When Brahms meet Paganini... and Kang

Every Wednesday of the school term, a series of Lunchtime Concert is held in one of the lecture theaters in my campus. The university, in collaboration with an external sponsor, introduced this Lunchtime Concert programme as a move in exploration of (musical) arts. Invitation emails are sent to the campus community every week, for performances such as piano recitals, string quartets, traditional instrument performances, and all sorts related to musical art.

This Lunchtime Concert series had been going on for a couple of years now, and until today, never had I experienced it once. Either I did not have the time, or I simply do not bother (usually the latter :P ).

However, thanks to the influence of Nodame Cantabile drama, I had come to enjoy classical music. If I had the chance, I would like to watch a Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven's Symphony No.7, or Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2. One of the piano performances in the Nodame Cantabile live-action drama that piqued my interest was Yuuto-kun's playing of Brahm's Variations on a Theme by Paganini. Although he was a meanie in the drama, the technique was very impressive. Watching the scene, I could only think, "Wow.." The piece appeared technically difficult, but the sound was beautiful.

Thus, when I saw the invitation for the upcoming Lunchtime Concert was a Piano Recital by Juyeon Kang who will be performing Brahm's Variations on a Theme by Paganini, I was determine not to miss this one and only piano recital. Die die, also must go.



The performing pianist, Juyeon Kang, is a widely-travelled and highly sought after concert artist. She has a string of impressive credentials, and has been described as a pianist of "formidable technique and exquisite sound". I admit to having know nothing of her, but I definitely did not want to miss a live performance of Brahm's Variation on a Theme by Paganini regardless who the performing pianist is.

However, my gel electrophoresis ate up 15 mins of my time, thus when I reached the lecture theatre, Juyeon Kang had already begun her performance of Hadyn's Sonata in C. Although it was only an hour long, the recital was fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed all the pieces, especially Grieg's Wedding Day at Trouldhaugen and Brahm's Variation on a Theme by Paganini. The live performance of Brahms was beautiful. There was so much energy and spirit in the performance, that I could feel my pulse quickening at the crescendoes. Watching her play, I was impressed with the technique. Brahm's Variation of a Theme by Paganini is said to be one of the most virtuosic works of Brahms, and it is technically very difficult to play. Juyeon herself said that she took 3-4 years to master it! And she mastered it well, because I love her performance!

Now I'm just waiting for another pianist to hold a lunctime recital to perform Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 with a full-fledge orchestra......

PS: Did you know that Paganini is a historical violin virtuoso who was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span? That is considered an impossible feat even by today's standards and it was said that Paganini traded his soul to the Demon for this violinistic technique... In contrary, I think he's got some kind of genetic diseases that gave him long and flexible fingers to become such a virtouso.

～みはる～