A Magical Piano Recital
This evening, I, together with my sis and D, attended the 3rd recital of the Piano Festival series, and were we glad that we didn't give it a miss!
The pianist for the night was 20-year-old Malaysian-New Zealander pianist, John Chen. He won the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition when he was only 18 years old, the youngest winner in the competition's 27-year history. Although young, his superbly mature and musical playing certainly surpass his age. He performed a programme of mostly French composers, and his playing was very sensitive and colourful throughout. Technically, he was impeccable. His playing was a total contrast to the 1st recital, and we all sat through the whole recital, totally absorbed in his magic. It has been a very long time since we've heard such a perfect performance, not forgetting that it was coming from such a young performer. He seemed very at ease and calm on stage and he had the piano totally under his control. It looked like he could continue playing the whole night, effortlessly.
After his performance, the audience didn't let him go without encores. He gamely played 3, much to the audience's delight. After that, we bought his CD recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 and we also got his autograph.
We really hope to hear more of him in future. John Chen is certainly a great piano master in the making!