Two Pianists, One Star Rises, the Other Falls

Liu stands after his winning performance in Warsaw

 

Just as a new piano star is crowned, another has fallen in disgrace.

On October 21, Bruce Xiaoyu Liu of Montreal, Canada was named the winner of the prestigious 18th Frederic Chopin piano competition that comes with 40,000 euro (US$45,000) in prize money in Warsaw, Poland.

The 24-year-old who was born in France, is taking the big win in stride, though he hopes he can continue his "hobby", because he doesn't want piano playing to become something he has to do out of obligation.

He beat out 86 other young pianists around the world to clinch first prize in the competition that is only held every five years, but was delayed last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Liu knows his career will accelerate from now on

During the competition Liu wowed the audience with his interpretation of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11. Even before the last notes were played the people, many of them music critics and Chopin experts, shouted and clapped, impressed by his intense playing. He says the performance was a blur and he didn't get much sleep before the competition.

When asked how he will celebrate his win, Liu said he didn't have time to think about it because he will be going on tour and it will be a while before he returns to Montreal. 

Nevertheless he seems to be taking it all in stride.

Liu describes his victory as a "life-changing event", and knows his career is about to accelerate and he is "ready for it".

But on the opposite end of the spectrum is well known pianist Li Yundi, who was reportedly caught with a prostitute in Beijing.

The news broke on the same evening of October 21 with police reporting they had detained a 39-year-old pianist surnamed Li on suspicion of patronizing a 29-year-old prostitute in the Chinese capital. 

Li also won the Chopin competition in 2000

Cryptically the police posted a picture of a keyboard with a message: "The world is not simply black and white, but one must distinguish black and white. It must never be mistaken."

Li rose to fame in 2000 when he won the Frederic Chopin competition at the age of 18. However, in recent years he has moved away from serious classical music performances and more towards entertainment shows in China.

Later a police statement did not specify how long Li would be detained, but according to Chinese law, soliciting prostitution is illegal and typically leads to administrative detention of between 10 and 15 days. It could be reduced to five days or fewer if the circumstances of the offence are minor.

However, the damage has already been done and the fallout begun -- the "prince of the piano" has been boycotted and numerous organizations have cut ties with Li, including the China Musicians Association, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and Mango TV, where he was part of a televised talent show named Call Me By Fire.

Esteemed China law expert Jerome Cohen questions why Li was singled out when so many others solicit the services of prostitutes but aren't prosecuted.

Li detained for allegedly soliciting a prostitute

"Did he offend a leader by some remarks of a political or personal nature? Was he 'set up' for this charge? Can one be confident that the facts alleged are true? Is this the use of the police as an instrument of revenge by some powerful person? Is this simply a part of the current campaign to transform and 'purify' the entertainment and other industries? Will Li be allowed to leave the country after serving his punishment to pursue his career abroad? That seems unlikely," Cohen writes in his blog.

"Prostitution is such a time-honoured Communist Party claim against political opponents that one has to be suspicious of this case. In any event, the manner by which the police have made the matter public only adds to the unsavoury story."

We will have to wait to see the fate of Li, while we hope to one day watch Liu's performance in person.

 

 

Remembering Fu Ts'ong and Other News

Fou Ts'ong was a well known expert in playing Chopin

An update on what happened today before getting to my main post today: 

Student activist Tony Chung Hon-lam was sentenced to four months in jail for defiling the Chinese national flag;

Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has resigned as chairman of parent company Next Digital to focus more on personal affairs;

The 12 Hong Kong activists who were detained at sea for allegedly trying to escape to Taiwan by speedboat will hear their fate on Wednesday morning;

Citizen journalist and lawyer Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for her fearless reporting in Wuhan during the height of the pandemic. She refused to cooperate with the so-called "investigation" and went on a hunger strike, and the authorities tied her hands and forced a feeding tube down her  nose;

And Hong Kong recorded 53 new cases today, but still 14 of them have unknown sources which is worrying.

Fou made London his home since 1958

This afternoon came the sad news that renowned Chinese pianist Fou Ts'ong passed away of Covid-19 in London. He was 86 years old.

I feel so privileged to see him perform in Beijing in December 2007 and my account of the concert is here.

He was very passionate about Chopin, and is considered a master in interpreting the Polish composer. In this nine-minute video you can see his enthusiasm for Chopin, and he elucidates his reason for loving his music so much.

"And I always said it always takes a genius to understand genius. Ordinary people always try to pull the genius down to their level, they don't understand the composer. There are a lot of imitators but nobody is Chopin. He is unique," he says in the video.

Zhu Meifu, Fou Lei

However, one has to think of the life Fou has been through for him to be able to interpret Chopin so beautifully. Fou's life has been full of success and praise, but also tragedy and pain.

He was born in 1934 in Shanghai and studied piano at a young age under Western pianists before winning a scholarship to the Warsaw Conservatory after taking third prize in the 5th International Chopin Competition in 1955.

Fou was the son of Fou Lei, a well-known French translator of Honore de Balzac, Romain Rollard, Voltaire, and Andre Gide. 

While the younger Fou made London his base in 1958, his father was concerned about him being so far from home and began writing letters to him -- almost 200 of them -- which were later compiled into a book called Home Letters by Fu Lei and published in 1981. 

However in 1958 Fou Lei and his wife Zhu Meifu were labelled rightists in the Anti-Rightist movement, and by 1966 when the Cultural Revolution began in full swing, both parents committed suicide.

It wasn't until 1979 after the end of the Cultural Revolution could Fou Ts'ong return to China to mourn them, and a year later gave his first concert there in over 20 years.

Fou Lei's letters to his son

Fou's personal life is interesting. In 1960 he married Zamira Menuhin, the daughter of Yehudi Menuhin, and they had one son; they divorced in 1969. Later he married Hijong Hyun, a daughter of South Korea's ambassador to Morocco that later ended in divorce.

Then he married London-based, Chinese-born pianist Patsy Toh. Sadly she was hospitalized with the coronavirus as well and tragically could not be with Fou before he died.

Watching his videos now, I wish I had an opportunity to speak with him. Musicians and artists are so passionate about their craft, and they are so keen on sharing their love of it with others. 

Fou's energy talking about Chopin five years ago shows his admiration for the composer has hardly waned;  he was still trying to understand what Chopin wrote, after decades of playing those pieces over and over again.

He is so lucky to pursue his love of music to the utmost and make it his mission to disseminate what he knows to others.

Judging from the social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram today, many are sad to hear of Fou's passing. We will all miss him dearly.

Munich's Museums

Beyond the Deutches Museum's planetarium is the Frauenkirche in Munich

Our last full day in Munich was a cold and rainy one... we took our hop on, hop off bus again just before 10am and got off at Deutches Museum, which focuses on science and technology with over 28,000 items.

A self-playing keyboard and drum!

the museum was founded in 1909 and is geared towards families and many had young kids. A random trivial fact is that for a time the museum was used to host rock and pop concerts for acts like The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Elton John.

When we arrived there was a lineup, but went quickly and we decided to tackle the museum from the top down. The top floor is a planetarium, but it wasn't open yet, and it talked about all kinds of things related to space, from the sun to the constellations, how telescopes can see so far into space and how the black hole works, using a silver ball rolling around slowly into a spiral that spins very quickly at the end before disappearing into the hole.

On the same floor, the sixth floor, there is an outdoor area where you can see the museum has a tower that shows the barometer and hygrometer, which measure the humidity and water vapor in the atmosphere; the recording was a bit on the high side because it was rainy that day, which sadly made it difficult for us to take some nice scenic pictures of Munich.

The Wright brothers' plane

We also saw exhibitions on things like engines, a man demonstrating how to blow glass, the history of ceramics and how bricks are made in a factory. Another one that I found interesting was musical instruments, though it focused on keyboards.

There was a very small keyboard with black keys called a spinett and a clavichord, both about two-thirds the size of a piano. There was even those self-playing pianos -- one that included the drums too -- and they were pretty massive machines.

One Yamaha looked like today's upright pianos, but this one was different -- it can help musicians record music, as the movement of the hammers is scanned by an LED light barrier. The information is then stored in a MIDI file in the computer. When the music is played back, the signals are electronically converted, and the piano keys move hydraulically in the same way the pianist struck them. Wow.

A plane that was similar to what The Red Baron flew

I had heard of the hurdy-gurdy, but this was my first time actually seeing it. It was a giant box on wheels, but it's supposed to be a stringed instrument that makes sound when it is cranked by hand. The roller rotates and the bellows are then operated, this makes the pins of the roller open valves so that air flows to the corresponding pipes.

There was even a very old jukebox and not the ones we think of from the 1950s -- this one was from 1900 that was shown at the World Exhibition in Paris. Very neat.

Down on the first floor were flying machines including the one made by the Wright brothers in 1909, the first engine-driven plane. We also saw the Fokker Dr. I, the World War I fighter plane made famous by Manfred von Richthofen, or The Red Baron.

The Alte Pinakothek is only 1 euro on Sundays!

The airplane's wings only had a span of 7 metres, making it easier for the plane to fly tight turns. To be honest I don't know much about The Red Baron -- only from what I read from Snoopy comic strips! Nevertheless it was fun to see the plane in person.

We had a quick lunch in the cafeteria which offered decent food and after we finished we noticed there was a big line out the door for people to get food. When we left the museum, we saw a very long line that was almost a block long. Perhaps this was a way to spend a rainy Sunday.

Gorgeous flowers by Rachel Ruysch

After our dose of science and technology, we headed to Alte Pinakothek, an art museum that houses over 700 artworks from the 14th to 18th centuries. The museum was commissioned by King Ludwig I and built from 1826 to 1836 in a Neoclassical style. Originally the building was meant to hold the entire art collection of the House of Wittelsbach, and the king allowed the public to view the works, and it continues this tradition today.

It was still raining when we got there, and there was a giant lineup to buy admission tickets. We soon found out why -- on Sundays admission is only 1 euro!

The building is long and narrow and basically two floors. There are a lot of religious paintings with all kinds of themes from the nativity scene to the crucifixion, angels and depictions of heaven and hell.

I preferred the non-religious pieces, portraits of ordinary people, country scenes, and there's one of a bouquet of flowers by Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). She was the daughter of Dutch botany professor Frederik Ruysch and she used his vast collection of animal skeletons and botany samples to practice her drawings.

Albrecht Durer's self portrait that is Christ-like

She was so good that at one point she taught her father and sister how to paint. At the age of 15, Ruysch apprenticed with a well known flower painter, Willem van Aeist, and he taught her among other things how to arrange flowers so that they looked more spontaneous. While she continued to work with him, Ruysch was already selling her own work at 18.

Ruysch would later go on to marry Amsterdam portrait painter Juriaen Pool and have 10 children! She continued to paint while married.

Another famous work we had to see was Albrecht Durer's Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe, 1500.

He painted this when he was 28 years old and it is considered unusual because of its frontal angle and meticulous details. Durer based the style of this portrait on icons of Christ the Saviour, his hand raised in the sign of the blessing.

Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher

One fabulous piece of Rococo art has to be Francois Boucher's Madame de Pompadour, 1756. She was the official mistress of King Louis XV of France and here she is wearing an elaborate afternoon dress surrounded by books, sheets of music and drawings. We were mesmerized by the detail in the folds of the dress as well as the reflection in the back. Her proportions seem a bit off though -- she must have been extremely tall according to this painting and had very tiny feet! In any event a beautiful portrait that shows off the lifestyle of the aristocracy in that period.

Jazz from a Classical Pianist

Lively performance tonight by pianist Denis Matsuev and other musicians

Denis Matsuev, 43, is a prodigy pianist, starting his lessons at the keyboard from the age of three. It also probably helped that his mother was a piano teacher and his father a pianist and composer.

When he was 23 years old, he won the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998, establishing himself as a classical pianist.

However, ever since he was young, he listened to jazz records his father played at home, and Matsuev's first TV appearance in 1990 on a show called Morning Star, he played his own jazz composition called Paris Memories.

He can easily play both classical and jazz on the piano

"My father used to collect recordings of outstanding jazz musicians. I listened to them all my life as far as I can remember myself, and I always tried to improvise," he recalled in an interview with TASS in 2017.

"I like it, and I do not see any reason why I should renounce this pleasure. And sometimes, I feel like taking it easy and making fun on stage to put smiles on people's faces."

That's what he did tonight, which contrasted with Thursday night when he gave a Tchaikovsky piano recital, and then last night performed with young musicians, both at Hong Kong City Hall.

This evening he still wore his white bow tie and evening coat but let it rip with an energetic jazz show that seamlessly integrated Russian music and instruments.

At the start of the show at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre that was almost full, Matsuev explained that while classical music is his "wife", jazz is his "lover".

He and several musicians played 10 pieces, some as solos, some as a group. It started with an enthusiastic rendition of improvisations on a Theme from Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, followed by an accordion player, Aydar Gaynullin who performed Libertango by Astor Piazzola that had a tango flair.



Then a 12-year-old saxophonist, Sofia Turina came on stage and played Csardas by Vittorio Monti with the group, and a quick 43-second Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. When that piece is played on a sax, it really does sound like a buzzing bee.

Another drummer came out -- a young kid, Daniil Gulevich, who accompanied the group in Fly Away: Variations on Themes from Alexander Borodin and Paul Desmond arranged by Matsuev's double bassist Andrey Ivanov. During his solo, Gulevich couldn't resist and for about 10 minutes was banging away at the drums... cool, but past the five-minute mark we were wondering, when is this going to end? That was the only part that lagged in the concert.

Matsuev also showed off his composition skills with two lovely pieces, Baikal Samba in a tribute to Lake Baikal with a watery theme, and Ballad.

Andrey Gorbachev came out -- no relation to the former Soviet leader -- but this man is a virtuoso on the balalaika, a triangle-shaped guitar that only has three strings. He quickly showed us why he's so good, plucking and strumming the instrument so fast we were completely mesmerized. Then he joined in on variations of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the group that was lots fun, followed by improvisations on a Theme from Peer Gynt Suite. Here's an idea of what they played:



The final piece, Fiesta by Matsuev and Ivanov was definitely festive, and after playing their solo, each musician would leave the stage. In the end it was Ivanov on the double bass with Alexander Zinger on the drums, and then just the drum solo before they all came back on stage to finish the song.

We all clapped loudly, hoping for an encore, but sadly that was the end of the show, that ended as expected at one hour and 50 minutes.

 

Matsuev and Friends Play Jazz
Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Improvisations on a Theme from Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, arranged by Denis Matsuev and Andrey Ivanov

Libertango by Astor Piazzolla

Csardas by Vittorio Monti

Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolia Rimsky-Korsakov

Fly Away: Variations on Themes from Alexander Borodin and Paul Desmond by Andre Ivanov

Baikal Samba and Ballad by Denis Matsuev

Variations on Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninov arranged by Denis Matsuev

Improvisations on a Theme from Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg, arranged by Denis Matsuev and Andrey Ivanov

Fiesta by Denis Matsuev and Andrey Ivanov

Russian Soft Power through Music

Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov at the piano

Tonight I attended a Hong Kong Arts Festival concert by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov" -- a mouthful to pronounce, but a fantastic performance made even better by the fun encore at the end.

The State Orchestra is one of the oldest symphonic ensembles in Russia, formed in 1936 and it was granted the honorary title of "Academic" in 1972, while "Evgeny Svetlanov" was tacked on as he was the longest serving music director for 35 years.

The Russian State Orchestra performed in Hong Kong

And as a soft power initiative, the program featured Russian composers of course -- Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) and Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).

But first Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 in F-sharp minor, Op 1 (1917 version) performed by pianist Denis Matsuev. I sat on the right side of the stage so I was unable to watch him playing at the keys, but he gave a solid performance. The first movement was so exciting for the audience that many couldn't help themselves and clap!

It's the 1917 version, as Rachmaninov had written his first piano concerto when he was 18, but revised it in 1917 as the Bolshevik Revolution was happening.

The music started with a dramatic flourish and overall had a romantic feel, and Matsuev had ample chances to show off his technical skills. Meanwhile the orchestra was robust, in particular the percussion with up to four musicians playing drums, xylophone, triangle and tambourine.

The finish culminated into quite the flourish. Conductor Kristjan Jarvi doesn't like to break too long between movements, going one after the other and before you know it, the piece is over.

Denis Matsuev is considered a Rachmaninov expert

After a very short break Matsuev and Jarvi returned to the stage for Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18 by Rachmaninov. It is considered a piece that helped the composer work his way out of a long episode of depression caused by a disastrous premiere of his First Symphony in 1897.

Apparently the Piano Concerto No 2 helped cure his creative block and restored his confidence, and it was well received. Unlike the first piano concerto, this one starts off very quiet and quickly builds into big chords that signal the tolling of bells.

More fingers flying over the keys continue and at one point Matsuev gets a short break that he uses to wipe his brow. The second movement is recognizable and perhaps a tribute to Tchaikovsky.

At the end a guy two rows in front of me jumped up and clapped and would not sit down until Matsuev returned to give a short encore. It's quite fitting this pianist is performing here -- he is considered a Rachmaninov expert, having collaborated with the Sergei Rachmaninov Foundation established by the composer's grandson. Matsuev was even invited to play on Rachmaninov's piano in his home in Lucerne. Talk about goosebumps.

Kristjan Jarvi is an energetic conductor on stage

Following the intermission, the orchestra reassembled to perform Stravinsky's The Firebird (1945 Suite). Conductor Jarvi practically danced on the podium and it was a lively performance throughout, hardly pausing very long between movements.

The music is meant to complement the ballet The Firebird that has a good-versus-evil plot based on Russian sources. It alternates between heavy percussion clashes and pastoral light melodies.

When the performance was over, the audience was excited and clapping loudly, but many of the orchestra members stood stony faced -- were they told not to show their emotions? It seemed strange for them not to want to at least crack a smile that their performance for the evening was over?

Meanwhile conductor Jarvi was very happy and the orchestra played a fun encore -- was it Strauss? And encouraged the audience to clap along and sing ho ho ho. We clapped some more, but Jarvi put his two hands together and cocked his head as if motioning to want to sleep so that was the end of that.

Roots

Denis Matsuev, piano

Kristjan Jarvi, conductor

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov"

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

Sergei Rachmaninov

Piano Concerto No 1 in F-sharp minor, Op 1 (1917 version)

Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18

Igor Stravinsky

The Firebird (1945 Suite)

Yujia Wang's Distracting Dress

Here is pianist Yujia Wang covered up! in a promotional poster

Tonight was the season opener for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the soloist was superstar pianist Yujia Wang.

It's quite amazing that I've seen her perform for 10 years now -- I saw her play in a small concert hall in Beijing in 2007.

And tonight she played in front of several who's who -- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, principal guest conductor Yu Long, former lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing former Hong Kong Monetary Authority Joseph Yam Chi-kwong to name a few.

While her performance tonight of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto no. 1 was mesmerizing, she doesn't seem to have matured as a person.

This is the dress she wore (here with the Santa Cruz Symphony)

She walked on stage in this revealing dress -- a turquoise number with a deep V both in the front and back, but it was actually covered up with skin-coloured cloth. Then she could barely walk and I soon could see why -- she was wearing platform heels which forced her to stick her butt out.

When she sat down -- and we sat behind her -- we could see her G-string... how classy.

Why was she wearing such a skin-tight dress with skin-coloured fabric? This is not figure skating! This is a performance at a concert hall! And those heels -- gold coloured too -- belonged on the dance floor. Hardly sexy or sophisticated.

As for the music, we really loved her playing, but that bow afterwards needs some work. She just flings her head down, puts her right arm across her chest and shuffles off in that skin-tight dress that might as well be a nylon tube sock. She hardly acknowledged the crowd sitting behind the orchestra -- at least Lang Lang would have given them a few bows in gratitude.

And what about some kudos so the orchestra that performed with her? She barely gave any thanks to them except finally shaking the hand of the concert master before again shuffling off.

She seemed ambivalent about giving an encore, but when the audience won't stop clapping, surely they want to hear more?

Wang finally obliged -- twice -- and we were very pleased. But how about a bit of humility? Or was it nerves from performing in front of dignitaries or the dress and shoes weren't working out?

If she's not comfortable in them, she really shouldn't wear them. I want to see a performer who is confident and happy and shows some grace. I guess she still has a lot to learn.

After the intermission, the Hong Kong Phil gave a very lively performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Music director Jaap van Zweden was militant about the timing and also jumped up and down several times to make his point.

The orchestra replied with fantastic sound that resonated throughout the concert hall, dischordant at times, but very experimental and full of energy and full use of the entire orchestra, especially percussion!

When the concert was over, with two rounds of clapping, Carrie Lam got out of her seat to approach the stage. My friend nudged me to leave so we did -- along with scores of other people!

Season Opening: Jaap & Yujia

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 1

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

Gabriela Montero Living with Music

Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero is a whiz at the ivories

Today I had the opportunity to interview an amazing pianist who is classically trained, but can also improvise, much like a jazz musician -- on the spot.

Gabriela Montero is a Venezuelan pianist who will be performing tomorrow night at City Hall Concert Hall, playing Schubert and Schumann in the first half, and then after the intermission, she will take suggestions from the audience of what to play -- as long as they hum it to her.

She explained that improvisation was something classical musicians did in the 16th and 17th centuries, when composers would write "cadenza", and expect the musician to add their own flourish.

But later on, musicians didn't know what to play, and eventually it was written out, which is why people like me have always thought that classical music was about playing the piece exactly as the composer had intended, down to every last note.

Here she is riffing off of Bach's Goldberg Variations:

As someone who learned classical music on the piano, I could never even dream of improvising -- I thought it was something only those who were well versed in music could do, but Montero is in an league of her own.

When she was a baby she was already playing a toy piano in her crib. By the age of five she gave her first public performance and at eight performed her first piano concerto.

She likes to connect with the audience with improvisation

I brought up the description of being a prodigy, but she doesn't like the word, saying it separates her from others. She also frankly admitted she quit piano twice, one time not touching the piano for two-and-a-half years because she didn't want music to dictate her life.

"Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I like it," she said. It took her years to reconcile with her talent and also the fact that she was a single mother meant that she had to use her skills as a musician to support her family.

Now she seems very happy to be making music on her own terms, and using it has a platform to speak out about her home country that is falling apart due to the corrupt government, with people starving from not being able to get access to food.

In 2011 she wrote Ex Patria as an emotional musical picture of what is going on in Venezuela, and while she has performed it 10 times, including a recording, she hopes she doesn't have to play it again.

The following year Amnesty International made her an honorary consul, where she uses the position to talk about Venezuela, and she is now basically in self-imposed exile; if she were to return, she says she would be put in jail. She now lives in Barcelona with her husband and two daughters.

But back to the improvisation -- I hummed her Teresa Teng's famous song, The Moon Represents My Heart.

She played what I hummed perfectly on the piano, dabbled a bit with it and then began to play. And watching her riff off the phrase in various styles was amazing. We were just spellbound watching her play.

After she finished, she said that when she improvises, it has to be recorded because she cannot play it exactly the same again -- the music flows through her onto the keys and once it's over, that's it.

Montero seems at peace with her spellbinding talent, probably thanks to age and having tried to quit twice and then coming to terms with it, but also determined to use it the way she wants to.

She has a warm spirit and eager to share her music with everyone.

Review: La La Land

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star in a romantic musical called La La Land

Lunar New Year is a time to meet up with relatives, eat too much, and watch movies.

Today I went to see La La Land, and it was a nice feel-good movie for the holidays.

Viewers are immediately swept up in the opening scene of gridlock on a Los Angeles highway, but then suddenly a young woman breaks into song and dance and everyone else gets out of their vehicles for an impromptu dance party.

The opening scene is so memorable and energetic

Do they really happen?

But your disbelief is suspended then and pretty much for most of the movie.

We soon meet Mia (Emma Stone), a struggling actress trying to get her big break, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) an ardent jazz aficionado.

It takes them three chance encounters to realize a spark between them, and viewers soon disccover it's their idealism that brings them together, and only in LA.

Gosling and Stone are great together, and pretty impressive they not only sing but dance too, harking back to the singing and dancing films like Singing in the Rain and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but now with iphones, Priuses and cappuccinos. Gosling also plays the piano with ease.

The pair play idealistic artists pursing their dreams in LA

And the colours! They are so technicolour brilliant that you have to wonder if they were digitally enhanced like the scene where Stone and Gosling first sing and dance together at sunset. But according to director Damien Chazelle, they really did shoot the scene at the "magic hour", and they only had the chance to do five takes.

However it can't all be hunky dory -- tensions arise when the dreams of how they envision their careers take different paths, and the ending isn't what you expect it to be, but the wistful what-ifs are a bit too predictable.

Nevertheless, we couldn't help but be swept off our feet with La La Land, with the intense colours, singing, dancing, wry humour and a big dollop of escapism, especially in these uncertain times.

La La Land

Starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, John Legend

Directed and written by Damien Chazelle

Playing Piano... Again

An upright piano ready to be played and it was a fun hour that whizzed by

The apartment building I live in has a clubhouse with a variety of facilities, such as a swimming pool, gym, classes for baking and making crafts, tai chi and so on.

In order to entice more residents to use the facilities, today was a day to try things out for free and booked in advance, though things like the swimming pool and gym were first come, first served.

Not having played piano for over 20 years, I thought this would be a good chance to see if my fingers still had the magic touch on the ivories and reserved myself a room for an hour.

I printed off some sheet music from the internet and then headed to the clubhouse at the appointed time. I was shown to a small room that had an upright piano and two chairs; a clock was right above the piano so there was no mistaking what time it was.

I got out my first piece, Minuet in G by JS Bach and started playing the right hand, trying to remember how to read sheet music, and then ventured to add the left hand and presto -- I was playing music!

It was very rough at first and immediately after playing at the end, I started the beginning again, hoping it would get better, and sometimes it was, and sometimes it was worse. How did I forget to play that note? Why is my fingering all wrong? I was determined to play it better the next time around.

Soon 30 minutes was over and I was still playing Minuet in G. I moved onto Fur Elise by Beethoven, but it turns out I had the abridged version. That's OK because I managed to play the first part OK, partly because it was arpeggios and easier to follow because there was a lot of repetition.

I used to love playing Fur Elise, channeling the romanticism of Beethoven; but now it didn't seem to hold as much meaning to me as it did as a 15-year-old trying to figure out her way in the world.

So I went back to Minuet in G for the last 15 minutes. It's funny how as a kid practicing piano an hour went by at a snail's pace, and here it whipped by and I was playing non stop to get as much practice in as possible. My fingers weren't doing exactly what I wanted them to do, but not bad for not having touched a piano in over two decades!

It was a good distraction to do something different, and also use my brain in another way.

Beauty Trumps Brains in HK

Jennifer Coosemans crowned Miss Chinese International 2016

On Saturday night I watched the Miss Chinese International Pageant on TVB Jade, and it was a clear demonstration of how Hong Kong objectifies women.

Every time a candidate had a close-up on television, their name, where they were from, but more importantly, their measurements would flash up on the screen. Is her bust size what's going to help her win?

The swim suit competition bared a lot of skin during rehearsal

Of course there was a swim suit section, though many of them didn't have much to show off. But as if to give a sense of equity to the proceedings, the male dancers accompanying the women on stage were shirtless...

Watching the women parade in costumes that reflected where they came from was fun, but the competition to show off their talent was cringe-worthy.

One did a short ballet rendition of Swan Lake, a woman from Thailand sang an English song, while a contestant who speaks Putonghua thought she'd get extra points by playing the piano and singing in Cantonese. Not. It was already nerve-wracking for her to not flub up on the piano and then to sing in Cantonese with a Putonghua accent...

The questions the hosts asked the contestants were hardly challenging. For one of them, they showed a picture of a Chinese door god and asked the contestant which judge looked most like the menacing-looking deity.

Miss Bangkok sang an English song in this stunning dress

Oh and can we add that all the judges were handsome men, one of which is a very wealthy businessman in the society pages?

Off to the side was a bevy of women in evening gowns who were previous pageant winners and seemed to take part in the judging but had no major role.

There were no hard-hitting questions, like explaining one thing the candidate would do to make the world a better place, or what what is your favourite book to read and why?

The contestants, who were pageant winners from their hometowns, came from all over, such as the United States, Canada, Thailand, China, South Africa, Australia, and of course Hong Kong. As a result, English, Cantonese and Mandarin had to be spoken simultaneously by the three hosts, Carol Cheng Yu-ling, Janis Chan and Lawrence Cheng.

Miss Jiangsu danced a section of Swan Lake for the audience

The winner this year? Jennifer Coosemans (Chu Ah-lam), 21, of Vancouver, who is half Belgian, half Chinese. Originally from Terrace, British Columbia, she was crowned Miss Vancouver Chinatown last month.

Coosemans has one more year of university before she graduates. And with her model looks, she'll surely be roped into a modeling career here; and if she can brush up on her Cantonese and Mandarin, there will surely be some acting roles for her too...

Classical Music Eye Candy

Wang Yujia wore this dress tonight, the same as when she met the Queen

Tonight was the first of two concerts given by fast-rising star Wang Yujia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the handover. The concert was sponsored by a health product company, though not all members of the audience got any samples to try.

There were some bigwigs sitting in prime seats -- former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former secretary for justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie, and members of Tung's extended family, as the Tung Foundation was a sponsor.

The orchestra players had settled in, practicing on stage and were about to finish, when Grandpa Tung decided to go up the stairs to the loo. And we actually waited for him to come back and take his seat before the concertmaster came out.

Seriously?

Wang showing off some leg and skin in a concert in LA

If it was any other person, the concert would have started without him/her and they would have to wait at least half an hour to get back in.

But back to the concert. I saw her perform back in May 2007 in Beijing when she was 19 years old and was impressed then so I was curious to see how Wang had developed her musical talent.

From then to now she has gotten some flack for her outfits, though she seems to brush off the critics. She's worn very short dresses, and says she'll get to wearing longer ones when she's 40.

Uh huh.

Tonight she walked out in a florescent lime green dress with a deep V at the back, and lots of intricate cut outs in strategic places, and there was a mini train at the back. It was a pretty amazing feat not to trip on her dress.

But I wish she'd have a stylist help her pick some not so obnoxious clothes... you can be a rebel at the keyboard and look cool too...

For tonight's concert she played Mozart's Piano concerto no. 9 in E flat, K.271, Jeunehomme -- but not from memory. The sheet music was placed on top of the piano and she had no problems playing and flipping pages at the same time.

However, not having memorized the piece seem to have prevented her from fully expressing herself, even though she had fantastic technique in manipulating the piano to get the sounds she wanted.

This piece is Mozart's ninth piano concerto out of 27, and academics consider it to be the first of the composer's outstanding works. It started off light and refreshing, with the piano coming in very soon after the beginning.

But things seemed to drag in the second movement that Wang seemed to play robotically, though things picked up at the end. It seemed like a piece she didn't seem keen to perform and felt like her talents were wasted -- that she was raring to go elsewhere.

She got a rousing applause and came out several times and made very energetic bows with her arm across her heart... then walking carefully back inside. Wang finally did an amazing encore, a riff on a minuet that had a jazzy lilt and technically became more intense towards the end.

Like Lang Lang, she's a show stopper and it was a nice way for her to finish her participation in the concert.

And likewise it seemed Grandpa Tung had had enough for the day; he and members of his entourage left during intermission. Too bad for them because they missed a fantastic performance.

Conductor Jaap van Zweden led the orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Eroica. Originally Beethoven wrote this piece dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, a musical way to pay homage to the leader.

Two years later, though, Napoleon declared himself Emperor, which meant he would consider himself above others. Beethoven was so angry that he apparently ripped his title page in half and threw it on the floor. It was later changed from to Eroica.

The performance overall was so energetic and lively, it was a pleasure to watch van Zweden in action. I sat on the balcony, on the left side of the concert hall and was able to see him making facial expressions, and a closer look at the musicians.

Most commendable were clarinetist John Schertle and flautist Megan Sterling.

What a contrast between the first and second halves of the concert! Glad I stayed to the end!

Yujia Wang Triptych 1 -- Mozart

Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 9 in E flat, K.271, Jeunehomme

Allegro

Andantino

Rondeau: Presto

Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Eroica

Allegro con brio

Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

Scherzo: Allegro vivace

Finale: Allegro molto

Review: Lang Lang: Journey of a Thousand Miles My Story

The book recounts the first 20 years of his life

I've always enjoyed pianist Lang Lang's playing. Some accuse him of being an entertainer, who makes dramatic gestures at the piano and acts like he's really into the music, others, particularly mainland Chinese, think he's elitist and lives a luxurious life that is completely detached from their own.

While I'm not a technical musician, I enjoy listening to classical music and if it's performed by an artist who evokes an emotional response, all the more memorable.

When I was in Beijing, a young friend of mine was totally in love with him, thinking he was very cute. We had the chance to attend an event he was at, sponsored by Montblanc, announcing an upcoming concert. She sat up front, trying to make eyes with him the whole time, while he tried desperately not to look in her direction...

I picked up a discounted copy of his autobiography, Lang Lang: Journey of a Thousand Miles My Story several months ago. It's a fast read and details life from before he was born to when he started playing the piano before the age of two until his professional career was well under way in his early 20s. And along the way there are people and circumstances he encounters that seem like fate or very good luck.

Lang Lang playing at home in Shenyang with no air con

His father is the nemesis character in this book -- absolutely driven to ensure that his son would be the number one pianist in Shenyang, then in Beijing, then in the country, then the world. His solution? Practice, practice, practice and practice.

He could not think of any other way to become a great musician except sheer hard work and discipline, and he ensured Lang Lang would not have a chance to slack off.

Lang Guoren was already ambitious when he was young and musical too, being a professional musician for the People's Liberation Army air force -- but that career only went so far. Lang Lang's mother Zhou Xiulan had nigh hopes of becoming a professional dancer, but her background was not considered politically correct as her grandfather was a landlord and previous generations as well.

With the couple's hopes dashed, they placed all their energy and dreams on Lang Lang.

Luckily he is competitive by nature, and so as a child, practicing was like a game, his father drumming it in his head to be number one. However, Lang Guoren's insistence on pushing Lang Lang constantly was the source of their friction.

At one point the father is so angry at his son for being late to practice the piano, saying it brought shame to the family, that he shouts at Lang Lang to swallow a bunch of pills and jump off the balcony of their Beijing apartment.

They had come to the Chinese capital, sacrificing Lang Guoren's job, and now depended on Zhou Xiulan's salary to support the three of them, which meant living at times in dire straits.

With his mother Zhou Xiulan

After the shocking incident, Lang Lang refused to touch the piano for several months, still angry with his father. But after a period of time Lang Lang realizes how much he misses it and slowly gets back to it. And eventually he wins a scholarship to the Music Conservatory.

Then the budding pianist starts competing in various music competitions and there are some stops and starts, but for the most part he is number one. Then when he was 12 years old he and his father scrapped up enough money to compete in Germany.

It was his first trip abroad and it opened his eyes to other musicians, particularly a blind Japanese pianist, who made him realize it was important to have the emotion of the music in his hands while playing.

Another seminal moment was going to a summer music camp in Walnut Hill, near Boston. Here was able to be a relatively normal teenager, pick up English, play tennis, basketball, swim, walk in the woods.

Once he had that taste of America, he wanted more and was determined to return -- which he did with a full scholarship to Curtis music school under the tutelage of Gary Graffman.

I have watched Graffman play and he's superb despite not being able to use much of his left hand. And in Lang Lang's book he also explains Graffman is very learned in Chinese culture which was interesting to know, helping the young pianist bridge the gap between East and West.

Again, Lang Lang learned more about the United States, from the history and culture, hip hop, slang, girls and Shakespeare. He met some wonderful mentors along the way who were there to answer his questions about everything.

Father and son, Lang Guoren and Lang Lang

During this time Lang Guoren was floundering, not being able to learn English as quickly as his son and feeling out of place in this country Lang Lang was so keen to live in. The cultural differences are interesting to read, as father now becomes more dependent on the son.

His big break came when he replaced Andre Watts in Ravinia and wowed the crowd with Maestro Christoph Eschenbach and violinist Isaac Stern on stage.

Lang Lang's career quickly took off, and luckily Graffman was there to guide him, to not take critics too seriously and enjoy the moment.

Interestingly when the young pianist returned to China, he expected to be treated like a star -- but instead was constantly questioned as to why he didn't compete to prove his worth -- which was a paradigm Lang Lang had moved away from. He tried to explain this was not done in the West, but not having this measurement of success made it difficult for the Chinese to embrace Lang Lang as their own.

But that hasn't stopped Lang Lang from performing in China and continues to do so on a regular basis. And he has moved on to traveling around the world, giving some insight into the life of a professional musician, that it's hard to maintain friendships with people he's just met, but the opportunity to play is what he cherishes the most.

Lang Lang has definitely lived a rags-to-riches life, but not all completely smooth sailing. He has paid the price of dealing with a tough father who wanted nothing but the best for his son -- as long as he practiced and practiced and practiced. In the end Lang Lang has turned out well and all the more appreciative of is family for making him who he is today.