Changyong Shin plays Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin & Enrique Granados (HD 1080p)

The award-winning South Korean pianist Changyong Shin performs Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109, three waltzes by Frédéric Chopin, and Enrique Granados' Goyescas No.1 "Los Requiebros". Recorded live at The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR, New York, on March 6, 2019.

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Passionate, inspired performances and brilliant technique are the hallmark of pianist Changyong Shin (b. 1994), First Prize winner of the 2018 Gina Bachauer International Artist Piano Competition, 2018 Rencontre Internationale des Pianistes "Prix Zygmunt Zaleski" in Paris, and 2017 Seoul International Piano Competition. With performances in South Korea, Italy, France, the UK, and across the United States, and a growing reputation for compelling interpretations, Shin is developing an international career as a soloist and chamber musician.

Highlights of Changyong Shin's 2018-2019 season include recitals at Korea's Seoul Art Center's IBK Hall; with Arts Symphony at Seoul Art Center Concert Hall and Seongnam Art Center; and recording a second album for the Steinway & Sons label for release in 2019-2020.

Recent credits include recitals at Italy's Barletta Piano Festival, the Kumho Cultural Foundation's Rising Star series, Paris' Salle Cortot Hall, New York City's Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Tennessee's Evelyn Miller Young Pianists Series. Orchestral engagements include the KBS Orchestra at Seoul's Lotte Concert Hall, Gwacheon Philharmonic Orchestra at Seoul Art Center, and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. Festival credits include France's Zygmunt Zaleski Festival, Wisconsin's Green Lake Festival of Music, and the UK's Oxford Piano Festival. Shin's acclaimed January 2018 debut CD on the Steinway & Sons label, comprising works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, was listed as one of the "Best New Recordings of 2018" by WQXR.

A native of South Korea, 24-year-old Changyong Shin holds a Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master's degree in Music from The Juilliard School, where he is currently enrolled in the Artist Diploma program.

Source: thegreenespace.org

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

♪ Piano Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109 (1820)

i. Vivace ma non troppo. Adagio espressivo
ii. Prestissimo
iii. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo


Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

♪ Waltz in E flat major, Op.18 "Grande valse brillante" (1833)
♪ Waltz in A flat major, Op.34 No.1 (1835)
♪ Waltz in A flat major, Op.42 "The Two-Four Waltz" (1840)


Enrique Granados (1867-1916)

♪ Goyescas No.1 "Los Requiebros" (1911)


Changyong Shin, piano

The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR, New York, March 6, 2019

(HD 1080p)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109

By the time Beethoven composed this work, his output had declined substantially, perhaps owing to his deafness and disappointments in life. The only complete works to emerge from the period of 1820-1823 were the last three piano sonatas, the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. Even when compared to these imposing works, the E major Piano Sonata retains its status of a masterpiece. It is a remarkable work in several respects.

The first movement has a nearly unique structure: it opens with theme marked Vivace ma non troppo that almost immediately slows to an Adagio espressivo. Thereafter, the two contrasting tempos and utterances alternate. Scarlatti and Mozart had used such a scheme before, but never in such a bold and innovative fashion. On the surface, this short movement has a serene, almost angelic quality, but, like many other works written during this period, the composition's surface is merely one dimension among many. Indeed, nothing about this sonata is one-dimensional. Thus, for example, the subdued, brightly lit realm suggested by the beginning of the works eventually leads the listener to sections where the narrative slows down, conjuring up dark shadows that intimate feelings of longing and doubt.

The second movement, given its sonata form structure would be typical of a Beethoven first movement if it were not for its terse development and extreme brevity. There are two subject groups in this Prestissimo, with the first led by an assertive theme that more than vaguely suggests Schumann's piano style. More subdued at the outset, the second subject generates tension and energy as it progresses. Following a brief development, an interesting reprise leads to a concise coda.

The finale is twice as long as the previous two movements put together. It is a theme-and-variations scheme, whose main theme is marked Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo. The melody is beautiful, in style looking toward the Romantic movement that was then in its infancy. It is tranquil yet melancholy, pleased but valedictory. Some of the six variations generate further variations either through development (the third variation), or as a result of a two-tiered layout (the second variation). While the finale contains many lively moments, it is predominantly slow-to-moderate in tempo and generally subdued, gaining in confidence as the narrative proceeds. This movement concludes with the main theme played slowly and serenely. While the ending suggests a certain peaceful resolution of life's struggles and conflicts, it also reveals a feeling of resignation which is free of conflict and fear.

Source: Robert Cummings (allmusic.com)


Frédéric Chopin: Waltz in E flat major, Op.18 "Grande valse brillante"

Fréderic Chopin composed his Waltz in E flat major, Op.18 (also known as Grande valse brillante) in 1833. It was published the following year, being his first published waltz solo piano (although he had previously written a number of waltzes that were either destroyed or published posthumously). The title "Grande valse brillante" was also given by Chopin to his Waltzes Op.34, though in practice it is usually used in reference to Op.18. Many composers, including Stravinsky and Britten, have created orchestrations of this piece.

Source: musopen.org


Frédéric Chopin: Waltz in A flat major, Op.34 No.1

With its opening fanfares the Waltz in A flat major, Op.34 No.1 immediately recalls the ballroom, where its main theme, though harmonized in sixths, is clearly happy to be. One of the longest of Chopin's waltzes, it develops a glitteringly scored episode from the fanfare before modulating to D flat major for a dreamy middle section, itself extensive enough to assume its own ternary form. The A flat material is recalled to be succeeded by a coda which seems to signal a conventionally brilliant exit but which actually proceeds to a subtly allusive ending.

Source: Gerald Larner, 2009 (hyperion-records.co.uk)


Frédéric Chopin: Waltz in A flat major, Op.42 "The Two-Four Waltz"

Frédéric Chopin composed his Waltz in A flat major, Op.42, in 1840. It is a single piece movement, with a performance time of around 4 minutes. Though none of Chopin's polonaises, waltzes, or dances in general were intended to be actually danced, this waltz has been considered appropriate for use in the ballroom.

Source: musopen.org


Enrique Granados: Goyescas No.1 "Los Requiebros"

The immensely gifted Spanish pianist and composer Enrique Granados expressed his admiration for the starkly emotional canvasses and etchings of Francisco Goya (1746-1828) in a suite of evocative piano pieces that he called Goyescas (1911). The work's subtitle, Los Majos Enamorados, indicates an intention to depict the amorous adventures of the lower classes of Spanish society, the courting rituals and social interactions of the swains (majos) and the maids (majas) inhabiting the working class neighbourhoods of Madrid in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The first piece in the set, Requiebros (irtatious compliments), begins with the tale of a pick-up line and its reception. A guitar-like ourish opens the piece with the 8-syllable rhythm of the jota, a form of Spanish popular music danced and sung to the accompaniment of castanets. These latter are picturesquely represented in the score by means of twinkling mordents, snappy triplet figures, and scurrying inner voices, the throw-away character of which figures among the major technical challenges of this piece. Tempo changes of a stop-and-start character mark the various stages of the negotiation, but the sumptuous tonal banquet offered on the last page of the score leaves listeners in no doubt whatsoever as to how rapturously the flattering initiatives referred to in the title were welcomed.

Source: vanrecital.com

More photos


See also

Sergei Redkin plays Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.30 in E major, & Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No.4 in F minor (HD 1080p)