Bruce Liu Plays Chopin (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
劉曉禹在華沙凱旋後的優勝者獨奏會，在YouTube轉播後由DG發行成唱片。選曲上算是頗全面齊集蕭邦的不同格式及風格，所以我也可以坦白說我不喜歡劉曉禹，暫時來說。
有三個原因，首先是搶板頗為作狀，為改變音長而改變音長，而不是某個音特別需要強調而去伸長。另外是發音上頓奏感太強，幾乎是以頓奏作為基本的發音，音符分得太開。這點也跟發音上的另一缺陷有關，就是聲音缺乏實感，一彈下去就是撞下去那一下，那就令如歌感對我來說太弱，因為聲音無法呼吸又怎能歌唱呢，就是我不喜歡他的第三個原因。
Recorded live and streamed on YouTube, this winner’s recital by Bruce Liu was released as CD, for those who wish to own a piece from the latest Chopin prizewinner. The repertoire is a well-selected sample of various Chopin formats and styles. Therefore I have the nerve to say that I felt quite averse towards this pianist.
There are three things that I found questionable. Firstly, his contrived rubato. He seemed to alter a note’s duration just for the sake of it, instead of juicing a certain note. And then his staccato-ing everything, so the notes were too far apart. This was consequential to another shortcoming (at least in my opinion) of his tone production: the lack of body. The notes could hardly sustain beyond the initial attack and so I don’t consider his cantabile valid, and that’s my third objection to this latest winner from Warsaw.