PIANIST EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS

Cliburn winner dazzles Lorenz audience.

By George Warren - October 8, 2009

It’s rare that a performance is so spellbinding that it transcends the music being performed. After all, a kid like Haochen Zhang is only 19 years old. He is nothing when standing next to Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and Ravel. Yet, there are few kids on earth like Haochen Zhang, and it is at the hands of musicians like him that Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and Ravel continue to thrive in the concert halls around the world.

Zhang performed for a full house in the Concert Hall at California State University, Fresno Wednesday, presented by the Philip Lorenz Keyboard Concert Series and numerous Chinese organizations. He received the gold medal in the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

What sets Zhang apart from nearly every other pianist is his blend of expression and precision. One can’t peg him as a romantic pianist—his style is far too accurate both in rhythmic terms and in adherence to the score. Yet, one can’t label him as an absolutist regarding the score either; his expression is far more passionate than the perfection one gets from the absolutist.

In every work on the program, Zhang displayed total control over all elements, including remarkable balance between voices, not just good balance between hands. If one focused on the accompanying melodic line instead of the surface, one heard exact rhythmic values of the notes, or a distinctive phrase shape that was interesting and fascinating all by itself. That kind of attention to detail elevates the musician into a higher category.

Further, Zhang reveled in the syncopated rhythms and the unusual rhythmic phrases. In Beethoven’s Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110, Zhang played as though he were expressing his own thoughts and emotions. Beethoven composed fits and starts in this score, and Zhang made no apologies for Beethoven; he played the score and delivered the spirit of the master. There are parts in this work where just two voices are sounding, and the usual practice is to blend them together resulting in an even rhythm and an ordinary texture. Zhang separated the voices by clipping the lower voice just short on each note, and the rhythm suddenly popped, creating a surprising texture and an asymmetrical feel.

In Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel, Zhang punched the syncopations and left them raw, uncompromised by a need for making them feel normal. Zhang opened this work with the driest tone imaginable. He didn’t punch the opening theme, but he separated the notes and created an articulation like an early keyboard instrument. It wasn’t long, though, before Brahms’ voice took over from the Baroque style.

The most remarkable work on the program was the newest: “White Lies for Lomax” by Mason Bates, composed in 2007. Alternate titles for this work might be “Gershwin Goes to Hell” or “Highbrow Blues.” The music owes a lot to Gershwin for the good notes and chords, but it is wildly imaginative beyond anything Gershwin composed. Rhythmically and pianistically, the Bates skips and swings all over the keyboard demanding incredible speed and accuracy of the pianist. Zhang was all over this music. He had the vision to carry the variety of ideas from beginning to end, with unlimited power in the middle section.

The last work on the program, Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody, afforded Zhang the chance to show real power and range of expression. In the Beethoven, he kept a lid on the volume, and the expression was understated and dignified. In the Brahms, the expression flowed from the harmony. Here, the expression was largely physical. Zhang let go of the limits here and unleashed a ferocious presentation of Liszt’s best pianism. Speed, density, range, volume, combined to thrill the audience and secure a place for Zhang in the lore of music in Fresno. He joins a very short list of musicians who have made a lasting impression in Fresno, musicians like Radu Lupu and Lang Lang. Let’s hope Zhang returns to Fresno before he is too big a draw for our halls to contain him.

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