Halle Orchestra, Kahchun Wong conductor; Tianyao Lyu piano. Chopin Piano Concerto No.1; Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5
I decided to go to this concert mainly because of my admiration for Kahchun Wong’s conducting, and I was interested to hear what he and the Halle would make of Tchaikovsky 5 – I last heard a live performance I think about 7 years ago with the fabulous St Petersburg Philharmonic, and of course I still have Petrenko’s and the BPO’s 4th symphony metaphorically ringing in my ears from only 2 months ago – so….. no pressure………Chopin is one of my blank spots but I decided to endure the concerto for the symphony.
Tianyao Lyu is an astonishingly young pianist – just 17. According to her web site she “came to international attention at the age of 16 at the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2025, where she advanced through all stages and was awarded joint Fourth Prize and the Best Concerto Prize. Her performances were widely praised for their maturity, individuality, and emotional depth, establishing her as one of the most remarkable young artists of the competition. In June 2026, Tianyao Lyu signed an exclusive recording agreement with Decca Classics……Her debut album, Chopin, is scheduled for release in February 2027.”
There was a pretty well-booked-out hall for this concert – whether because it has two very popular works, or because of Ms Lyu (or a combination, or Mr Wong) I’m not sure. There were certainly a lot of music students in evidence. Perhaps due in part to the pint of Snake Oil IPA beer I had before the concert, I dozed in and out of consciousness during the Chopin, a vapid work I find has very few redeeming features, apart from a good tune in the first movement and a lively polonaise-type finale. Ms Lyu produced a sound of remarkable clarity, power and tightness, with some stylishly delicate phrasing – in different music I would find her playing very absorbing (and indeed whatever she played as an encore – Ravel? Something by a Chinese composer? – it was played impressively, with passion and fire). Touchingly, I noticed a small gaggle of young people at the front of the auditorium during the interval – this turned out to Ms Lyu posing with fans for selfies, and chatting to them.
The second half – thank goodness – was a very different proposition. The Halle was among the earliest performers of the symphony after its premiere – Charles Halle conducted it in Manchester on 21 January and 2 February 1893 (the symphony was completed in 1888) – and played at this performance with assurance, sensitivity and expertise. Apart from one brief wobble, there was outstanding horn playing in the famous opening to the slow movement, and from the first oboe when taking over the melody there; Strings (first and second violins were split) were sumptuously rich, and I was particularly impressed by the trumpets and trombones – this is a work where they can sound raucous, but here were choir-like, powerful but not rough-edged. I was as impressed by Kahchun Wong’s conducting of this work as I have been by his other performances. The first movement was taken at quite a slow pace, and some might say he pulled phrases around a bit too much – but I found his reading very convincing: the opening was better characterised than any performance I can remember (beautifully varied clarinet playing) and dynamics carefully graded, so that the climax of the development section stood out in powerful despair. I remember also the careful and loving string phrasing of the second subject. By contrast, the last three movements were fastish, but always sensitively expressed. Again, the brass ensured that the crashing in of the fate motif at the climax of the slow movement had maximum impact – Wong’s control of dynamics meant that volume went to a different, terrifying, level. Particularly important for me (because it sometimes sounds embarrassingly vulgar) was the pace and balance of the final triumphant return of the fate theme in E major – this was just right, so that it sounded convincing without braying trumpets and too fast a pace, again the brass contributing with a glowing warm sound; the punch and vigour of the strings in the finale was very impressive.
Although not surpassing the St Petersburg Phil’s, this was one of the best Tchaikovsky 5’s I’ve heard live!
