Young Artist Series: First Concert Recap
by Jeannette Fang
Sorrento - Parco dei Principi
July 17, 2014
Five talented performers were showcased thursday evening in Sorrento's luxurious Parco dei Principi. It was a unique opportunity to have a truly dramatic setting enhance the drama of the works featured, with sun sparkling over jet black tiles and endless blue water surrounding precipitous cliffs.
Mikowai Ashwill started with a spirited rendition of the Allegro of Haydn's CM sonata, Hob. XVI:50. He followed this with the defiant Allegro giusto of Schubert's Sonata D784, which he played with admirable gravitous for his young age. Indefatigable, he continued, playing the first movement of Chopin's B-flat minor Sonata with a sense of drama and excitement.
The second to perform was Zhongzhi Sun, whose Chopin Ballade no.1 had a clear sense of line and a singing tone. He followed this with the notoriously difficult Triana from book 2 of Albeniz's Iberia. Clearly someone with an excellent capacity to get around the piano, Zhongzhi executed the brilliantly scampering runs with aplomb.
Stela Roznovan continued the program with the Allegro of Beethoven's op.106, which she played with conviction and fearlessness. She was followed by Dan Cao, who played the reverent Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude from Liszt's Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses. He created a lovely atmopshere, and the work was beautifully felt.
The program ended with Boyoung Kim playing the Chorale and Variations from Dutilleux's Piano Sonata. It was excellently done, with a keen understanding of the drama as well as a natural pianism that was enjoyable to hear.
(photos taken by Annie Jeng)
