the Hobbyhorse
Almost Too Serious
Frightening
Child Falling Asleep
The Poet Speaks
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770–1827):
Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110 Moderato
cantabile molto espressivo
Allegro molto
Adagio ma non troppo
Fuga – Allegro ma non troppo
~ Intermission ~
Franz Liszt
(1811–1886): Sonata in B Minor, S. 178
Credits: Mr. Hsu
appears by arrangement with the Cliburn.
Foundation for
Chinese Performing Arts
Quote from Geoffrey Wieting of The Boston Musical
Intelligencer in a title of
"Pianist Sings With Uncommon Poetic Gifts" :
"Twenty-two-year-old Daniel Hsu courageously selected
three well-beloved works of the piano repertoire which
demanded a significant degree of intellectual as well as
technical mastery for his recital at the Gardner last
Saturday night. While the 2017 Van Cliburn Bronze
Medalist’s interpretations rarely expanded the
boundaries of the mainstream, he evinced a sufficiently
individual and personal approach to suggest that he had
spent time pondering the music away from the keyboard.
"(In Schumann’s Kinderszenen) While his takes on the
more adult-influenced (i.e., sophisticated) movements
sounded consistently convincing, Hsu also revealed
levels of introspection and simplicity beyond his tender
years.
"Daniel Hsu possesses undoubted technical mastery, but
his uncommon poetic gifts will be most important in
attracting listeners to him. We hope to follow his
career as his artistry deepens and expands."
Daniel Hsu徐翔, pianist
Bronze Medalist, Fifteenth Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition
Characterized
by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a "poet…[with] an expressive edge
to his playing that charms, questions, and coaxes," American pianist
Daniel Hsu captured the bronze medal and prizes for best performance
of both the commissioned work and chamber music at the 2017 Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition. Also a 2016 Gilmore Young Artist,
first prize winner of the 2015 CAG Victor Elmaleh Competition, and
bronze medalist of the 2015 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition,
he is increasingly recognized for his easy virtuosity and bold musicianship.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Daniel Hsu began taking piano
lessons at age 6 with Larisa Kagan. He made his concerto debut with
the Fremont Symphony Orchestra at age 8, and his recital debut at
the Steinway Society of the Bay Area at age 9, before being accepted
into the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 10, along with his
two older siblings. Since then, he has made his debuts with the Philadelphia
Orchestra (2016) and Carnegie Hall (2017) as part of the CAG Winners
Series at Weill Recital Hall. He has appeared in recitals at the Dame
Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts,
and Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, as well as in concerts
in Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, and New York.
With orchestra, Daniel has collaborated with the Tokyo, North Carolina,
Grand Rapids, New Haven, and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras, working
with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Nicholas McGegan, Cristian Măcelaru,
Ruth Reinhardt, and Marcelo Lehninger.
The 2018–2019 season takes him across the United States in recital
and concerto performances. Overseas, he performs with the National
Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, joins Curtis-on-Tour in Europe,
and makes appearances in China and Japan, where he has toured annually
since his Hamamatsu success.
Daniel’s chamber music performance with the Brentano String Quartet
earned him the Steven de Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance
of Chamber Music. The Dallas Morning News praised "his impassioned,
eloquently detailed Franck Quintet," proclaiming it to be "a boldly
molded account, with a natural feeling for the rise and fall of intensity,
the give and take of rubato. Both he and the Brentano seemed to be
channeling the same life force." He regularly tours the United States
with the Verona String Quartet and in duo piano with his brother,
Andrew, and appears frequently in chamber music festivals.
Decca Gold digitally launched Daniel’s first album featuring live
recordings from the Cliburn Competition of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at
an Exhibition and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, op. 110, as well as his
award-winning performance of Marc-André Hamelin’s Toccata on "L’homme armé." He has also been featured in interviews and performances for WQXR, APM’s Performance Today, and Colorado Public Radio.
Now 21 years old, Daniel is currently the Richard A. Doran Fellow
at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he has studied with Gary Graffman,
Robert McDonald, and Eleanor Sokoloff.
He is a Marvel film buff and enjoys programming. He contributed to
the creation of Workflow, a popular productivity app that allows users
to automate tasks on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, which won the
coveted 2015 Apple Design Award and was acquired by Apple in March
2017.
ADDITIONAL
2017 CLIBURN AWARDS:
Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber
Music
Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work