Songs of Love
Jenny Q Chai is a phenomenon… a pianist of incredible talent, at home in core repertoire and a champion and noted interpreter of 20th century and contemporary works, as well as working to develop new interactive music score software and teaching in China and the USA. She founded and manages the Face Art Institute, a Shanghai-based body devoted to international exchange of music and musicians and served on the board of Ear to Mind, the contemporary music organization in New York. Her other work as well as her concert schedule is too extensive to be listed here; she is currently based both in Shanghai and in California where she is a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley.
The New Yorker described Jenny as “A pianist whose dazzling facility is matched by her deep musicality”. On top of all that she also projects a modern and liberated self image.
Jenny has a special connection with Robert Schumann, whose work she learned from her esteemed first teacher at the Curtis Institute, the late Seymour Lipkin, with whom she studied from the ages of 12 to 19. She has a special love for Kreisleriana which she says never grows old but ’ lives inside of you’. Hence the title, “Songs of Love”.
This album which presents Kreisleriana together with two movements by Bach and Ives is Jenny’s tribute to Seymour Lipkin who she calls ‘my music grandpa’. It is also a very fine recital by a superbly talented musician who is gathering fans like a rock star.
Track Listing
- Aria from the 'Goldberg' Variations, BWV 988 (6:40)
- 'The Alcotts' from Piano Sonata No. 2 (the 'Concord') (8:40)
- I. Äusserst bewegt (3:06)
- II. Sehr innig und nicht zu rach (10:01)
- III.Sehr aufgeregt (4:49)
- IV. Sehr langsam (3:21)
- V. Sehr lebhaft (3:33)
- VI. Sehr langsam (4:00)
- VII. Sehr rasch (2:51)
- VIII.Schnell und spielend (4:04)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750):
Charles Ives (1874-1954):
Robert Schumann (1810-1856):
Kreisleriana, Op.16
Reviews
“Jenny Q is being lined up as the Nigel Kennedy of piano. This is her first album of classical pieces, after previously releasing more modern music. An impressive album.
” —Jeremy Condliffe
“Chai’s fascinating manipulation of her instrument is just so admirable… her inimitable and meticulous finger acrobatics make for a very exciting listen. Her unparalleled attention to detail and mesmerizing ability make for interpretations that warrant repeated listens.
”
“Commendable for sterling performances but even more imaginative programming. Chai shows herself to be a solid interpreter of works from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries… controlled, thoughtfully paced, and delicate treatment.
” —Ron Schepper
“Intended as a tribute to pianist and pedagogue Seymour Lipkin with whom Jenny Q Chai studied, this album invokes his guiding spirit. Chai’s performance (of the Ives) resonates with mighty, sweeping chords and richly tender arpeggios that fade into a literary utopia. Kreisleriana appears to be Chai’s calling card, and she lavishes forceful, Florestan-inspired articulation in concert with her poetical musings.
” —Gary Lemco
“A change of pace for the artist who is known for her performances of avant-garde and contemporary music. Her performance is impassioned and shows off more of her technical virtuosity coupled with her fine sense of line and lyrical interpretation. It all sounds so effortless in her hands that it entrances the listener. Highly recommended.
” —Steven Kennedy
“It has that required aristocratic distinction mixed with a feeling of spontaneity as Chai reveals the work’s full beauty coupled with much forceful brilliance.
” —David Denton
“A solo piano recital that’s illuminated with quiet fire and spirit that shows how cultural clichés are about to be smashed. This is a true hot, new find.
” —Chris Spector
“Jenny Q Chai shows her mastery in a sweeping performance; the music comes alive and breathes a freshness few performances are able to capture. There is not a whiff of academia in her playing. Her Fazioli sounds forth with power and all the color one could wish for.
” —Alan Becker
“Kreisleriana, always highly expressive, gets a passionate and involving reading here: Chai is very impressive in the way she contrasts the hard-driving passages with the delicate, quietly lyrical ones. Chai makes The Alcotts a simple, genuine, rather straightforward movement expressing warmth, affection and a certain level of delicacy – a very strong contrast indeed to the Schumann heard afterwards.
” —Mark J, Estren
