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Review
from The Arts Magazine, Issue May/June 2000
A Valiant Enterprise |
simultaneously on two pianos. In addition, the lack of variety of
tone colour, especially in a bathroom like acoustic like the VCH, is a
problem in creating musical coherence.
In spite of these difficulties, the Lin/Ong combination came out
rather well, with the accompaniment always sensitive, sometimes overly so, and
Lin’s contribution effective and secure.
The success of the performance was enhanced by the fact that
Rachmaninov was, first and foremost, a com-posing pianist whose con-ception
of his music always stemmed from the piano.
If the thried movement had its moments of instability, they stood out
mainly because they were a very rare occurrence in this recital. And the second theme of the last movement
is indeed a great tune, whatever the medium!
John Howard |
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Albert Lin’s debut concert upon
graduation from the University of Michigan proved an enterprising affair, not
without its risk-taking aspects. Schumann’s Carnaval
is a difficult work and a brave one with which to open a recital, especially
for a young pianist. Along with some
vigorous and energetic playing went some which was hurried and a little too
frenetic. Nevertheless, there was
some musically sensitive playing in Eusebius. Lin’s technical capabilities are of a high
order, and maturity will bring with it greater poise and rhythmic control. It
has to be said that the |
Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) acoustic is not ideal for this kind of
piano repertoire, which can easily sound too confused and inarticulate within
such a resonant environment. The
challenge is for the performer to listen and adapt to the context, in other
words, to match the pacing and accentuation to the ambient sound. All credit to Lin for
programming US composer Lowell Liebermann’s Gargoyles. The first movement, a danse macabre, was
impressively performed and convincingly clear. This was neatly contrasted with the more impressionistic second
movement, with the fourth showing Prokofiev-like driving rhythms and pulse,
being a highlight. However, it did
seem too much like Prokofiev but without the biting dissonances that give it
energy. |
Lin’s enterprise
showed in the second half, first when he was joined by five wind players in a
performance of the Poulenc Sextet.
Not only did this help to provide variety of sound in the programme,
it also showed a different side to this young pianist. His contributions to the Poulenc were
always thoughtful and effective, and the general impression was of a very
well prepared performance by the whole ensemble. The final work was
Rach-maninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2,
in which Lin was joined by Ong Lip Tat on the second piano. Such a version of a concerto is always
bound to be less satisfactory in comparison with the original: there are many problems of balance and
co-ordination. It is very difficult
to attack notes |
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Review
from The Flying Inkpot, Issue March
2000
|
Albert LIN piano |
ALBERT LIN PIANO RECITAL |
|
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) |
by Soo Kian Hing
Over pasta and
Campari by the Singapore river, during the post-concert celebration supper with
his sextet and some close companions, soft-spoken Albert Lin is your typical
boy next door. While personable with smiles all the way, he does not hesitate
to mercilessly tackle his friends with cheeky, well-timed jibes. Yet, beneath
the charming demeanour of this unassuming youngster - he's only one year past
twenty - belies the belly of fire that commanded the awe of everyone in the
audience tonight. After all, even Rachmaninov himself was said to smile
and play pranks in the company of close friends.
Having won
the third prize at the National Music Competition in 1995, Albert Lin became
the youngest undergraduate student at Peabody Conservatory, USA. He toured New
York and Baltimore with Grammy-Award-winning percussionist Jonathan Haas, and
was an official school accompanist for all the Conservatory's major ensembles.
Transferring two years later to study with Professor Arthur Greene at the
University of Michigan, he assimilated a repertoire with an avid interest in
esoteric music, and participated in the semi-finals of the 1999 California
International Young Artists Competition. He has also played Rachmaninov's
Second and Third Piano Concerto while in the States, before returning home to
Singapore for National Service in the Armed Forces this coming April. After
homecoming, Albert has busied himself in the local music scene by giving
various recitals, playing in concerts and performing in a sextet (featured
tonight), all for the love of music.
Robert
Schumann was a prolific composer for piano, and in his early composing life
wrote many technically challenging pieces for the instrument, at which his
beloved Clara Wieck was a formidable exponent. Op.9, Carnaval, was
written at the age of 24, at a time when he was actively involved in his
"David Club" against the artistic philistines. Youthful energy
abounds throughout the work, interspersed with the composer's own brand of
contemplative Romantic lyricism; reflecting the two polarities of his creative
genius, Florestan and Eusebius. Albert played the work with the consummate
grace of a poet, yet his untainted disposition matched the sunny Florestan
through the collection of twenty-one short pieces, each of which was a simple
depiction of a character.
Lowell Liebermann is a prodigious pianist and composer, having
made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of sixteen. Gargoyles, despite
its modern leanings, is a neo-Romantic work of four movements, set in a Gothic
paradise for these creatures of the dark. As the midnight bell tolls, Albert
negotiates the treacherous fingerwork with wild abandon, giving his own
jaw-dropping virtuosity a deservedly good showing. The unsettling calm of the
second movement, set in dual-tonality which employs major and minor modes
simultaneously, was very effective, as was the final movement, a dramatic
toccata not unlike that of Prokofiev, though vastly more daring in harmony and
demanding in technique. And as the faint rays of the new dawn send the Gargoyles
back to their abode, so did Albert's fingerwork dispel any doubt that he is
material poised for the Major League.
After the
intermission, Albert presented his skills at a different genre of music -
chamber. Not many solo pianists understand effective ensemble playing; Martha
Argerich, for one, has ditched solo recitals to play chamber, which she
considers more rewarding in terms of growth as a total musician. Albert was
definitely in his element here as one of six equal partners in music-making, to
the effect that the intended result became greater than the sum of each
individual. Poulenc's Sextet was composed for six very disparate
instruments: piano, flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn, and bassoon. Possessing
unique timbres and vastly different qualities of sound, the six
instrumentalists nevertheless managed to amalgate the myriad jumble of witty
dissonances into a logical path through the piece. Consisting entirely of
non-professional wind players except for Zhang Jin Min, who is Principal
Bassoonist in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the sextet achieved a
harmonious sound where nobody outshines the others and navigates the piece with
sparkle and elegance.
Finally, the
highlight of the night - Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto (in two-piano
version). Despite being stated otherwise in the programme notes, I still
believe that the Second is more popular with the general public than the Third,
forming the staple of many pianists' recordings. The Second is immensely more
Romantic, with massive rolling arpeggios and equally massive melodies which
spiral round and round like the endless waves on a tumultous sea. Played well, it
can rouse the listener into a timeless dimension where nostalgia washes over
him/her like a tsunami.
However, as
the composer himself pointed out, the Second is more difficult to play than the
Third; given the numerous huge chords and other technical difficulties as well
as opportunities for expressivity, it is not hard to see why. Albert definitely
has the technique to pull through the piece, and the audience watched with
bated breath as he recited the whole piece from memory, seemingly in a trance, letting
his heart pour directy into his fingers.
Possessing a
warm lyrical tone that can melt hearts, Albert showed no lack of fiery
pyrotechnics as well, tossing off chords and fingerwork written to fit
Rachmaninov's own oversized hands (which easily negotiated more than
one-and-a-half octaves, something which most pianists wished they had).
However, more nuances and subtlety in inner voices and transit passages would
have been appreciated; these would come with insight and stylistic
accomplishment.
Despite
occasional lapses into arrhythmic garble and missed notes - he was visibly
tired - Albert nevertheless displayed the air of a master at the keyboard,
complete with an the overwhelming talent of being able to express his pure
passion for the music he loves. Coming from someone who considers himself still
in the amateur circuit, it would be worthwhile and fun to see him
metamorphosize and eventually conquer the limitless sky.