Tony Zhai, violin & Paul Cheung, piano - Piano @ 10
This is, by any standards, a staggering programme of works that are normally associated with established artists of the first rank. It will be another recital in the 2014 Arts Bundanoon calendar that is not to be missed.
Arts Bundanoon - a subgroup of the Bundanoon Community Association - is proud to bring to Bundanoon fine music and outstanding artists at an affordable price.
BIOGRAPHY
TONY ZHAI
Tony Zhai, age 20 is currently in 3rd year studying Bachelor of Music Performance Violin at the Conservatorium of Sydney under Ole Böhn.
Prior to studying in Sydney, Tony lived in Auckland where he studied under William Hanfling and Mary O’Brien. He has won a number of scholarships and awards in NZ such as the Greenbank Scholarship for an opportunity to play solo with the Manukau Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Most Promising Player award at the 2009 Gisborne International Music Competition. He was also invited to play at Jack Richards’ Tiromoana summer concert series in Gisborne in 2010, and is currently receiving financial sponsorship from him to study in Sydney.
In the winter of 2011, Tony travelled to Brazil with his teacher Ole to attend the MIMU international music festival where he received masterclasses with Marcello Guerchfeld, Charles Stegeman and Alexey Naumenko. Tony is also a frequent performer at the Olso Vigeland Museum Summer Concert Series, having recently given a full length recital in June 2013.
Tony was selected as the concertmaster for the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute program in 2012. In July 2013 he played the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with orchestra under Jacky Wong, who is an alumni of Sydney Conservatorium.
PAUL CHEUNG
Paul Cheung is one of Australia’s most promising young accompanists. He is currently a postgraduate accompaniment student at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is a recipient of both the prestigious Geoffrey Parsons Australian Scholarship and the Chapple Bremner Award. Paul has been learning piano with Ms Tamara Anna Cislowska and Ms Neta Maughan AM for the past few years, and has recently begun receiving instruction from the likes of Mr David Miller AM and Ms Maree Ryan for both vocal accompaniment and chamber music. He is increasingly in demand as an accompanist for instrumentalists and singers across a wide range of situations, including concerts, competitions, recordings, exams, and so on. In addition to his experience as an accompanist, Paul has also achieved considerable success as a solo pianist. In 2009, he was the winner of both the UMT Roger Woodward Scholarship and the MTA Junior Pianoforte Scholarship, and as a result of the latter he was chosen to perform in Adelaide in the Yamaha Recitals Australia Showcase concert as the NSW representative. In 2010, he was runner-up in the prestigious Kawai Piano Award at the Sydney Eisteddfod. Later in the year, he entered the semi-finals of the 2MBS-FM young performers award, and was subsequently runner-up in the state finals. In late 2011, he was awarded his LMusA with distinction, and was invited to be one of the five performers at the graduation ceremony in early 2012. Most recently, Paul was the winner of the Recital Award section of the Sydney Eisteddfod. At the age of 19, Paul commenced his PhD in mathematics at the University of Sydney after being awarded a Bachelor of Science (advanced mathematics), with first class honours and the university medal. He is currently working towards a Graduate Diploma (Performance) in the accompaniment stream (the maths PhD is suspended for the duration of this course).
Concert review
Date: Saturday, 5th July, 2013 10:00am
Venue: Soldiers’ Memorial Hall, Bundanoon
The Artist: Tony Zhai (violin) Paul Cheung (piano)
The Program:
The program began with two examples of solo violin music from the baroque and romantic eras.
1. Henryk Wieniawski (1834-1880)
Étude from L’école moderne Op.10 – Prelude
2. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Partita in D minor (BWV 1004)
Chaconne
There followed two accompanied pieces:
3. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonata for Violin and Piano No 3 D minor Op. 108
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Un poco presto e con sentimento
4. Presto agitato
4. Henryk Wieniawski (1834-1880) Variations on an Original Theme Op. 15 (1854)
There was an encore offered, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) 4th movement Allegro con brio from Sonata No. 2 for violin & piano Op 94b
Reviewer: Neil Mitchell
Reviewer’s comments
Henryk Wieniawski’s Étude from L’école moderne proved to be more of challenge to Mr Zhai than it ought to have been for he had the misfortune to suffer a violin that was rapidly going flat due to his being positioned on stage under the heating ducts. Even so, his confident and secure handling of the technical effects in the study –as well as in the Op. 15 variations - produced murmurs of delight from the audience. The concert manager switched off the heating to arrest this early string problem, a fact later noticed by the audience. The problem did not recur during the exemplary performance of the ferociously difficult Op. 15 variations.
J. S. Bach: As mentioned in an earlier review, there is little that one can say about Bach, so much having been said in the last 150 years on the subject of the Partita. It is generally conceded as containing one disproportionately long movement, the Chaconne that is regarded as one of the supreme achievements in music, not only taxing the soloist with every technical demand then known but taking this challenge to epic lengths and providing an artistic challenge in terms of pace and emphasis. Not only that, the convention that it be played from memory presents an additional challenge. As for today’s performance, Mr Zhai played cleanly and masterfully. The epic Chaconne was well paced but not evenly so, allowing for some reflectiveness when required.
Johannes Brahms: This sonata is about as extroverted, sunny and virtuosic as Brahms’ music gets. It is written in three four movements, instead of the usual three. The sonata is structured in an orthodox classical framework with the use of a scherzo as a third movement. It requires performers of the highest calibre and on this occasion, we were not disappointed. Notable in the sonata are the deceptively simple and tuneful inner two movements whereas the outer movements are exciting and even heroic in terms of their technical demands on the performers. The performance was of the highest standard in terms of accuracy and precision of interpretation and Mr Zhai’s firm violin tone was well suited to the inner two movements. No excess romanticism occurred; the composer spoke for himself. The rhythmic complexities of the piano writing proved to be of little challenge to Mr Cheung.
The encore was quite a good choice, played at a thrilling pace to the delight of the audience.
The concert was held before a large audience (ca. 114 persons) on a seasonably cold but fine day. The audience was warm and appreciative. There was consistent feedback from a number of audience members, all of whom were delighted by the performance.
General Comments: The artists were well-prepared, more than equal to the demands of the program and Mr Zhai produced excellent volume and an individual violin tone. The accompanist, Mr Cheung was ideal – technically secure, sensitive and never too loud.