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."


 


Foundation for
Chinese Performing Arts

 
 








photos: Chi-Wei Lo, Xiao-pei Xu and Chung Cheng


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



NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
By Dr. Jannie Burdeti





鋼琴家張昊辰音樂會後新聞稿
(03-17-2022)

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,312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 316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。 」

當晚音樂會的錄音將會放在
YouTube上,免費供大家欣賞。按合同的規定,放上後短期內必須取下。

中華表演藝術基金會接下來的音樂會,將由小提琴家林昭亮,大提琴家
Clive Greensmith,鋼琴家Juho Pohjonen57日週六晚上8時,聯合在喬頓廳演出。門票$15-$50,6歲以下兒童不可入場,學生免費票及非學生贈送票可在官網登記

接下來是
31屆全美青少年國畫書法比賽515日截止收件。

傅聰國際協奏曲比賽
(本比賽未來可能包括其他樂器,但名稱保持不變),, 限年35歲以下,不分國籍。2022年協奏曲指定曲目為貝多芬第五號皇帝鋼琴協奏曲。610日報名截止。

免費夏日系列音樂會
(Summer FREE Concerts @ NEC),88日至27日在紐英崙音樂學院舉行。三週15場音樂會演出者都已排定,詳情近日在官網公佈。


 新聞稿 (for 3-12-2022)

第十三屆范克萊本
(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,在312日星期六晚八時,假紐英崙音樂學院喬登廳 (Jordan Hall) 舉行鋼琴獨奏會。這是中華表演藝術基金會第33屆音樂季第四場音樂會。 曲目包括德彪西,李斯特等作品。90分鐘演出沒有中場休息。觀眾皆須戴口罩。須出示打過疫苗或測試陰性證明方可入場。票價為 $15 (7-13)、$30、$50。提供學生免費票 (14歲以上),及非學生贈送卷。需事前預訂。6歲以下兒童請勿入場。詳情請查官網

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。"

張昊辰經常在世界各大音樂廳巡演,與著名指揮家及交響樂團合作。包括費城、慕尼黑愛樂、倫敦、倫敦愛樂、西德廣播、法蘭克福廣播、舊金山、洛杉磯愛樂、太平洋、堪薩斯市、西雅圖、以色列愛樂、悉尼、日本愛樂、新加坡、馬林斯基、華沙愛樂、台灣愛樂、及香港管弦樂團等等。

張昊辰還是一位活躍的室內樂演奏家,曾與上海弦樂四重奏、東京弦樂四重奏、布倫塔諾
(Brentano) 弦樂四重奏等合作。並經常受邀參加美國的室內樂音樂節,包括聖塔菲(Santa Fe) 和拉霍亞夏日音樂節 (La Jolla SummerFest)等。

張昊辰畢業於費城柯蒂斯
(Curtis)音樂學院,跟隨著名鋼琴家加里·格拉夫曼 (Gary Graffman)學習。此前他曾在上海音樂學院,2001年,11
歲的張昊辰考取了深圳藝術學校,師從但昭義教授。

當晚曲目為下:
  • 德彪西 (Debussy) : 鋼琴圖像第二冊 (Images pour piano - Book 2)
  • 李斯特(Liszt) : 超越的練習曲 (Études d'exécution transcendante)
     




 


 


鋼琴家張昊辰的音樂養成記 (youtube)

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)

 

查 詢: 中華表演藝術基金會會長譚嘉陵, 電話: 781-259-8195, ,
Email: Foundation@ChinesePerformingArts.net


    

Thank you for your generous contribution to
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts




中華表演藝術基金會
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
Lincoln, Massachusetts
updated 2022