Over the years, guest pianists have performed with the OPO - each with their specialty; but, to me, this 21 year old Korean boy articulated the finest phrases and most delicate power of them all. His choice of Chopin revealed a flowing hand; his fast octave passages never felt forced; his voicings balanced perfectly. Flowing arm gestures seemed to pull music, like sweet taffy, out of the instrument. In the middle of a passage, Sunwoo would often gaze up in ecstasy - a sure giveaway that he has put in his 10,000 hours of practice. And to think he started playing piano at the relatively late age of 8! He must LOVE piano and piano music - there's is simply no other way.
After the Chopin, Yekwon was called out to the stage by a delighted audience to play an encore - the famous Alfred Grunfeld arrangement of music from Liszt's Die Fledermaus. This is, depending on tempo, either a rather longish display of flourishes, runs, extreme ends of the piano and detailed lyricism - and transforms, if faster - into a brilliant showstopper. It was, the latter. In fact, he took it at near impossible speed - his sweeping gesture, dexterity and power overshadowing the very few unimportant missed keystrokes. The crowd stood and cheered at it's final cadence.
Yekwon seemed surprised at the audience's reaction, and a little abashed. I love this quality; this humility. It warmed my heart. Let us all sincerely hope that the fame that will likely visit this young man man never rob him of his openness and equanimity.
Before Mr. Sunwoo played, the orchestra performed Rossini's Overture from The Barber of Seville. Ah, the pop tunes of the Romantic Cities of Europe! They still have their magic and bite! Kudos to the celli and viola sections for their show of ensemble technique. Whew! What a fun piece of music. Melodramatic full blooded Italian fun.
The smaller orchestra used risers - but some sort of black cloth adorned the entire back of the stage. It looked great, but seems to have absorbed the sound too much - the sound pressure level was much less than the previous big orchestra concerts where the back wall blocks were exposed. I don't think it was a result of the small orchestral forces because the Rossini begins with a bang and the punch was not there. Perhaps I'm losing my mind and that black veil is always there and the lesser volume was the simple result of the small forces - I'm not sure.
Thank you again OPO for another wonderful evening out in our beautiful Central Florida!
