LONDON PIANO DUO REVIEW!!!!

Wondrous Colours

Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung play
Schubert, Ravel and Stravinsky,
reviewed by BILL NEWMAN

Shortly after he won the Leeds Piano Competition in 2000 I heard Alessio Bax perform Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Petr Altrichter. I was impressed both by his quiet authority and tonal strengths in a work that demands sadness and respect without too much panache and outgoing virtuosity. To my regret, I lost touch with his concert going and recordings in a world chock full of talents and brilliant achievement, hoping to renew acquaintance with his all too obvious gifts that made me sit up and listen afresh. His Korean partner Lucille Chung, born in Montreal, resembles -- in her ... Read More »

So here I am, in Adana, Southeast Turkey, about 1 ½ hrs. before showtime. The show is a performance of Brahms’ 1st concerto with the Turkish State Orchestra. As of last week I were to play Bartok’s 2nd concerto with them, but it seems they had difficulties getting the parts and asked me to change. I had been looking forward (and working on…) to performing the Bartok, which is one of my favorite concertos. Also, I haven’t played the Brahms in about 4 years. Anyhow, it is nice to go back to a concerto which has meant so much to me. It brings back nice memories, but mostly, new insight and ideas on the piece itself.
So, I’ve been asked many times: “What do you do before a performance?” It is not a simple one to answer, as it varies a lot. Hopefully I am not stepping down a plane or rushing off from a taxi, or hopefully I am not trying to find the perfect mix of cough medicines to soothe me. Today, I realized that I do have a recurring part of my pre-concert routine. A funny and odd one, a ... Read More »

Bax tames Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier'

CLASSICAL REVIEW: Pianist gives mighty performance at SMU

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, January 21, 2007

By OLIN CHISM / Special Contributor to The Read More »

December 29, 2006. 220pm

There are many kinds of addictions one could be dealing with. Most are unhealthy, some even destructive, and some are just plain silly. I think my frequent flyer mile addiction belongs to this last category. It all started in 1994, with my first trip to the New World, when I joined American Airlines' AAdvantage program. I wasn't a really good sport, and very soon I found myself, very unfaithfully, trying out new programs. AA's was fine, but I was young, in search of new experiences and curious. So, Northwest Airlines' World Perks program was next. It lasted a few trips, including some to Europe and one even to Japan! Then, the first big love: Delta's Frequent Flyer Program, later called Skymiles. The advantages at the time were clear. What turned me to Delta ... Read More »

A lesson today ignited some thoughts in me (amazing, isn't it)? We spend all our lives trying to make the music we play "ours" when, most of the time, all we do is lower the music to our level. Let me explain. We spend hours and hours in front of this awkwardly-shaped piece of furniture, and why? Because we are not happy with the way this or that sounds, because we haven't "mastered" this or that passage, or because we haven't "learnt", or "memorized" all the notes of this or that piece of music. Now, if you never felt that way, congratulations to you, but I am sure most of us have gone through this, at one point or another. Some of us have felt this often, while some others have really never bothered to ask.

What this achieves, no matter how we spin it, is the lowering of music to our own level. We pu ... Read More »

After Valencia’s ultra-modern and awe-inspiring buildings, I am now in San Sebastian. A charming town, on an ideal natural paradise. A little bay, “La Concha”, is shaped liked a shell, hence the name, closed enough at the end to be intimate, and open enough to let your imagination wonder to far away lands at the other side of the Atlantic. The best part is that I can enjoy this from my own balcony! Over the next week, I will be waking up and going to bed every single day in this ideal world. In the evening, a stroll through the old part of the city, hopping from place to place in search of the perfect combination of “pintxos” (a local specialty, in which cooks let their imagination loose to create a never ending array of tastes, colors and, why ... Read More »

I am now at Madrid’s Barajas airport waiting for a flight to beautiful San Sebastian, on the Spanish north coast, where my tour with the Euskadi Symphony will start. There will be five performances of Liszt’s First Concerto and a solo recital on the last day.

I spent the last couple of days in Valencia and am still dealing with jet-lag. The problem is not only the lack of sleep, but also the lack of appetite, or appetite at weird hours, which brought me to have two gargantuan breakfasts (and no other meals) and 6 hours of sleep total in the last two days. That’s a near-fatal duo, especially combined with all the flying. Speaking ... Read More »

So, here I am, back home, after a very intense summer, trying to get a bit of organization into my work schedule. While touring, I try to practice in between concerts, on any piece of furniture that remotely resembles a piano. Sometimes, those pianos are in such bad shape that they have no business being called pianos at all, but it is all good, and we pianists have to be grateful when they do get us a piano to work on. That is the curse of a pianist, I guess, and some even use it as a good excuse at times!

Anyhow, the organization of my practicing schedule, now that I have a few "free" weeks, brings me to the title of this post. For the first time in my life I find myself working intensively on two composers: Mozart and Bartok. Being this a Mozart Anniversary year, I was quite surprised that a part from a few concerti, I was asked to play only two all-Mozart Recitals. One will be with Lucille and will include works for two pianos and piano four hands, ... Read More »

I am now in Palma de Majorca, just off from the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. It was one of the most amazing events of my life. In the next few days I will hopefully find some time to add entries on the festival, and once I get back home (Aug 9) I will also upload a few pictures!

The Verbier Festival is arguably the most important music festival of its kind. So many great musicians fill this gorgeous alpine setting and make music together.  I got the luxury to play in a quartet with Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Nobuko Imai, who can easily be identified as some of the most influential and wonderful players in today’s music scene. I also gave a solo recital for the festival. Lucille and I didn’t have a spare minute throughout the whole festival. When I wasn’t playing, I had rehearsal ... Read More »

Summer is always Chamber Music Festival time! There is something so special, unique and wonderful about these festivals. There is never enough time, always too much repertoire, and way, way too much fun making music and spending time with wonderful people/musicians.

The Mimir Chamber Festival in Fort Worth has been a constant in my last four summers. It was also my first Chamber Music Festival. The musicians are not only top-notch, but most importantly great and fun human beings. We all get together for an intense week or two of rehearsing, performing and coaching student groups. It is so intense that every last note at the end of it feels like the most liberating an ... Read More »

LONDON PIANO DUO REVIEW!!!!

Wondrous Colours

Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung play
Schubert, Ravel and Stravinsky,
reviewed by BILL NEWMAN

Shortly after he won the Leeds Piano Competition in 2000 I heard Alessio Bax perform Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Petr Altrichter. I was impressed both by his quiet authority and tonal strengths in a work that demands sadness and respect without too much panache and outgoing virtuosity. To my regret, I lost touch with his concert going and recordings in a world chock full of talents and brilliant achievement, hoping to renew acquaintance with his all too obvious gifts that made me sit up and listen afresh. His Korean partner Lucille Chung, born in Montreal, resembles -- in her ... Read More »

So here I am, in Adana, Southeast Turkey, about 1 ½ hrs. before showtime. The show is a performance of Brahms’ 1st concerto with the Turkish State Orchestra. As of last week I were to play Bartok’s 2nd concerto with them, but it seems they had difficulties getting the parts and asked me to change. I had been looking forward (and working on…) to performing the Bartok, which is one of my favorite concertos. Also, I haven’t played the Brahms in about 4 years. Anyhow, it is nice to go back to a concerto which has meant so much to me. It brings back nice memories, but mostly, new insight and ideas on the piece itself.
So, I’ve been asked many times: “What do you do before a performance?” It is not a simple one to answer, as it varies a lot. Hopefully I am not stepping down a plane or rushing off from a taxi, or hopefully I am not trying to find the perfect mix of cough medicines to soothe me. Today, I realized that I do have a recurring part of my pre-concert routine. A funny and odd one, a ... Read More »

Bax tames Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier'

CLASSICAL REVIEW: Pianist gives mighty performance at SMU

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, January 21, 2007

By OLIN CHISM / Special Contributor to The Read More »

December 29, 2006. 220pm

There are many kinds of addictions one could be dealing with. Most are unhealthy, some even destructive, and some are just plain silly. I think my frequent flyer mile addiction belongs to this last category. It all started in 1994, with my first trip to the New World, when I joined American Airlines' AAdvantage program. I wasn't a really good sport, and very soon I found myself, very unfaithfully, trying out new programs. AA's was fine, but I was young, in search of new experiences and curious. So, Northwest Airlines' World Perks program was next. It lasted a few trips, including some to Europe and one even to Japan! Then, the first big love: Delta's Frequent Flyer Program, later called Skymiles. The advantages at the time were clear. What turned me to Delta ... Read More »

A lesson today ignited some thoughts in me (amazing, isn't it)? We spend all our lives trying to make the music we play "ours" when, most of the time, all we do is lower the music to our level. Let me explain. We spend hours and hours in front of this awkwardly-shaped piece of furniture, and why? Because we are not happy with the way this or that sounds, because we haven't "mastered" this or that passage, or because we haven't "learnt", or "memorized" all the notes of this or that piece of music. Now, if you never felt that way, congratulations to you, but I am sure most of us have gone through this, at one point or another. Some of us have felt this often, while some others have really never bothered to ask.

What this achieves, no matter how we spin it, is the lowering of music to our own level. We pu ... Read More »

After Valencia’s ultra-modern and awe-inspiring buildings, I am now in San Sebastian. A charming town, on an ideal natural paradise. A little bay, “La Concha”, is shaped liked a shell, hence the name, closed enough at the end to be intimate, and open enough to let your imagination wonder to far away lands at the other side of the Atlantic. The best part is that I can enjoy this from my own balcony! Over the next week, I will be waking up and going to bed every single day in this ideal world. In the evening, a stroll through the old part of the city, hopping from place to place in search of the perfect combination of “pintxos” (a local specialty, in which cooks let their imagination loose to create a never ending array of tastes, colors and, why ... Read More »

I am now at Madrid’s Barajas airport waiting for a flight to beautiful San Sebastian, on the Spanish north coast, where my tour with the Euskadi Symphony will start. There will be five performances of Liszt’s First Concerto and a solo recital on the last day.

I spent the last couple of days in Valencia and am still dealing with jet-lag. The problem is not only the lack of sleep, but also the lack of appetite, or appetite at weird hours, which brought me to have two gargantuan breakfasts (and no other meals) and 6 hours of sleep total in the last two days. That’s a near-fatal duo, especially combined with all the flying. Speaking ... Read More »

So, here I am, back home, after a very intense summer, trying to get a bit of organization into my work schedule. While touring, I try to practice in between concerts, on any piece of furniture that remotely resembles a piano. Sometimes, those pianos are in such bad shape that they have no business being called pianos at all, but it is all good, and we pianists have to be grateful when they do get us a piano to work on. That is the curse of a pianist, I guess, and some even use it as a good excuse at times!

Anyhow, the organization of my practicing schedule, now that I have a few "free" weeks, brings me to the title of this post. For the first time in my life I find myself working intensively on two composers: Mozart and Bartok. Being this a Mozart Anniversary year, I was quite surprised that a part from a few concerti, I was asked to play only two all-Mozart Recitals. One will be with Lucille and will include works for two pianos and piano four hands, ... Read More »

I am now in Palma de Majorca, just off from the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. It was one of the most amazing events of my life. In the next few days I will hopefully find some time to add entries on the festival, and once I get back home (Aug 9) I will also upload a few pictures!

The Verbier Festival is arguably the most important music festival of its kind. So many great musicians fill this gorgeous alpine setting and make music together.  I got the luxury to play in a quartet with Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Nobuko Imai, who can easily be identified as some of the most influential and wonderful players in today’s music scene. I also gave a solo recital for the festival. Lucille and I didn’t have a spare minute throughout the whole festival. When I wasn’t playing, I had rehearsal ... Read More »

Summer is always Chamber Music Festival time! There is something so special, unique and wonderful about these festivals. There is never enough time, always too much repertoire, and way, way too much fun making music and spending time with wonderful people/musicians.

The Mimir Chamber Festival in Fort Worth has been a constant in my last four summers. It was also my first Chamber Music Festival. The musicians are not only top-notch, but most importantly great and fun human beings. We all get together for an intense week or two of rehearsing, performing and coaching student groups. It is so intense that every last note at the end of it feels like the most liberating an ... Read More »