Honens Piano Podcast

Today we feature 2022 Quarterfinalist Minkyu Kim. Born in South Korea and a graduate of Seoul National University, Minkyu continues his studies in Scotland, where he’s enjoyed many performances with Scottish ensembles.

Enjoy!
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Watch the video edition of this excerpt here.

This week, we are pleased to share a 2022 Quarterfinalist with an interesting Calgary connection. Chinese pianist Yangrui Cai participated in Morningside Music Bridge, the prestigious international training academy for young musicians that was hosted by Mount Royal University until 2015, then was administered by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

In this excerpt, you'll hear Yangrui perform the first two movements—Russian Dance and Petrouchka’s Room—from Stravinsky's Petrouchka.
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Watch the video edition of this excerpt here.

In this episode, you'll hear a masterwork—Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor Op. 36, performed by 2018 Honens Semifinalist Stefano Andreatta.

Rachmaninov composed his piano music for himself. He was an amazing virtuoso with a secret weapon ... enormous hands! With his fingers spread, his reach was 12 notes wide, or an octave and a half. Those big intervals are an extra challenge for other pianists learning his work.

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Watch the video edition of this excerpt at honens.com/home.

This week, we head back to the 2015 Honens International Piano Competition to a performance from Semifinalist Yoon-Jee Kim. In her Semifinals Solo Round, Yoon-Jee played Charles-Valentin Alkan's arrangement of Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major.

There has been lots of speculation about how this piece got its nickname, "Surprise Symphony." According to one colourful account, it was during a performance when Haydn, serving as conductor, impulsively altered the dynamics in the second movement. "Haydn had already given the downbeat to begin the movement when the gentle snores of a front-row patron piqued his sense of humour. He and his musicians forged ahead with the little theme until reaching its final chord, for which Haydn cued an immense fortissimo (loud tone) bringing the drowsy patron to his feet."

Enjoy, but beware of listening while drowsy!

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Watch the video edition of this excerpt at honens.com/home.

In 2018, Honens International Piano Competition Semifinalists chose between four programs in the collaborative round. Semifinalist Adela Liculescu chose the program that included Gabriel Fauré's Violin Sonata No. 1.

About the piece, Fauré's former piano teacher, Camille Saint-Saëns, said: "In this sonata you can find everything to tempt a gourmet: new forms, excellent modulations, unusual tone colours, and the use of unexpected rhythms. A magic floats above everything, encompassing the whole work, causing the crowd of usual listeners to accept the unimagined audacity as something quite normal. With this work Monsieur Fauré takes his place among the masters.”

It's no wonder the piece is one of Jon Kimura Parker's favourites.
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Watch the video edition of this excerpt at honens.com/home.