TIEN HSIEH

• J.S. Bach-Busoni: Chorale Prelude "Ich ruf' zu dir"

“Tien Hsieh’s way with the transcriptions is forthright, and “pianistic”… she fully exploits all the piano’s dynamic and expressive capabilities... The Beethoven song cycle is tightly organized and developed; it feels like one coherent piece…”

Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International [July 2015]

“In the song-cycle transcription and in her performance of Beethoven’s last piano sonata, the pianist shows a fine lyric touch, enhanced by the fine-sounding Fazioli piano.”

Haskins, American Record Guide [May/June 2015]

“Hsieh has her commanding way with Busoni and Liszt transcriptions of Bach's Preludes...while she changes course easily and uses a 'less-is-more' philosophy to discover the full range of physical beauty in Siloti's framing of [Bach's Adagio]... She particularly excels in Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte... [Her Beethoven Sonata is] miraculous..great amplitude...warmth of phrasing... Sound is full range and natural.”

Laurence Vittes, Gramophone [March/April 2015]

“[In the Busoni transcriptions] she displays a distinctive robust architecture with its own clear rewards... The Liszt encounter with Bach [provides] a furtheropportunity for Hsieh to demonstrate her impressive technical and interpretative talents... [Hsieh's] Beethoven's Op 111 is among the more stylish of recent late sonata recordings revealing an expansive 'arietta' interspersed with futuristic 'proto-jazz' riffs.”

Howard Smith, Music & Vision [January 2015]

“[ * * * * ] ...this is some pianism of the highest caliber. [Tien Hsieh] displays a delicate yet firmly in control touch with great dexterity and a lot of tonal finesse. [Featured is a] wondrous and simply radiant performance of Beethoven’s last sonata. Hsieh has an innate understanding of the work and navigates its many pitfalls with barely a second thought. It is energetic, propulsive, and well-knitted, easily one of the best I have heard on record, and that is quite a crowd! If there is a downside to this recording it is because the Beethoven made me completely forget about [the transcriptions] that came before, and had me hankering for an all-Beethoven issue from this consummate artist. The sound is very good.”

Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition [December 2014]

“Pianist Tien Hsieh gives a first rate Beethoven C minor Piano Sonata, op.111 combined with Bach and Beethoven transcriptions that are full of wonder and fantasy... [In the Bach Prelude and Fugue in D major] Hsieh shows very fine phrasing and great dynamic contrasts... She delivers a particularly fine fugue with a lightness of touch and a fine flow, nicely phrased with a lovely spontaneity... [In An die Ferne Geliebte] she gives a performance full of wonder and fantasy, handling the changes of rhythm and mood seamlessly with a beautiful poise and lightness of touch and, again, some fine dynamic passages... [In Liszt’s transcription of the Prelude and Fugue in A minor] Hsieh builds the Prelude wonderfully from its relatively simple beginnings to passages of tremendous power and fluency with a fine breadth of playing. This really is fine Bach. There is a beautifully light and flowing Fugue revealing all of Bach’s contrapuntal lines with Hsieh bringing all her power to the more dynamic passages... Tien Hsieh is particularly impressive in the Adagio from Bach’s Sonata No.5 in F minor...This is quite exquisite playing... [Bach's Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ] is beautifully done, nicely paced and beautifully shaped. [In the Beethoven] Hsieh brings much thought and sense of structure, never allowing the tempo to run away yet with great forward flow. This is beautifully phrased playing with a clarity of line combined with a feeling of spontaneity. The slower, quieter passages are full of care before leading to a finely expressed coda... This is a first rate Beethoven Op.111. I would like to hear more from this fine pianist. She receives an excellent recording made at Blue Wave Productions, Vancouver, Canada and there are informative booklet notes.”

Bruce Reader, The Classical Reviewer [December 2014]

“Hsieh plays all the pieces with care and attention, avoiding overly grand emotive sweeps but making no attempt to perform the music with the poise and clarity that would have been expected in the Baroque era but not at the times the transcriptions were made.”

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [November 2014]

“[Tien Hsieh's] performance style, combining directness with winning warmth, helps put the music she plays on 'Mostly Transcriptions 2' across to the listener with irresistible charm... [In the Bach-Busoni Prelude & Fugue] Hsieh’s exhilarating performance exudes a spirit of confidence and a joyous exploration of Bach’s contrapuntal writing that is never dry but always filled with fresh life and meaning... Hsieh captures the spirits of both Bach and Liszt. Hsieh does this so well, in fact, that she made a believer of me where the art of Bach transcriptions is concerned. It was a genre to which I’d paid scant attention in the past. But she made me realize what a masterful transcription, and the intelligence to realize it in actual performance, can do to bring out the unsuspected beauties in the original... The program concludes with an indescribably beautiful account of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32, in which Hsieh has uproarious fun with the stomping syncopations that erupt suddenly in the last movement – a moment which must have utterly flabbergasted Beethoven’s original audiences… Hsieh’s chosen instrument, a Fazioli Concert Grand with an impressively deep and wide compass in the bass, fits her artistic profile well."

Phil Muse, Audio Society of Atlanta [November 2014]

“...her recording still honors their spirit [the original works] in the best possible way.”

Steven Smoliar, Examiner.com [September 2014]

“Beethoven’s last piano sonata, No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 was masterfully interpreted and wonderfully organized…I repeat, this account of Op. 111 was one of the most memorable and deeply moving that this lifelong Beethoven worshipper has ever heard - it was that superb!”

Harris Goldsmith, on a performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2008

“imaginatively intelligent approaches…compelling” | “Memorable Concerts of 2013”

San Francisco Examiner, on a performance of Beethoven Op. 111 in 2013

“Grand, relentless, madness explained… Serious, composed, tiny and full of music, Tien Hsieh lets her artistry on the piano express a warmth and freshness of ideas that surely none but a poet could explain.”

The Pacifica Tribune, on a performance of Schumann’s Humoresque in 2003

CLICK HERE TO SEE TIEN HSIEH'S MUSICAL AMERICA SHOWCASE

Born in Taiwan, pianist Tien Hsieh immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of nine, and began her early musical training with her mother, Sylvia. Praised for exceptional temperament, personal expressivity and insight, Hsieh has enjoyed a far-ranging career as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. Amongst her various accolades are the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, Li-Ching Cultural and Educational Foundation Grant, Distinguished Artist Award from Artists International Presentations and a cover feature on the Sacramento Talent Magazine in 2012. She has been heard on radio stations in the United States and Canada, and has appeared on PBS for the International Piano Festival in Houston. Her recital appearances include performances throughout the United States, and in Hungary, Germany and China. In 2014, she will begin a Liszt program tour at the University of Vermont, followed by Boston University, a return to the Liszt Museum in Budapest, and a recital at the Liszt Festival in Albano, Italy. As a concerto soloist, Hsieh has performed with Spokane Symphony at The Festival at Sandpoint, Redlands Symphony at Redlands Bowl, Oregon Mozart Players, Houston Civic Symphony and Manhattan Philharmonia. She received her Bachelor of Music degree as a full scholarship student at University of Houston, studying with Abbey Simon and Ruth Tomfohrde. As a scholarship student at the Manhattan School of Music, she received a Professional Studies Diploma and Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Marc Silverman. While at the Manhattan School, Hsieh received the Roy M. Rubinstein award and Bettingen Corporation Grant.

[ www.tienhsieh.com ]
  JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Transcription: Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN D MAJOR, BWV 532 “THE GREAT”
Prelude
Fugue

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Transcription: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
AN DIE FERNE GELIEBTE, OP. 98 / S.469
To the Distant Beloved
I. Auf dem Hügel sitz’ ich, spähend (On the hill I sit, peering)
II. Wo die Berge so blau (Where the mountains so blue)
III. Leichte Segler in den Höhen (Light veils in the heights)
IV. Diese Wolken in den Höhen (These clouds in the heights)
V. Es kehret der Maien, es blühet die Au (May returns, the meadow blooms)
VI. Nimm sie hin denn, diese Lieder (Take, then, these songs)

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Transcription: Franz Liszt
PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN A MINOR, BWV 543 / S.462
Prelude
Fugue

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Transcription: Alexander Siloti (1863-1945)
ADAGIO from SONATA NO. 5 IN F MINOR, BWV 1018

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Transcription: Ferruccio Busoni
Chorale Prelude: “ICH RUF’ ZU DIR, HERR JESU CHRIST”, BWV 639/177
I Cry to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
PIANO SONATA NO. 32 IN C MINOR, OP. 111
I. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato
II. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile



MSR Classics