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…Chen is an armour-clad player of complete technique, a thinking musician, a natural Romantic. His Schubert positively glows; his boldly projected Haydn impresses for its Michelangeli-like clarity of execution. Petrushka, a marvel of exacting detail and precision attack, triumphs with the best – a powerfully coloured, authentically Russian journey. Nothing seems too difficult, yet nor is anything merely facile. The tension is perfectly gauged. It is so inevitably right that after a while you begin to wonder why everyone doesn't play like this. Pianist-watchers out for youthful urge and freshness caught on the wing will not want to miss Liszt's Ballade or Franciscan Legends. Mega-high on the wow factor, they scale the awesome…Hearing Chen spur his Fazioli is to experience a distinctive cocktail of weight, balance and onward flow, the medium and its mechanics decisively understood and controlled from within. His arsenal of gran expressione phrases, thunderbolt octaves and basaltic chords quarried from the deep, Arrau/Russian-descended is imperial, his ability to suggest colour and image through touch, timing and dynamic voicing already masterly. Young bloods come no better. |
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Sergei Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Matthias Bamert and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra ….It's no secret though, that most of the audience was there for Bobby Chen, performing Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Anyone who may have been dozing during the Prokofiev was sure to have been awakened by his captivating musical skill. His fingers seemed to dance across the keys gracefully, a masterful performance that gave rise to speculations during the interval as to his age. Perhaps that would explain the need for numerous encores and seemingly endless applause, watching poor Bobby repeatedly weave a path around chairs and musicians. |
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...Chen's touch was masterful, combining the solid, enviable technique of the Russian school with the assured elegance of his Claudio Arrau lineage...(the performance) demonstrated the amazing maturity he is capable of wielding… |
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3rd solo recital at the Wigmore Hall, London The introduction to
the ‘Pathétique’ was very slow, with long pauses, yet there was a beautifully
sustained sense of song and the Allegro was light and moderately paced with no
slowing for the second subject…‘Soirée dans Grenade’ was discretely and very
effectively underplayed, with a light spring to the rhythm and a beautifully
soft ending. The
Toccata…dangerously fast, the rhythm was electric, Chen totally at ease. In an
ideal world, there would have been a touch more devilry, but this was still
very exciting. |
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Solo CD for SOMM Recordings **** ..star at the Royal Academy, now in his late twenties, he is firmly established on the pianistic
scene. He brings out beautifully the pellucid charm of Prokofiev’s Second
Sonata, but making anything out the awkward Fourth Sonata is beyond even his
percussive pianism. The Romeo and Juliet Suite bristles with energy and
atmosphere, and Toccata coruscates. Michael Church |
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3rd solo recital at the
Wigmore Hall, London …Chen returned for an all-Prokofiev second half. His accounts of the
Ten Pieces from Romeo & Juliet Op.75 and the Op.11 Toccata being on
altogether a different level of musical understanding and artistic projection,
superbly played throughout and boding well for the success of his new
all-Prokofiev CD from SOMM (SOMMCD 089) which includes both works as well as
two Sonatas. |
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solo CD for SOMM Recordings ...Chen’s
playing is brilliant and clear, and the famous Toccata, from Prokofiev’s
earliest compositional period, provides a superb vehicle for a display of his
scintillating technique. In Sonatas Nos. 2 and 4, Bobby Chen brings biting, chattering
articulation, particularly aware in the Second Sonata of the music’s
looking-back at Rachmaninov and Scriabin, and its determination to interrupt
those musings with iconoclastic protestations. The first appearance in any form of Prokofiev’s music for the ballet
Romeo and Juliet was the suite of ten movements transcribed for piano by the
composer himself. It’s difficult for us now to cleanse our ears of the fabulous
orchestration of this music, but Chen does a marvellous job in selling these
piano versions to us… |
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Solo recital as part of the Three Choirs
Festival, Huntingdon Hall …Chen’s Debussy playing had
matured…Sometimes the layers of sound seemed to merge into one another, then
divide again and the florid right hand often sounded like Ravel’s Jeux D’eau
when the piece evokes fast-flowing water…The Beethoven Sonata, Op. 14, No. 2,
Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 4, a selection from Visions Fugitives (also by
Prokofiev) showed Chen at his best, hardly doing anything wrong. Liszt’s
Ballade No. 2 was the real find of the recital however, because this had, in
the space of one piece, all the assets that we got from the other pieces:
passages of contemplation and of bravura. The concert was a tour de force. |
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…(audiences) were treated to what must be the best recital – piano, certainly, they'll hear this season, with a recital by Bobby Chen… This is a massive talent…At times, he was carefully thoughtful, at others skittishly lightweight. (Ichiyanagi's piece, written in 2003) demonstrating Chen's ability to master a modernist's harmonic language with little difficulty. |
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Tazul
Izan Tajuddin’s Piano Concerto – Warna Yang Bernada with Pierre-André Valade
and London Sinfonietta at Cadogan Hall (world premiere performance) ...to mark the 50th anniversary of
Malaysian independence…there was a brand new work commissioned for
the occasion - a piano concerto by the Malaysian-born Tazul Izan Tajuddin…With
its Messiaen-like piano flourishes (vividly played by Bobbie/Bobby Chen) over
hazy static orchestral textures, it is attractive… |
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…Chen offered a sensitive performance of Rachmaninoff's ''Piano Concerto No. 2.'' Chen has a solid and fluid technique. He created beautiful singing melodies and crystal clear attention to inner voices. The second movement was the crown jewel of the concerto. Chen's delicate tone became one with the beautiful soft playing of the orchestra…The audience was spellbound and absolutely silent, savoring every note offered…There was an immediate and enthusiastic standing ovation. |
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….the highlight was a dazzling account of Movements from Sravinsky's Petrouchka…Chen truly has (formidable technique)..he gave a virtuoso performance, cleanly articulated, illuminating and dynamic. ….he gave the European premiere of a suite of short pieces by contemporary Chinese composer Zhang Zhao, (Zhao's) five pieces were played with obvious affection. ….a convincing account of the Haydn's Sonata in C Hob XVI:50, Chen brought out the humour and spirit in the inventive opening Allegro and the poetry in the surprisingly weighty Adagio. |
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Bobby Chen's pièce de résistance, Three movements from Petrushka, held a packed house in awe as he unleashed the full range of his formidable artistry…Here Chen's vivid virtuosity accomplished feats of brilliance with an innate sensibility to the underlying plot. His exceptional control and stunning articulation highlighted the composer's genius, garnering rapturous applause. ….Haydn's nimble wit and affectionate grace were infused in Chen's account of the Sonata in E flat, Hob.XVI/49… |
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Jacqueline du Pre Music Building,
Oxford ***** World premiere of Stilettos in the Key
of G Whimsical,
sensual, witty, intriguing…Pia de Richemont’s Stilettos in the Key of G, which
premiered last Friday, is all of these things…delivered with precision by Pia
de Richemont, who successfully engages the audience’s attention by taking on a
variety of different personae and ensuring that the pace never falters for a
moment. Blending in seamlessly are musical numbers…all played with passion and
energy by pianist Bobby Chen. In fact, much of the joy of this production lies
in the sheer quality of Chen’s musicianship. Tying in with the production is an
exhibition of Pia’s sculptures and paintings… |
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*** Syrius Piano Trio performance The very
beautiful individual playing of Elizabeth Cooney, Jane O’Hara and Bobby Chen
and their superbly balanced ensemble playing made this work a most interesting,
if disconcerting, experience…Exquisitely played, these superbly crafted works
are utterly charming. It is hard to imagine a more perfect performance.
Chopin’s lightweight, delicious Piano Trio is a joy to the ear. |
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