A genuine case of deja vu, the past being revisited but with not quite the same outcome.Ĭlosing the unusually eclectic recital was Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Rudepoema (Savage Poems), 18 minutes of musical intoxication once described as “The Rite Of Spring meets Brazilian Jungle”. The valedictory closing movement brought on expected emotional highs and the added surprise of Schumann’s original ending, reprising the earlier Beethoven quotation albeit with altered harmonies. As if to reinforce that notion, he even had a minor lapse, but closed triumphantly with its fearsome octave leaps well vanquished. In Irfan’s sharply contoured reading, the striding second movement was not so much an all-conquering heroic march, but a troubled journey beset with the trials and tribulations of love. Its Romantic sweep was well captured in splashy chords and swirling arpeggios, with tumultuous swells quelled by the quotation from Beethoven’s song cycle An Die Ferne Geliebte (To The Distant Beloved) at the close of the first movement.
The recital’s most substantial and familiar work was Schumann’s Fantasy In C Major (Op.17), three movements reliving the restless and sublime inspiration of Ludwig van Beethoven. It began with an eruption of violence, the atonal music later transcending to a realm of inner peace, with lyrical centres which channelled spirituality through Messiaen-like chords. This underrated masterpiece might someday become as popular as Robert Schumann’s Etudes Symphoniques or Felix Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses.Ĭlosing the first half was the Asian premiere of Tota Pulchra Es (Latin for You Are Completely Beautiful) by New York-based Singaporean composer Koh Cheng Jin, who is also Irfan’s wife. Its apparent austerity belied the craftsmanship and inventiveness involved, unfolding convincingly in Irfan’s faultless fingers before closing serenely in the major key. Gabriel Faure’s Theme And Variations (Op.73), a rarity, had a welcome airing. The ensuing finale’s perpetual motion was a tour de force of propulsive momentum, which did not let off till the final bar. His crispness of articulation and mastery of pedalling ensured that the Minuet-like first movement possessed sonority without sounding cut and dried. 22 In F Major (Op.54), a work in two movements.
His recital opened with Beethoven’s Sonata No. Hailed as Malaysia’s Mozart, the former prodigy – who also composes and conducts – is the latest Malaysia-born pianist to perform in the festival since the late and lamented Dennis Lee in 2005. The cancellation of Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner’s recital last Thursday due to illness meant that young Malaysian pianist Tengku Irfan, 25, opened this year’s Singapore International Piano Festival.
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