Summerfest 2,
RSAMD, Glasgow
......And
then there was Beethoven, represented by four of his
Scottish song arrangements for George Thomson,
featuring piano trio and, in this case, soprano.
Now this might be Beethoven in
near off-duty mode, at his most relaxed and
avuncular, but the piano trio arrangements,
splendidly-played by violinist Ani Batikian, cellist
Andrew Huggin and pianist Sinae Lee in accompaniment
to soprano Fiona Scott's richly characterful
singing, were top-drawer Beethoven; there was not a
tokenistic or offhand note in these pieces, which
are miniature masterworks in their own right. We
don't hear them often enough.
Michael Tumelty (The
Herald, Glasgow)
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CD Reviews:
Karol Szymanowski, The
Complete Piano Works (Divine Art 21400)
* Pianist Magazine
Recommended Recording
* BBC Music Megazine
Benchmark Recording
(Performance:
  
Sound:    )
* Gramophone Recommended
Recording
* MusicWeb Recording
of the Month
* All Music Guide
Classical Editors'
Best of the Year 2007
It's startling how music that no one knows gradually
enters the repertory and becomes part of it — in the 1960s, the piano
music of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski was considered quite exotic
fare and very little of it was recorded. In the 1970s, pianists such as
Martin Jones, Carol Rosenberger, Felicja Blumental, and others made a
number of pioneering efforts on his behalf. By July 2007 pieces such as
Four Etudes, Op. 4; Masques; and Metopes are practically mainstream and
his "complete" piano music has been recorded at least three times before
young Korean pianist Sinae Lee has ventured forth, on her own dime, in a
three-year project to record them all herself. Undertaken between 2002
and 2005 in order to realize her doctorate in piano performance — what a
doctoral thesis! — this is now released by the Divine Art Record Company
for the public to enjoy. Lee's set is more "complete" than the others by
virtue of three minutes; namely a never-before-recorded Prelude in C
sharp minor from 1901. This is a startling find, as Szymanowski's
relatively modest known output for piano has been established for some
time and, while the existence of other, particularly early pieces, has
been postulated, his work list has proven stubbornly intractable to
expansion. Szymanowski's piano music covers his entire 35-year career as
a composer and moves with, and at times, a little ahead of, the stream
of musical developments current in his time. Lee moves right along with
the composer — she is luxuriantly romantic in the early works, free
flowing, and dynamic in the Scriabin-influenced middle works (check out
what a wonderful job she does in "Calypso" from Metopes) and pithy,
tart, and perfectly timed in the more acerbic, whimsical late works.
While the "new" prelude is very attractive, you should get this set
because it is such a terrific survey of Szymanowski's works overall, a
highly significant cycle within twentieth century piano music. Lee's
sensitive and probing performances of Szymanowski provide a marvelous,
fulfilling, and informative way to spend four hours, and chances are the
listener will not want to limit one's exposure to Karol Szymanowski: The
Complete Piano Music to just that.
Dave Lewis (All
Music Guide),
Classical Editors' Best of the Year 2007
"Immersing oneself in Szymanowski¡¯s piano
music is an exhilarating and exhausting experience. And it takes a
pianist of Sinae Lee¡¯s uncanny expertise to clarify music which, in
lesser hands, can easily make you feel as if imprisoned in a hothouse.
But whether in early Chopin-inspired Romanticism, the second period¡¯s
fin-de-siècle opulence, or the extremes to which Szymanowski takes
Scriabin¡¯s later experiments, Lee is formidably equipped. Rubinstein
himself quailed before the Second Sonata¡¯s Reger-like thickets of notes,
but even here Lee¡¯s command and lucidity are unfaltering. Elsewhere she
is as true to the spirit as to the letter of very exotic and complex
bar. She captures all of the early Prelude¡¯s angst, where the shadows of
both Scriabin and Wagner erase much sense of derivation, and she whips
up an awe-inspiring virtuoso storm in the Brahmsian fugue concluding the
Op.3 Variations. There is charm and affection, too, in the
Christmas-tree sparkle of the First Sonata¡¯s Minuet and a complete
identification with the elusive, bittersweet world of the Mazurkas, with
their teasing mix of sophistication and primitivism. The Op. 33 Etudes
form a flashing lexicon of Szymanowski¡¯s later style and, once again,
their demands are met with unflagging brio and refinement.
For the record, Sinae Lee is a Korean-born
but Glasgow-based pianist and her astonishing achievement is a rich
compensation for the absence of Krystian Zimmerman¡¯s long-awaited
Szymanowski disc. At the same time, her finely recorded four-disc set
complements highly distinguished recitals by Piotr Anderszewski and
Marc-André Hamelin."
Bryce Morrison
(Gramophone),
Recommended Recording
¡°Sinae Lee certainly has the technical
ability to master this repertory¡¦ she projects the music with a real
sense of forward momentum and intensity¡¦ managing to bring welcome
transparency of texture to the involved contrapuntal layering."
(Performance:
   ,
Sound:    )
Erik Levi (BBC Music
Magazine), Benchmark Recording
"I suspect that many professional pianists
will be mightily impressed by these recordings. Sinae Lee¡¯s release sets
new standards for the performance of Szymanowski¡¯s piano music, and her
quest for accuracy has not in any way inhibited her playing¡¯s wonderful
sense of spontaneity. I am confident that any listeners responsive to
late-Romantic music who buy this superb set will share my enthusiasm for
it."
Raymond Clarke (MusicWeb),
Recommended Recording
For a full review, click
here.
¡°There is no excuse for hesitation¡¦ a
truly rewarding experience. Jaw-droppingly good with a delivery that is
staggering in its ability to bring out the nuances within the music.
Wonderful and seemingly effortless control, immaculate phrasing and
beautiful coloration, resulting in performances I¡¯ve never heard
equalled.¡±
Steve Arloff
(MusicWeb)
For a full review, click
here.
¡°Lee is the choice¡¦her fingers are as clever
as her brain¡¦ Sinae Lee¡¯s is the complete version to have¡±
Marius Dawn (Pianist
Magazine),
Recommended Recording
"To hear the sound universe of Szymanowski
in all its splendour, one needs the love and sensitivity of Korean
pianist Sinae Lee, who offers this new performance in a brilliant
recording on Divine Art. The result, quite simply is that everything
here runs admirably right from the beginning and is quite simply
extraordinary."
Michel Tibbaut (ResMusica)
For an original full review in French, click
here.
For a translated English version, click
here.
Paul Hindemith, Konzertmusik, Op.49 for
Brass, Harps and Piano
"Paul Hindemith's Konzertstuecke for brass,
harps and piano is a remarkable piece that combines a deep theoretical
investment in contrapuntal complexity with aching moments of
expressivity. With its play between neo-classicism and a romantic idiom,
it was the pianist, Sinae Lee, who made the piece special. There was a
grace and intensity to this, notably during the third movement, Sehr
Ruhig, in which her willingness to hold back made all the difference."
Amy Parker (The
Herald ,Glasgow)
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat
Minor
"The young Korean pianist, Sinae Lee,
currently a post-graduate student at the RSAMD, is one of a select but
steadily increasing number of first-class soloists the academy is now
producing. Poised and assured, she took the formidable technical
difficulties of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto in her stride.
Perhaps there was not quite enough poetry, but there was undeniably
plenty of dash and plenty of verve."
Stephen Strugnell (The
Herald ,Glasgow)
Liszt Sonata in B Minor
Title: Young Korean student's tour de force
"Over the years I must have been through the
gamut of emotions in the concert hall. But I cannot remember having been
as shocked as I was yesterday by a wholly gripping account of Liszt's B
minor Piano Sonata which left me absolutely drained. And it was played
by a student.
Sinae Lee, a Korean postgraduate student at
the RSAMD, is not yet in her mid-twenties. Frankly, I was flabbergasted
at her performance. The Liszt sonata is (in my view) the greatest single
piano work of the nineteenth century. Behind its acres of virtuoso piano
writing, the monumental, single-movement, half-hour work is one of the
most tightly organised musical structures ever conceived, wrought from a
handful of tiny cells.
Convincing command and delivery of the huge
work requires consummate intellectual and emotional maturity (and that's
before even beginning to think about the ferocious technical demands).
Sinae Lee had the lot. Every one of the organic cells was pristine in
its clarity and function. No essential motive was lost or smudged.
Whether in the music's majestic pages, its most poetic intimacies, or
its turbulent dramas, this amazing girl had everything under control,
and, just as importantly, in balance. Her power and projection of the
music, from its tiniest detail to its grandest sweep, from the
intellectual rigours of its staccato fugue to the emotional impact of
its grandiose theme, were overwhelming."
Michael Tumelty (The
Herald, Glasgow) |