With an equally gifted pianist, cellist Tsai’s NY debut makes first-rate chamber music
Musicians dream of making an impressive New York debut, and cellist Benett Tsai’s recital Wednesday in Merkin Concert Hall was certainly that. But it wasn’t only that.
The winner of last year’s Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions bypassed the usual cello showpieces in favor of piano-heavy works by the likes of Ginastera, Beethoven, and Brahms. And he found a partner in pianist Hyejin Kim, whose energy, tonal range and imagination were on a par with his own.
The result was an exceptional evening of chamber music, two musicians of exceptional gifts communicating vividly with each other and with the audience.
A debut recital is a call for attention, and Tsai opened his with a beauty, the bold, sonorous solo cadenza that begins Ginastera’s Pampeana No. 2. Pianist Kim quickly established that she would be no shrinking-violet accompanist, pounding out the gaucho rhythms on her wide-open Steinway grand one minute and opening spaces for cello rhetoric the next.
Evoking scenes of life on Argentina’s vast plains, the duo smoothly negotiated Ginastera’s constant tempo changes and contrapuntal dialogue. Toward the end, a moment of rapt pianissimo seemed to evoke the night sky over the pampa before a vigorous malambo dance closed the piece.
Beethoven composed his variation sets for the home music market, and there was a feeling of convivial dialogue as pianist and cellist took turns stating and varying the duet “Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In the composer’s time, a well-to-do household might include a proficient young lady pianist, but it’s unlikely her swains had the imagination and the cello chops Tsai exhibited Wednesday night.
Together, the players wove moods ranging from melancholy to playful and explored the high and low registers of their instruments, especially in the arioso minor-key variation at mid-piece. A humorous Beethoven “hesitation” coda capped off an exceptionally colorful rendition of the work.
Samuel Barber’s Cello Sonata is another chamber piece composed by a pianist, and furthermore one who knew his Brahms. Writing for himself and a gifted Curtis classmate, young Barber spared neither instrument in the vigorous first movement. Yet even while plunging ahead in Barber’s tight sonata form, Wednesday’s artists constantly adjusted balances to vary the texture and bring out important melodic lines.
Barber was also a singer, and this sonata’s Adagio put Tsai squarely in the spotlight, pouring out a long melody with burnished tone and finely gauged rubato and portamento, then matching wits with Kim’s scintillating piano in the Presto middle section.
The last movement was effectively a theme and variations, though not so labeled. As in the Beethoven, the piano led the way through this volatile music, by turns stormy, expressive and whimsical, with the cello commenting and elaborating, until the players joined for the bracing marcato finish.
The Barber piece in particular was a reminder of Tsai’s good judgment in partnering with a true peer for his debut recital. Far from diverting the spotlight from the cellist, Kim’s vivid playing stimulated Tsai to respond in the moment, with richly rewarding results.
Following intermission, Tsai came on stage alone to play Penderecki’s extravagant Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, virtually a catalogue of advanced cello techniques. Passages of shrieking, scratching and slapping alternated with bowed phrases and harmonics, as Tsai played on every part of his instrument including the bridge, the tailpiece, and even the tail gut at the very bottom of the instrument.
The novelty of the techniques was soon eclipsed, however, by the emotional force of Tsai’s deeply committed performance. One could sense the greatness of spirit in the challenging music of this Polish master.
Pianist Kim returned for yet another chamber piece by a pianist, Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38. Clearly voicing this composer’s distinctive piano sound—melodies in octaves over a sonorous lower register—Kim avoided thickness and left room for Tsai’s cello to mix in naturally, to the point where it was almost hard to tell who was playing what.
The Allegretto quasi Menuetto, one of those mid-tempo movements Brahms favored for the middle of a work, was dancing-bear music, light on its feet yet substantial. The instruments’ delicate dialogue contrasted with the rubato trio section, as delightfully swimmy as an aquarium.
Kim’s powerful piano pushed Tsai to athletic heights in the finale, as the duo slipped in and out of running triplets and engaging tunes as easily as a favorite pair of jeans. A gypsy-style Brahms coda brought the piece, and this rewarding recital, to a hilarious finish.
One could have listened to this pair play for hours, but had to settle for a single brief encore, Saint-Saëns’s lyrical Romance in F major, Op. 36.
Young Concert Artists presents soprano and pianist Chelsea Guo, with pianist Eden Chen, in works by Fauré, Chopin, Ravel, Ives, Viardot, Weill, Sondheim and others, Feb. 6, 2025 at Merkin Concert Hall. yca.org
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