By Mike Winter

There’s usually a lot of standing and cheering in the Final rounds of the Cliburn Competition, and today’s near-capacity audience at the Bass Performance Hall may well be hoarse.  (Those who return for more have about three hours to recover before the next round).  A few of these post-concert ecstasies remain with you for years, and today’s performances created two flashbacks to the 2005 Cliburn.  Haochen Zhang’s “Gaspard de la Nuit” brought the memory of Sa Chen’s, and Yeol Eum Son’s Prokoffiev Second Piano Concerto made me think of Joyce Yang’s.  Neither could be “better” than the other–they are just roommates in the hall of the unforgettable.

Every time Haochen Zhang sits down at the keyboard, wonderful things happen and aspects of his style appear.  One is a sense of pacing; he pauses slightly before and between sections of music, as if to let the mind absorb what has just happened, and to prepare for what is about to happen.  Another trait is an inclination toward inner voices, especially apparent in the Brahms Handel Variations, but also in the Ravel “Gaspard de la Nuit.”  Zhang’s touch and control are superb, but there is plenty of fire power when necessary, especially on the Foundation’s New York Steinway, my favorite piano. Ondine shimmered as she sang. The repeated notes in the third movement sounded like a vibrato rather than repeated notes.  The pianists mentioned above won medals here in ‘05.  Zhang should as well–all three of his recitals have been superb.  

Yeol Eum Son, James Conlon, and the Fort Worth Symphony took the stage next.  Without warning, they proceeded to blow the roof off Bass Performance Hall with a stunning performance of the Prokoffiev second concerto.   Sum must have been thinking positively when she packed for her trip to Fort Worth; every appearance has featured wonderful wardrobe. Today’s red dress suited her performance.  The audible heavy breathing during an explosive cadenza added a visceral connection, making it an R-rated event (for violence, insanity, and other connotations).  The Fort Worth Symphony, at full size for this repertoire, was fully up to the occasion–significant strides have been made over the past four years. 

To close the afternoon, Nobuyuki Tsujii joined the orchestra for the Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2. Tsujii tossed off the virtuoso passages perfectly; the melodic sections were heart-felt.  Without hint of ensemble problems, the orchestra shone, especially the string section in the crescendi of the second movement.   At the pause for the big climax of the finale, Conlon inhaled sharply and the subsequent downbeat and timpani and Nobu’s fortissimo chord all struck in unison, and they were off to the triumphant finish.

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