Notes and Editorial Reviews
CHOPIN
Ballade No. 1. Scherzo No. 2. Polonaise No. 5,
op. 44.
Mazurkas,
op. 30.
Grande Valse brillante. Nocturnes,
op. 48.
XIAOGANG YE
Namucuo,
op. 53
. QIGANG CHEN
Instants d’un Opera de Pekin
•
Xiaotang Tan (pn)
•
TUDOR 7157 (77:16)
Read more
Xiaotang Tan is an eloquent young Chinese pianist living in Peking, where he was born in 1979. He begins this recital with several of the most dramatic, and cheerful, of Chopin’s works. They fit his clear-headed, bright-sounding piano style. Tan is as exuberant a pianist as he is disciplined. I don’t hear any quirks in his virtuosic playing. He seems to have an active sense of the whole of the longer works; he doesn’t rely on local effects, as do some Chopin pianists. It is interesting, then, to hear his nocturnes, where he sounds quieted but not dismayed, allowing himself a less than grand crescendo in op. 48/1, before exuberantly exploding in the most excited pages. Perhaps I have heard more touching recordings, but few with this level of clarity and precision and, finally, effectiveness. Tan is a superb Chopin player.
His two Chinese composers both have a connection, to me unexpected, with Messiaen. Xiagang Ye studied with a pupil of Messiaen, Alexander Goehr, and was evidently inspired by the composer to include birdsongs in
Namucuo,
an avowedly Impressionist piece inspired by a lake found on a high plateau (14,000 feet!) in Tibet. Qigang Chen was Messiaen’s last pupil; he is said to owe the modal lines we hear in his piece dedicated to the Peking Opera to that source.
Namucuo
begins by alternating upward scales with passages that sound like dripping water. At times, we hear trill-like alternating chords emerging from near silence. It is a contemplative work that would have us focus on individual sounds.
Instants
is more outgoing, containing passages of stomping chords out of which, somehow, haunting themes emerge, sometimes picked out by individual fingers, and sometimes sounding softly, like brushwork, in a more Chopinesque manner.
FANFARE: Michael Ullman
Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Scherzo for Piano no 2 in B flat minor/D flat major, B 111/Op. 31 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1837; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 10 Minutes 6 Secs.
2.
Polonaise for Piano in F sharp minor, B 135/Op. 44 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1840-1841; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 10 Minutes 48 Secs.
3.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 105/Op. 30 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1836-1837; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 9 Minutes 15 Secs.
4.
Waltz for Piano in E flat major, B 62/Op. 18 "Grande valse brillante" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831; Poland
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 5 Minutes 42 Secs.
5.
Nocturnes (2) for Piano, B 142/Op. 48 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1841; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 13 Minutes 23 Secs.
6.
Namucuo, for piano, Op. 53 by Xiao-Gang Ye
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Written: 2006
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 6 Minutes 39 Secs.
7.
Instants d'un opéra de Pékin, for piano by Qigang Chen
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Contemporary
Written: 2000
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 10 Minutes 58 Secs.
8.
Ballade for Piano no 1 in G minor, B 66/Op. 23 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Xiaotang Tan (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831-1835
Date of Recording: 03/2008/03/2009
Venue: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2
Length: 9 Minutes 37 Secs.
Customer Reviews
Be the first to review this title
Review This Title
