English Blog
I had a wonderful time performing Brahms Piano Quintet with amazing musician friends. We performed 2 occasions last week. One anecdote tells how Brahms composed his works. One evening in Vienna, Brahms joined his friends at cafe, and his friend asked him how he spent his day. Brahms answered “I was working on my symphony. In […]
Last Sunday November 4th, I had 2 chamber music concerts, one at LACMA Sunday Live, and another one for LA Phil’s Committee group. At LACMA, we played trios for flute, cello, and piano by Kuhlau, Martinu, and Kapustin, and duo for cello and piano by Mendelssohn. This program covers a wide range of musical styles, Classical […]
I really liked this colorful piece, “Azul”, by Osvaldo Golijov. I went to LA Phil’s Sunday matinee concert on November 4. “Azul” was performed right after Barber’s “Second Essay” for Orchestra. I am a big fan of Barber’s music, from piano solo pieces (I recorded his “Excursions” Op. 20 for my first CD) to wonderful […]
The movie “The Master” tells the story of Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a World War II veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war life, and meets Lancaster Dodd (Philip Symour Hoffman), a leader of a philosophical movement known as “The Cause” (Scientology). Dodd sees something special in Freddie, and accepts him into Dodd’s movement. They […]
We heard Sir. Schiff’s WTC Book I last Wednesday, and he performed Book II a week later at Disney Hall. As I was deeply touched and moved by Book I concert, I was more involved by his playing with Book II. The concert started little after 8pm, and with a regular length intermission the concert ended […]
We are so blessed to have “BACH Week” in LA until next Wednesday October 24. Sir. András Schiff will perform WTC Book II. Mr. Mark Swed, a music critic for LA Times, wrote a very good review on Sir. Schiff’s concert last Wednesday on WTC Book I, and I totally agree with his wonderful observation. […]
It will be my 3rd year, performing at LA Bach Festival, and I am looking forward for the opportunity. The program includes Aria variata in A minor BWV 989, Partita No. 1 BWV 825, Italian Concerto BWV 971, and French Overture BWV 831. Below is the program note I wrote for the concert. I hope […]
I totally have forgotten 2012 is John Cage’s Centennial. This LA Times article made my Sunday morning joyful and fun. As a musician, I have played John Cage’s music, but I did not know much about his life, especially connection to LA culture life. This is a substantial article (5 pages) about one composer on […]
It is a very touching and interesting movie. In 1968, two producers went to a downtown Detroit bar to meet an unknown artist, a charismatic Mexican-American singer-songwriter named Rodriguez, who had attracted locals with his mysterious presence, soulful melodies and lyrics. They were immediately touched by this singer, and believed they had found a musical folk hero. This discovery led the recording […]
This is a book review on Artur Schnabel’s auto-biographical book. Schnabel (1882-1951) is a legendary figure and he has been one of pianists I always respect and admire. I have studied his famous edition on Beethoven sonatas, and heard his recordings mainly on Beethoven and Schubert sonatas. Whenever I play Beethoven or teach Beethoven to […]