Joshua Han seems to be quite an extraordinary young man. At the ripe old age of six, he was awarded his first gold medal in the city of Sydney Eisteddfod. At the age of 10, yes 10, he earned his Licentiate of Music and, at ages 12 and 13, he achieved prizes in International piano competitions in Germany and Denmark and at age 11 he was a finalist in Australia’s Got Talent!
On Wednesday 18th September, Joshua Han presented a lunchtime recital as part of St James Church Wednesday Concert Series and in preparation for the upcoming Australian National Piano Awards in October. The title of the concert was MOZART BEYOND AND BACK, a most apt title, as this concert turned out to be a most interesting musical journey.
Mozart’s Nine Variations On A Minuet by Duport opened the concert. Written in 1789 towards the end of Mozart’s life, I hadn’t heard this work before. It was a work filled with elegance and grace, so typical of Mozart’s piano work and beautifully and crisply articulated by the artist.
Next stop on the ride was Franz Liszt’s – Apres une lecture du Dante. Written in 1837, Liszt referred to the work as a ‘fantasia quasi sonata’. It is a huge fantasia and reflects the journey through hell, purgatory and finally paradise; its themes reflect huge pain and also ecstasy and heavenly joy. A huge work that was grand, intense, 16 minutes long and obviously technically very challenging. Joshua Han carried his audience with him for the whole of the 16 minutes, enthralled, and at the end of this work my fellow piano ‘tragics’ and I turned to each other and all we could say was, Wow!The rest of the concert was devoted to shorter works, and we entered the modern era. Ravel’s Mirrors III (1904), the Garden of Eden III, The Serpent’s Kiss, William Bolcom and Freddie Mercury’s Bohemian Rhapsody arranged by Russian Alexey Kurbatov were all impressive.
I particularly enjoyed the Bolcom work. William Bolcom is an American Pulitzer Prize winning composer. This work, written in 1974, ranged from ragtime jazz to whole arms crashing on the keyboards, to percussive knuckle accompaniment. If you haven’t heard of this work, you should find it on YouTube and listen – it is truly worth it.
The finale was very interesting. We all know Mozart’s Turkish March. This was a concert arranged by Arcadi Volodos in 1997. It was Mozart but entirely modern. Would Mozart turn in his grave? No! He would have loved it – so playful, so joyful, so much energy.
Joshua Han has obviously truly deserved the accolades and prizes he has received so far and this concert showcased his fabulous technique and complete mastery of his instrument as well as complete empathy with the music he had chosen. I’m sure we shall hear a lot more from him.
St James church, celebrating its bicentenary this year is a picturesque venue, and it was lovely sitting back listening to beautiful music as the soft afternoon light permeated the church. I did think the stone floors and high church ceilings diminished dynamic range a little. Even so, I was surprised not more city workers attended this concert – such a great way to relax at lunchtime.
