17 February 2023

Charles returns

I'd heard and recorded Charles Huang before at Wesley Music Centre and I'm sure I raved about that performance, as I am about to here again.  Of course, he's further in his piano mastery now so it's to be expected: now he's 12.  He's completed his LMusA and won various Eisteddfods is a champion chess player to boot, so a serious and capable person.  And he has a father who teaches piano; handy inhouse and probably demanding.  So what did he play and how did the audience receive it?  Starting with the audience, with mighty admiration and some awe.  Stunning playing in two very diverse styles.  And what did he play?  First up, JS Bach English Suite no.6 Dmin; second, Beethoven, Sonata no.12 Abmaj; for encore, Sonata no.14 C#min "Moonlight" mvt.3.  All from memory.  I noticed things like the balance of left and right hands in Bach, the regularity and neat dynamics, again in Bach, that clear statement of structure, then Beethoven's romanticism, his melodious emotions, that romantic flow after the formal baroque, and then just the shear extravagant dexterity of the Moonlight movement.  I did some piano as a kid, and I think this shows why I play bass!  Congratulations and thanks to Charles.

Charles Huang (piano) performed Bach and Beethoven at Wesley.

No comments: