A great pianist is born at live concert
Hai-Jie Ren, October 6, 2005
“A while ago, I attended a solo recital by pianist Hung-Kuan Chen. I can only use the word ‘awe’ to describe my feelings. ...
At the concert his first challenging task is Beethoven’s fourth Sonata opus 7. Right from the beginning Hung-Kuan Chen
demonstrates how fantastically this Allegro con brio movement is constructed, for every phrase has received careful
consideration.”
Gentle poetry, dark fire
Andreas Schubert, Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 5/6, 2003
“The unobtrusive man seems almost fragile as he crosses the stage to open the Holzhauser Musiktage-but once seated at
the piano, his enormous presence is remarkable. The Taiwanese Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen played works by Chopin,
Beethoven, Liszt and Bartok in the Reithalle of Gut Ried in Ammerland last Thursday-and transported his listeners into a two-
and-half hour long realm of musical ecstasy.”
A pianist transformed by his trials
Richard Dyer, Globe Newspapers, January 31, 2006
“Hung-Kuan Chen is back in prime technical form after years of struggle following an injury, but those years have made him a
different pianist, and a better one.”
Pilgrimage in the sound of piano
Yang Yan-Di, Shanghai, January 30 2005
“This was an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime musical pilgrimage... the air in the He Lu Ting Concert Hall at the Shanghai
Conservatory nearly froze, as the pianist’s whole-hearted performance mirrored the intense concentration of the audience,
creating a precious energy field in the atmosphere. ... This concert immediately became one of the hottest topics among the
Chinese pianists and the members of the Shanghai Conservatory...”
Reviews
[2]
[3]
Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen Impressive At Yale
http://articles.courant.com/2010-12-02/entertainment/hc-review-chen-concert-20101202_1_nocturnes-horowitz-piano-concert-career
"Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen, a visiting professor of piano at Yale, played in Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale Wednesday evening. Chen is a veteran of the Boston musicalscene, where is on the piano faculty of New England Conservatory.
During the close of the Liszt Sonata in B minor, he lit the piano in a bright F-sharp major. Then he stopped and the sound lingered. And lingered. Chen remained frozen. The Horowitz piano continued to glow and the sound changed color as the overtones and resonances simmered. .
Throughout this most familiar work, Chen found ways to allow us to hear new and unusual ideas."
http://articles.courant.com/2010-12-02/entertainment/hc-review-chen-concert-20101202_1_nocturnes-horowitz-piano-concert-career
"Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen, a visiting professor of piano at Yale, played in Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale Wednesday evening. Chen is a veteran of the Boston musicalscene, where is on the piano faculty of New England Conservatory.
During the close of the Liszt Sonata in B minor, he lit the piano in a bright F-sharp major. Then he stopped and the sound lingered. And lingered. Chen remained frozen. The Horowitz piano continued to glow and the sound changed color as the overtones and resonances simmered. .
Throughout this most familiar work, Chen found ways to allow us to hear new and unusual ideas."