Concert Hall, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts /
Hong Kong /
Mar 15, 2024 /
Ernest Wan /
In 2022, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim shot to stardom when he became the youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of 18. His success has understandably called increased attention to his teacher Minsoo Sohn, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival invited the latter to make his local debut in both concerto and solo performances. His programmes included Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto and Liszt’s Études d’exécution transcendante, which Lim performed in the Cliburn final and semi-final respectively. Sohn’s Liszt recital was doubly interesting in that the Études figured prominently in the career of his own teacher, Russell Sherman, who died in September 2023.
The 47-year-old Sohn began his recital with Liszt’s Consolations, or Six pensées poétiques, intimate pieces that are mostly slow and soft. His playing of the initial chords of the first piece, more deliberate and meditative than usual, right away characterised his rendition of the entire set – these are serious, even pious works, and not the mere salon miniatures that they often sound like, their brevity and simplicity notwithstanding. The performance abounded in such felicities as subtle dynamic shading, delicious rubato and exquisite phrasing. This last was especially apparent in the second piece, in the middle of which the melodic line is distributed between both hands in octaves. Here Sohn made certain that the phrase grouping sounded markedly different than it previously has — a testimony to his command of and fidelity to the score.
These strengths were on display also in the 12 Transcendental Études, which are far more challenging works both technically and expressively. As expected, Sohn’s playing of the lyrical études, like “Paysage” and “Ricordanza”, was refined and beguiling. The opening “Preludio” didn’t just exhibit daredevil impetuosity like Lim’s but also radiated majesty and authority. The A-minor étude, which lacks a title, usually comes across as little more than a finger exercise, but in Sohn’s hands it seemed to have a serious, even tragic import. Likewise, the remaining brilliant études, such as the other untitled one in F minor, “Feux follets” and “Wilde Jagd”, were dispatched with great speed and accuracy yet sounded ever purposeful and never flamboyant. The sustain pedal was generously applied throughout the set, sometimes even when the score calls for leaner textures: neither the staccato accompaniment in “Eroica” nor the quasi arpaone in “Harmonies du soir” were played secco,as both Lim or Sherman did. More importantly, such pedalling was integral to Sohn’s powerful overall sonority; the massive chords in “Vision” and “Eroica”, as well as the relentless fortissimiin “Mazeppa”, were imposing, indeed overwhelming. Moreover, build-ups and let-ups were masterfully executed: the crescendoing chromatic quasi-cadenzapassage in “Chasse-neige” was terrifying, and the grandeur towards the serene conclusion of “Harmonies du soir” brought to mind the last pages, in the same key of D-flat major, of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.
This fiery yet thoughtful performance showed Sohn to be a formidable artist deserving of just as much attention as his celebrity pupil has enjoyed.
香港演藝學院音樂廳
香港
2024年3月15日
在2022年，南韓鋼琴家任奫燦以18歲之齡成為范・克萊本國際鋼琴比賽最年輕的得獎者後一舉成名。他的成功順理成章讓令他的老師孫旻秀備受關注，而香港藝術節邀請了孫旻秀在香港舉行首個本地獨奏會。他演奏的曲目包括拉赫瑪尼諾夫的《第3鋼琴協奏曲》和李斯特的《超技練習曲》，這兩首也分別是任奫燦在鋼琴比賽的決賽和準決賽的表演曲目。孫旻秀這次的李斯特曲集獨奏會雙重有趣，因為這些樂曲在他的老師Russell Sherman的職業生涯中亦佔有重要地位。Russell Sherman於2023 年9 月逝世。
現年47 歲的孫旻秀以李斯特的《安慰曲》或《六首詩篇》揭開獨奏會的序幕。這些作品大多是緩慢柔和而溫柔。他演奏第一首曲子的第一組和弦時比平時更慎重和沉入，立刻奠定了他整套作品的演繹風格——這些作品都是嚴肅認真，甚至是虔誠的。儘管它們簡潔簡單，但它們不是只是用以裝飾點綴的樂曲。他的表演充滿了含蓄的情感起伏、變化多端的節奏和細緻的旋律的美感。最後一點在第二首曲子中尤其明顯，在曲子的中間，旋律在雙手之間橫跨了八度。孫旻秀在這裡明確表現出了與以前不同的演繹——證明了他對樂譜的掌控和感知。
這些優點也展現在 12 首《超技練習曲》中，這些作品在技術上和表現上都更具挑戰性。一如所料，孫旻秀演奏的抒情練習曲如《風景》和《回想》細膩而動人。開場的《前奏曲》不僅展現出了任奫燦那種大膽奔放，也散發著莊重和威嚴感。沒有名字的A小調練習曲給人的印象只不過是指法練習，但在孫旻秀的手指間它似乎帶了嚴肅甚至是悲劇性的意義。孫旻秀在彈奏其他精彩的練習曲例如另一首未命名的F小調曲子、《鬼火》和《狩獵》時也展現了他驚人的演奏速度和準確度，表演同時又充滿真摯情感，絲毫不浮誇。延音踏板在整套曲目表演中被大量使用，有時甚至在樂譜標示了需要簡潔表達的地方也是如此：《英雄》中的跳音伴奏和《夜之和諧》中quasi arpa的部分都沒有像任奫燦或Sherman以幹練的方式演奏。更重要的是，延音踏板的使用對於孫旻秀強大的展現力是不可或缺的。《幻影》和《英雄》中大量的和弦和《馬采巴》的強烈演奏都令人印象深刻，難以忘懷。此外，孫旻秀運用高超的琴技展現增強和減弱的地方：《追雪》中漸強的半音階華彩段落十分震撼，而《夜之和諧》從宏偉到平靜的結尾讓人想起華格納的《諸神的黃昏》最後幾幕的降D 大調音樂。
這場熾熱而動人的表演證明了孫旻秀是一位令人欽佩的藝術家。他值得像他的名人學生一樣受到關注。