Review: Jian Liu recital

A remarkable recital by Wellington pianist Jian Liu at the Concert Chamber was a fitting way for the Rotorua Music Federation to celebrate New Zealand Music Month.

His technical finesse, mercurial fingers and crystalline purity in the quieter passages marked him as someone to watch.

The programme had fantasias by five composers, imaginative works which don't fit into any standard musical form.

His interpretations were often inventive though unexpected changes sometimes interrupted the flow of ideas.

Surprise was used to good effect in C.P.E. Bach's Fantasia in C where the expressive performance revealed the piece as a foretaste of styles used by the great composers to come.

In his Fantasia, Beethoven had thrown in what seemed an assortment of unrelated thematic fragments, but when sewn together they made a colourful musical patchwork quilt.

In the other fantasias by Mozart, Schubert and Liszt, whose so-called Dante Sonata describes the wild ride of the soul into hell, Liu's playing brought home a feeling of composers tossing ideas about.

After such a rich diet, the simple encore of Liu Yang River by Jian Zhong Wang made a fine finale.

What: Jian Liu recital

When: Monday night

Where: Rotorua Concert Chamber