Saturday,
March 12,
2022, 8 pm
at
New England
Conservatory's Jordan Hall
Presenting
Haochen Zhang
張昊辰
piano
~ Program ~
Claude
Debussy
(1862-1918):
Images, Book 2
Cloches à travers les feuilles
Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
Poissons d’or
(15’)
Franz Liszt
(1811-1886):
Twelve Transcendental Études, S. 139
I. Preludio: Presto
II. Molto vivace
III. Paysage: Poco adagio
IV. Mazeppa: Allegro
V. Feux follets: Allegretto
VI. Vision: Lento
VII. Eroica: Allegro
VIII. Wilde Jagd: Presto furioso
IX. Ricordanza: Andantino
X. Allegro agitato molto
XI. Harmonies du soir: Andantino
XII. Chasse-neige: Andante con moto
(70’)
Program subject to change to comply with COVID mandates and rules of Jordan Hall."
I was spellbound by the first set
of pieces by Debussy, his Images Book 2. It transported
me to a beautiful dream world. He then played the 12
Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt. I don't think I
have ever heard a more exciting, imaginative, varied and
virtuosic performance as this, since the Lazar Berman
recital. Haochen is a genius! At times, it was like
listening to an orchestra instead of a piano due to the
tremendous volume, sonority and colors he generated.
-Robert Finley, pianist
"This is an artist whose preternatural virtuosity
ever serves as a means to an end, that of creating
vivid, expressive, colorful musical ideas. Haochen
opened with the three pieces of Debussy’s Images, Book
2; created the composer’s desired effect of playing the
piano seemingly “without hammers." His sound encompassed
multiple dimensions on a spectrum of intimately close to
barely-audible distant.
The remainder of the recital program consisted of one of
the supreme challenges in the piano literature, Liszt’s
12 Études d’exécution transcendante , which formed such
an important revolution in piano technique, that they
offer comparable musical challenges—and rewards for
those few able to master them.
One seldom hears the full set in live performance—only
performers of unusual assurance would likely consider
programming it—but the rewards of hearing it complete
are considerable: though the études share an extremely
high level of technical difficulty, their entirely
distinct personalities make for fascinating listening
when heard together, played by a master pianist.
Haochen Zhang has a rare gift for painting scenes in
music, creating visions and telling stories. His
technique is likely second to none, but his true
distinction is his ability to use it in communicating
his extra-musical ideas to listeners. -Geoffrey Wieting, The Boston Musical Intelligencer,
titled “ Pianist Transcends Time and
Place”
Comment on Haochen Zhang's recital for the Foundation of
Chinese Performing Arts
Haochen Zhang was a teenager he won a gold medal in the
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. He
had prodigious gifts then and the tremendous work ethic
was obvious - I served on the jury - but who knew what
the future might bring? Now, a dozen years later, he has
developed into vastly more experienced and fully mature
artist of exceptional and individual quality.
His program opened with Book 2 of Debussy's "Images."
The composer called another of his groups of piano
pieces "Estampes" which can be translated as "prints,"
or "engravings" or "etchings," a hint towards correct
interpretation. "Images" is a less clear guide,
although they are often played as impessionist musical
watercolors. Zhang's choice was to paint the three
pieces in Monet oils, richly but subtly colored; his
sound was in three dimensions so the ear could walk
around inside Debussy's images of bells heard through a
shivering canopy of leaves, an ancient and ruined temple
illuminated by moonlight, and playful irridescent
goldfish darting and flashing through clear waters.
After a brief pause Zhang returned to perform Liszt's
Transcendental Etudes, works so difficult in one version
that Liszt was afraid that no one other than himself
could ever play them so he created a version he
"simplified," although only the greatest virtuosos could
expect to conquer them. That version of the Etudes had
to wait until 1956 for a complete recording, although
several important pianists of the past did performm and
record individual pieces. Beginning in the 1970s the
complete set became a challenge many young pianists and
a couple of older ones wanted to take on and there are
now more than two dozen recordings including a few by
today's leading superstars I have heard most of them,
and admired some of them; Boston's Russell Sherman in
his live performances and two recordings remains almost
unique in his focus on purely musical values.
Zhang has mastered the piano to such an extent that no
one could think only of extraordinary technical feats
of derring-do, of flying octaves and double notes on the
speedway, propelled by an inexhaustible power and
imagination. There is no dimension of showmanship in his
playing. Instead we could take supreme technical skills
for granted as Zhang left the piano behind, and released
these Etudes from the instrument into the wider universe
of music, imagination, evocation, experience, memory
and feeling. There were raw emotions and emotions
recollected in tranquility: he told stories, described
rural landscapes, depicted a crazed horse gallopping
his bound passenger towards his kingly destiny,
glimmered with fluttering fireflies, rejoiced in the
rich harmonies of the evening and plowed through the
lashing winds and whirling snow of winter weather. It
was truly visionary playing, and I have never heard
anything like it.
-by Richard Dyer
Haochen Zhang 張昊辰,
pianist
"Such a combination of enchanting,
sensitive lyricism and hypnotizing forcefulness is a phenomenon
encountered very rarely."
–Ury Eppstein, The
Jerusalem Post
Since
his gold medal win at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition in 2009, 24-year-old Chinese pianist Haochen
Zhang has captivated audiences in the United States, Europe, and
Asia with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity,
fearless imagination, and spectacular virtuosity. Haochen Zhang’s
debut at the BBC Proms 2014 received rave reviews for his
impressive precision, expressive and delicate playing, with Ivan
Hewitt, from The Telegraph saying ‘He made the Allegretto dance
with Mendelssohnian lightness and Lisztian diablerie, and played
the melody of the Quasi Adagio with melting softness.’
His return to Fort Worth as part of the 2010–2011 Cliburn Concerts
series was lauded by the Dallas Morning News as "the kind of
program you’d expect from a seasoned master, served up with
dazzling virtuosity where wanted and astonishing sophistication
elsewhere" and hailed as one of the top 10 performances of 2010 by
both the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. His
Boston debut under the auspices of the Celebrity Series met with
high praise by audiences and critics, making the year-end lists as
part of the Boston Phoenix’s top 10 classical music stories of the
year. Boston Globe critic Matthew Guerrieri remarked that Mr.
Zhang displayed "poetic temperament as much as technical power…
[he is] a pianist with ample reserves of power whose imagination
seems nonetheless most kindled by subtle delicacy." In April 2013, Haochen made his debut in Munich with the Munich Philharmonic
under the baton of the late maestro Lorin Maazel prior to a sold
out four-city tour of China.
A passionate and insightful programmer, Mr. Zhang continues to
cultivate his reputation through major performances and debuts
every year. Highlights of the 14/15 season include return
invitations to Pacific Symphony, La Roque d’Antheron Festival in
France, recitals in Paris, Tokyo and Beijing among others, as well
as debut with the LA Philharmonic with Xian Zhang, the Warsaw
Philharmonic with Jerzy Semkow and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Saarbücken with Myung-Whun Chung. In spring 2015 Haochen will be
the soloist for a tour with the NDR Hamburg and Thomas Hengelbrock
in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai.
Mr. Zhang is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with
such colleagues as the Shanghai String Quartet and is frequently
invited by chamber music festivals in the US.
In past seasons, he has performed with orchestras such as The
Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, San Francisco
Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle
Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, London
Philharmonic, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Japan
Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony and Hong Kong
Philharmonic. A prolific recitalist, in the U.S. Mr. Zhang has
performed at Spivey Hall, La Jolla Music Society, Celebrity Series
of Boston, CU Artist Series, Cliburn Concerts, Krannert Center,
Wolf Trap Discovery Series, Lied Center of Kansas and UVM Lane
Series, among others. International tours have taken him to cities
including Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Munich,
Paris, Dresden, Rome, Tivoli, Verbier, Montpellier, Helsingborg,
Bogota and Belgrade.
Mr. Zhang’s Cliburn Competition performances were released to
critical acclaim by Harmonia Mundi in 2009. He is also featured in
Peter Rosen’s award-winning documentary chronicling the 2009
Cliburn Competition, A Surprise in Texas. His complete competition
performances are available on www.cliburn.tv.
Mr. Zhang is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in
Philadelphia where he studied under Gary Graffman. He was
previously trained at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the
Shenzhen Arts School, where he was admitted in 2001 at the age of
11 to study with Professor Dan Zhaoyi.
20/08/2014
2009年范克萊本(Van
Cliburn)
國際鋼琴大賽金獎及第一名得主張昊辰,應中華表演藝術基金會邀請,3月12日在紐英崙音樂學院喬頓廳(Jordan
Hall)
舉行鋼琴獨奏會。演出盛大成功,佳評如潮湧。當晚曲目包括德布西
(Debussy)
鋼琴圖像第二冊 (Images pour Book 2)及李斯特
(Liszt)
經典鉅作70分鐘長的超越練習曲
(Transcendental Études)
。300多位觀眾無懼當晚的強風冰雪,在場屏息專注聆聽。當張昊辰結束最後一個音符,全場歡聲雷動,全體起立報以熱烈掌聲,歷久不斷。張昊辰返場數次,本來不想在此巨大70分鐘曲目之後再加演安可曲,但經不起觀眾的熱情,又再演奏了一首舒曼(Schumann)
的夢幻曲(Traumerei)。
當晚有很多音樂界重要人士、鋼琴家、音樂老師及學生出席。已年過80,波士頓環球報
(The Bostons Globe)退休的資深樂評主筆戴爾
(Richard Dyer)會後表示,在1970年早期,他聽完羅素舒曼(Russell
Sherman)
現場演奏李斯特此曲後,曾撰文登在紐約時報 (The New York
Times)
極力推崇。這50年來,他也聽過當今最有名的鋼琴家如Trifonov
等數人現場,及無下50多種不同的錄音,但今晚張昊辰的表現,可謂有過之而無不及。戴爾也是2009年張昊辰在范克萊本大賽時的評委之一。他說:「今日的張昊辰比當年獲得第一名時的他,又更上一層樓,值得慶賀。」獲得
Leeds
鋼琴大賽第一名的Eric Lu才由外地演出回來,也在場欣賞。很多觀眾也在網上發文稱讚,反應熱列
。
波士頓音樂情報 (The Boston Musical
Intelligencer)資深樂評
Geoffrey Wieting在
3月16日以「超越時空的鋼琴家」為題,發表長達三頁的專文,將每首曲子以專業的眼光,仔細討論,鉅細靡遺。全文高度稱讚張昊辰。他說:「張昊辰演奏的德布西的鋼琴圖像,正好和作曲家要求一樣,好樣用沒有錘子的琴鍵彈出,輕柔遙遠,但音色卻變幻無窮。李斯特這首超級練習曲共12
首,是鋼琴文獻中最具挑戰的曲目之一。不但是鋼琴技巧上一次革命性的創新,而且想像力豐富,變化無窮。很少有鋼琴家能有充份的把握在現場演出整套12
首。觀眾能聽到的機會也不多。尤其是由一位大師來演出。能聽到張昊辰演出全套,表現他特別的大局面的風格。除了技巧的難度外,每首都有故事。真是值得慶賀。張昊辰有特別的才華,他的技巧可稱無人可比,但他真正出眾之處,是他能把他的音樂理念,他的故事,由琴鍵分享給聽眾,引起共鳴。這是一種特別超人的天賦。
」
鋼琴家張昊辰在2009年獲得了第十三屆范克萊本國際鋼琴大賽金獎及第一名後,還獲得了
2017 艾佛瑞費雪音樂成就獎
(Avery Fisher Career Grant)。是對其音樂上的成就極大的認可。他對音樂的深刻感觸、超凡的想像力以及華麗的技巧受到了全球音樂界及觀眾的矚目。耶路撒冷郵報
(The Jerusalem Post)
樂評形容張昊辰:"他有著細膩敏感的抒情性和令人催眠的力量,如此美妙的結合實為少見。"波士頓環球報
(The Boston Globe) 在張昊辰完成了在波士頓名家系列
(Celebrity Series of Boston)
的首演後,稱讚張昊辰:"在詩歌的氣質中展現了完美的技術和強大的力量。他是一位能量充沛的音樂家。他的音樂想像力似乎激發起了最為微妙的體驗。"
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4
with the Philadelphia Orchestra July 2017
音樂會門票分為$50 (貴賓保留區、可預先指定座位)及$30(不對號自由入座)兩種 , 學生票$15 (不對號自由座區) 。六歲以下兒
童請勿入場 。網站購票:
http://www.ChinesePerformingArts.net
無手續費 。 $50: VIP
Reserved Seats
$30: open seating at non-VIP section
$15: student open seating at non-VIP section
Children under 6 not admitted. 提供100張免費學生票 (14歲以上 , 每人一張) 請上 贈票網頁 索票 。 100 free
student tickets available at www.ChinesePerformingArts.net only
(1 per request for age 14 and up)