An amazing display of piano virtuosity
On Monday evening last week, the Dutch-born, 30-year-old Korean pianist, Gile Bae, gave a one-hour recital as part of the Absolute Music series at the Royal Opera House of Musical Arts — her second visit to Muscat. Gile was born in Rotterdam and gave her first solo recital in South Korea at the age of five. She studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and went on to win many awards and accolades. She specialises in Bach interpretation and won first prize in the International Steinway Piano Competition — small wonder then that she opened her programme with two Bach Toccatas, followed by the complete cycle of 24 Preludes by Chopin, Op. 28.
On Sunday, Gile Bae gave a workshop for piano students from several Muscat schools for the ROHM Education and Outreach programme.
Dressed in her smart signature black suit, she performed the entire programme from memory.
Beginning with Bach’s Toccata in E minor BWV 914, she played with the accuracy and intensity one might expect from a multi-award winner, but her rendition surpassed expectation, with her precise articulation throughout and drawing a wide dynamic range from the House Steinway Grand piano.
The second Toccata in C minor BWV 911 demonstrated clearly defined subject (motivic) entries in fugal passages, dazzling finger technique — especially in parallel thirds, virtuoso runs and sustained dynamic contrast in a flawless execution.
However, the choice of programme was seriously highbrow for a free community concert, and while the audience were respectfully quiet and attentive for the most part, the sustained intensity was demanding. Bach is a specialist area of musical study and of course, Bach wrote for harpsichord as the piano had not yet been invented!
The lush, romantic language of Frédéric Chopin’s book of 24 Preludes was a complete contrast. The same height of virtuoso technique heard in the Bach now found expression in the early 19th-century repertoire written specifically for piano. Superb left-hand arpeggio patterns played at speed underpinned delicate melodic figures in the right.
The famous Third Prelude, often played by young students, was performed effortlessly, reaching a dramatic climax at just the right moment, confirming Gile’s refined sense of dramatic timing. Later pieces reflected flamboyant runs, left-hand melodies brought beautifully to the fore; the whole was understated yet compelling, focused, and poised.
The 7th in A major, beloved by young pianists, was poignant and restrained, followed by the 8th in F# minor in virtuosic contrast, brilliantly dazzling like tonal fireworks. The tenth in C# minor, with very fast, rippling finger work, was executed with superb precision. It was followed by a passionate virtuoso piece played with lyrical expression, cooling to quintessential Chopinesque romanticism, full of pathos and melodic invention over his signature arpeggiated left hand.
No.15, “The Raindrop,” is one of Chopin’s most famous, beloved by pianists and teachers alike and was delicately interpreted with its off-beat melody. It moves to a minor key of foreboding, building to a striking statement; emphatic, purposeful, and measured, falling away with convincing restraint and precision by Bae in a spellbinding conclusion.
No. 16 in Bb minor with its sparkling, dazzling runs in a fast perpetuum mobile is considered to be the hardest of Chopin’s Preludes and was performed with explosive precision on Monday.
No. 18 in F minor is well-known but fiendishly difficult with its impossibly fast chromatic runs and trills, punctuated by broad chords, using the entire range of the keyboard. It was followed by a light, playful prelude indulging in chromatic, romantic harmony.
The famous, C minor “Funeral March” no.20, opened with proudly declared chords played with measured control by Bae, followed by the tender Bb major, melting in restrained pathos as it faded to its peaceful conclusion.
The childishly innocent, wonderfully simple 23rd in F major was delivered ‘delicatissimo’ without a hint of dramatic tension leading to the Finale in D minor. It is a thrilling display of virtuosity, Chopin at his darkest, most moody with its deep left-hand bass and demonstrative, relentless insistence, concluded with conviction a 55-minute recital, without a break, in an utterly flawless programme.
Bae did return to the stage to perform Chopin’s ‘Souvenir de Paganini’ for her encore, a very lyrical, simple Neapolitan song with light flourishes to embellish the theme. Sadly, the audience did not share the pianist’s attention span for her dazzling runs, broken chords, and octaves. But Bae has proved herself to be one of the finest young performers of our time.