Bion Tsang's appearance with violinist Scott Yoo and pianist John Novacek in a Notable Encounter at Festival Mozaic on November 2, 2013, is now available for viewing on YouTube.
Bion Tsang is back on American Public Media's Performance Today. Bion's performance of the Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme with conductor Roberto Abbado and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra highlights the first hour of the broadcast. The recording comes from the last of four concerts and was made at Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis, MN.
Performance Today is broadcast on 260 public radio stations across the country and is heard by about 1.3 million people each week. To find out where and when Performance Today is broadcast in your area, visit performancetoday.org.
For the second consecutive year, Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News lists Bion Tsang's performance as one of the ten best of the year. In his article "The year in classical music: These 10 performances hit the highest notes," he writes:
"With musicians assembled from hither and yon, concerts in this series don’t always jell. But, apart from pianist Meng-Chieh Lu’s tendency to overplay, this one was a winner, with violinist Nai-Yuan Hu, violist Scott Lee and, especially, cellist Bion Tsang. It was also another demonstration of the acoustical marvels of the Dallas City Performance Hall."
Giuseppe Tartini's Grave ed espressivo, from his Concerto in D, for Cello and Piano has been added to the Performance Library. Bion Tsang's performance with pianist Craig Sheppard was part of a concert celebrating the life of cellist Toby Saks, longtime Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society. The memorial concert took place on October 14, 2013 in the Taper Auditorium at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. To listen to the performance (and others) in their entirety, Launch the Music Player.
Concert Review
The Boston Musical Intelligencer Boston, MA October 27, 2013
Sonic Light from Chinese Chamber Players
“Light and Shadow” at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall Saturday night was sponsored by the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, a worthy non-profit organization devoted mainly to boosting young Chinese musicians and artists. The pianist and three string players who appeared in various combinations through the evening were well beyond boosting.
Felix Mendelssohn’s Sonata for cello and piano No. 2, opus 58, composed for his cellist brother Paul, allows the piano and cello to perform as equals in this lively pairing so carefully balanced. The startling full-bore opening in allegro assai vivace by Bion Tsang’s powerful cello established themes and moods to follow. Tsang’s playing, reflected in his telegraphing smiles and frowns, was something close to exquisite. But the most interesting movement to this reviewer was the second, which sets off in allegretto scherzando with Meng-Chieh Liu’s lively piano theme, echoed in pizzicato by the cello. Soon Tsang took over with a second theme backed by Liu’s lush yet transparent playing. The extended molto allegro vivace finale recalls Mendelssohn’s classic “Spinning Song” from the Songs Without Words, as the tempo increases to feverishly.
With storied Meng-Chieh Liu at the piano and his three partners, cellist Bion Tsang, violist Scott Lee and violinist Nai-Yuan Hu, this ad hoc but very simpatico group of established pros played as if they had been touring together for years. In fact they had recently played the same Faure in Chicago and Dallas, and the experience showed.
The foursome launched into the quartet with an allegro molto moderato piano theme soon taken up by the violin, then passed around and developed by tout l’ensemble. The scherzo changes the mood to a delightful, spirited solo piano opening echoed by pizzicato strings. The theme and its echo recur twice as the scherzo races on. A deeply emotional adagio follows, richly melodic, finally giving way to the surprisingly big sound of the allegro molto finale. By the end, a listener to these seasoned players is virtually floating airborne.
Perfection of ensemble is not all that matters, even though we got a successful marriage of four strong personalities whose individuality was not subsumed: Liu was the expansive visionary and colorist, Hu the bel canto singer, Lee the Ethel Merman (“Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”), and Tsang the dominating swashbuckler.
By Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson is a former Moscow correspondent who writes on music for the International Herald Tribune, Clavier Companion, and other publications. He divides his time between Bordeaux and Brookline.