$14.95 ~ MS1263
"Min
Kwon, Korean-American pianist who studied at both the
Juilliard
School
and the Curtis Institute of Music, is much in demand these days as both
recitalist and teacher. This new MSR release, the pianist’s solo debut on
record, immediately shows us why. Her suppleness of finger, elegant phrasing and
expert use of the rhythmic flexibility known in music as rubato,
all serve to raise this Schubert/Liszt recital well above the ordinary.
That
last-named attribute of her playing is very important in Schubert’s Sonata
in D Major, D850, a work I’d previously under-rated because I’d heard
too many foursquare, eight-to-the-bar performances of it. This one gets it
right. Other critics have praised Min’s readings for being elegant and
well-proportioned. Without denying any of that, I’d like to focus on her fire
and conviction. She sets the strong rhythmic basis right from the start in the
opening Allegro, as well as the harmonically adventuresome quality that is a
hallmark of Schubert. The slow movement, marked Con
moto (with movement) has more animation than we might expect, beautifully
contrasted with the brooding main theme.
By
the same token, the playful scherzo, marked Allegro
vivace, has an unexpectedly serious trio. The jaunty march that forms the
basis of the final Rondo poses interpretive challenges for the pianists that are
even more formidable than the technical ones. Min Kwon’s answer to them makes
the finale a pure delight. At 38 minutes, this sonata may seem overlong for the
material, but with a performance like this, who cares?
The
Liszt portion of the program begins with the composer’s transcription of
Schubert’s song “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel,” in which Goethe’s
heroine poured out her tale of grief: “My peace is gone, my heart is heavy.”
As Min shows us, the trick here is to work the magic of key and tempo changes
against a steady whirring accompaniment (which is what spinning wheels do) to
build up the emotion to a climax, then a sudden stop as Gretchen remembers the
ecstasy of Faust’s kiss.
“Gnomenreigen”
(Dance of the Gnomes) is an impish delight, a tricky bit of legerdemain in which
we can almost see the little creatures at their sport. The recital concludes
with Liszt’s incredible Don Juan Fantasy, which develops three themes from
Mozart’s Don Giovanni in a way that
serves as a capsule of the opera’s color and excitement. Throughout the
Fantasy, Min shows the brilliant passagework, the expressiveness of Liszt’s
sonorous chords, and the dazzling sweep of one of his most striking solo works."
Atlanta
Audio Society ~ May 2008
"outstanding"
The New York Times
"very impressive"
The Daily Telegraph
"performances of unruffled
clarity, finesse, and elegant proportions"
New
York Concert Review
* * *
Korean-American
pianist Min Kwon’s
activities as a performer and teacher have taken her to all 50 states in the USA
and to 45 countries on five continents. She has appeared at festivals of Aspen,
Ravinia, Cape & Islands, Caramoor, Colmar (France), Freiburg, Salzburg,
Kuhmo (Finland), and Prague. As a soloist, she has performed with the
Philadelphia Orchestra, North Carolina, Atlanta, New Jersey, Delaware, and Fort
Worth symphonies, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra at Avery Fisher
Hall, among many others. She has also toured extensively with the Orquesta
Estaudo de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfornica Venezuela, and with all of the major
orchestras in Korea, including the Seoul Philharmonic, Korean Symphony, KBS
Orchestra, Puchon and Daejun Philharmonic Orchestras. She has collaborated with
such conductors as James Conlon, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, John Giordano, Alan
Gilbert, and Vaktang Giordania, and as a chamber musician, with principal
players of the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra,
and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Min Kwon has also given more than 200
joint recitals under the auspices of CAMI and IMG Artists with violinist Yoon
Kwon. During the 2000-2002 seasons, Min Kwon was also the principal keyboardist
of Chicago Civic Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, appearing in many orchestral
and chamber performances at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. Recent season highlights
include a critically-acclaimed solo recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall
and London’s Steinway Hall, and concerto appearances with the Bacau
Philharmonic in Italy, New York Sinfonietta in New York, and performances in
Finland, Norway, Estonia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Grand Prize winner of KBS
Seoul Emerging Artists Award, Kwon was also the winner of Juilliard’s coveted
Gina Bachauer International Award and has captured more than a dozen top prizes
at competitions in the US, Spain, Italy, and Scotland. In demand as a teacher
and adjudicator, Kwon has taught in summers at Kuhmo International Chamber Music
Festival in Finland, International Keyboard Institute in Korea, Vladimir
Feltzman Piano Summer in New York, and Ameropa International Chamber Music
Festival in Prague. She has also been a guest faculty at London’s Royal
College of Music and Singapore’s National University, and regularly
adjudicates numerous competitions. She has taught piano and chamber music at The
Juilliard School, and since 2002 has been on the piano faculty of the Mason
Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Ms. Kwon earned
her Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of nineteen,
MM and DMA from The Juilliard School, and has also pursued post-doctoral studies
in Salzburg.
