Quynh Nguyen and Friends

26th International Keyboard Institute and Festival
Merkin Hall, New York
Quynh Nguyen - Piano
Alan Kay - Clarinet
Zvi Plesser - Cello
Stefan Jackiw - Violin

July 11th, 2024

Chopin: Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1
Tailleferre: Valse Lente
Ms. Nguyen

Debussy: Prèmiere rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano
Mr. Kay
Ms. Nguyen

Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano
Mr. Plesser
Ms. Nguyen

Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
Mr. Kay
Mr. Plesser
Mr. Jackiw
Ms. Nguyen

This program of mostly French solo and chamber music centered around the Vietnamese-born pianist, Quynh Nguyen, who demonstrated her sensitivity as a soloist and her excellence as an ensemble player. A graduate of Mannes, Juilliard and the Graduate Center at CUNY her main teachers included Bella Davidovich, Jacob Lateiner. Martin Canin, Jerome Rose, and Yvonne Loriod Messiaen. Among her other accomplishments, in addition to numerous concert appearances, are recordings of the complete piano works of Paul Chihara and some of the music of Germaine Tailleferre.

The Chopin Waltz with which Ms. Nguyen began the program was high-spirited, bouncy, and almost a bit breathless.

The Tailleferre Valse Lente was new to me. It was lovely, reflective, and nostalgic with a harmonic touch of French sophistication.

The performance of the Debussy Rhapsody, which I hadn't heard in years, was impressive. Beginning with quasi-improvisatory material it features a languid, expansive melody which comes around several times. Mr. Kay played it gorgeously! This was also the first demonstration in the concert of Ms. Nguyen's ability as an ensemble player. She was always perfectly together with him, and balances between the instruments were just right.

The Cello Sonata, a work in three movements, was one of Debussy's last works. The first movement has a plaintive theme, and later a much louder section. The second movement largely consists of a staccato conversation between the instruments, with starts and stops. It leads, without pause, into the scampering and witty last movement, which ends suddenly. Mr. Plesser played beautifully, and again, the ensemble was terrific.

The second half of the program consisted of Messiaen's Quartet For the End of Time, a very large-scaled and impressive work. I have great admiration for the excellence of the performance we heard.

The Quartet has eight movements, during which Messiaen uses the instruments in different combinations.

In the first movement the clarinet is accompanied by chords on the piano, and other material, often slides, in the strings.

The second movement sounds demonic, later with ghostly meanderings and a dramatic end.

The third movement, a very long clarinet solo, with a huge range of dynamics, expression, and a forceful conclusion, displayed Mr. Kay's artistry.

The very spirited fourth movement had the strings playing in unison.

The fifth movement had an intense cello melody which was matched by the piano.

The sixth movement features lively, irregular rhythms played by all instruments in unison, sometimes even in octaves on the piano.

The seventh movement begins with an intense cello melody, accompanied by the piano. Later, it is ferocious, and cataclysmic, with great washes of sound. It ends with the clarinet melody soaring above the other instruments.

Though one would expect a finale to include all the players, the eighth and final movement is for violin, played eloquently by Mr. Jackiw, and piano accompaniment. Sometimes the melody cried out; other times it was quiet and searching. There was a huge range in dynamics and in the tessitura of the violin part. And like at least one other movement, it eventually faded out to nothing.

The performance was enthusiastically received by the audience.