Review | Young Chinese-Canadian pianist Bruce Liu shows his artistry has no limits in thrilling, mature Hong Kong recital of works by Chopin, Ravel and Liszt
- Young Canadian showed why he won the 2021 International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition with his poise, natural lilt and maturity in two works by the composer
- Liu was equally at home in Ravel’s impressionistic Miroirs, and his no-holds-barred display in Liszt’s take on Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni was breathtaking
Paris-born Canadian pianist Bruce Liu thrilled and enchanted in a cracking recital for the 51st Hong Kong’s Arts Festival, delivering inspired Chopin playing, an alluring and impressionistic Ravel interpretation, and a brilliant performance of Liszt’s fiendishly difficult Réminiscences de Don Juan.
With Liu crowned winner of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 2021, it was practically a given that both of the chosen Chopin works would impress.
And that they did.
Liu’s dexterous touch and whimsicality in the opening Rondo à la Mazur delighted from the word go. The poise and precision in the 25-year-old’s execution of trills and ornamentation, and the incredibly natural mazurka dance lilt in his playing, were uncanny and belied his years.
Completely unfazed by the latecomers allowed to trickle into the auditorium between works, Liu sat at the piano perfectly still and focused, patiently awaiting an opportune moment to launch into the grave opening of the second Chopin piece – Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor.
