Hung-Kuan Chen, piano

horow itz p ia no s eri es Boris Berman, Artistic Director

Hung-Kuan Chen piano

morse recital hall February 8, 2012 Wednesday at 8 pm Late Beethoven Sonatas

Robert Blocker, Dean

hung - kua n ch en, p iano Horowitz Piano Series • Boris Berman, Artistic Director February 8, 2012 • Sprague Memorial Hall

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827

Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 I. Mit Lebhatigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen

Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 I. Allegretto, ma non troppo II. Vivace alla marcia III. Adagio, ma non troppo, con affetto IV. Allegro

intermission

Sonata No. 29 in B- flat major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier” I. Allegro II. Scherzo: Assai vivace III. Adagio sostenuto IV. Introduzione: Largo – Fuga: Allegro risoluto

As a courtesy to the performers and audience, turn off cell phones and pagers. Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.

About the Artist

Hung-Kuan Chen is one of the great personalities of the music world: enigmatic, brilliant, and versatile. He is a pianist of uncompromising individuality and an inspiring pedagogue. Born in Taipei and raised in Germany, Mr. Chen’s early studies fostered strong roots in Germanic Classicism, which he tempered with the sensibility of Chinese philosophy; the result is a dynamic and imaginative artistry. He is regarded as an extraordinary interpreter of Beethoven’s music.

Mr. Chen’s career was launched when he won first prize in the Young Concert Artists’ Auditions, which presented his New York debut on the Young Concert Artists Series and followed it with a second New York concert at Alice Tully Hall. One of the most decorated pianists of his generation, Mr. Chen has won top prizes in the Arthur Rubinstein, the Busoni, and the Geza Anda International Piano Competitions, along with prizes in the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal, Van Cliburn, and Chopin International Competitions. He is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Hung-Kuan Chen has appeared in the music capitals of Asia, Europe, and the Americas and has collaborated with many major orchestras including Houston, Israel, Baltimore, Montréal, Pittsburgh, the Tonhalle, San Francisco, and Shanghai. He has performed with highly esteemed conductors such as Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, George Cleve, Josef Silverstein, Andrew Parrett,

and Sui Lan; and colleagues including Yo-Yo Ma, Cho-Liang Lin, Roman Totenberg, Denes Zsigmondy, Bion Tsang, Anthony Gigliotti, David Shifrin, and Laurence Lesser, and pianists Tema Blackstone and Pi-hsien Chen.

Mr. Chen has served as the chair of the piano department of the Shanghai Conservatory and is the director of the International Piano Academy in Shanghai. In 2009, he was appointed to the piano faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston. He is a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music.

In 1992 Hung-Kuan Chen suffered an injury to his hand which caused neurological damage and eventually resulted in focal dystonia.

Through meditation and his own research, he was able to heal. His first postaccident solo recital in March of 1998 received rave reviews, and he was described as a transformed artist. Following a concert at Jordan Hall in 2006, Richard Dyer wrote in the Boston Globe, “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. This man plays music with uncommon understanding and the instrument with uncommon imagination.”

Hung-Kuan Chen is managed by Blackstone Artists.

Upcoming Events

Ilya Poletaev, piano

Winds of France

february 9

february 14

Morse Recital Hall | Thursday | 10:30 am Lecture-Recital Ilya Poletaev gives a lecture-recital on Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760–1812), using the School of Music’s historical fortepiano.

Sponsored by the piano department and the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments.

Free Admission

Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 8 pm Oneppo Chamber Music Series Music of Francis Poulenc, Maurice Emmanuel, Yan Maresz, Jean Françaix, and Jacques Ibert. Featuring members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, “a jewel in this nation’s musical crown.”

Tickets $20–30, Students $10

Così fan tutte

Yale Percussion Group

february 10–12

february 19

Shubert Theater | Fri & Sat, 8 pm | Sun, 2 pm Yale Opera Yale Opera presents an all-new production of Mozart’s comedy, directed by Justin Way. Speranza Scappucci conducts the Yale Philharmonia. Love… no strings attached.

Tickets $19–41, Students $13, at 203 562-5666 or www.shubert.com.

Morse Recital Hall | Sunday | 8 pm 75/100: Celebrating the annivesaries of Steve Reich and John Cage with performances of Reich’s Electric Counterpoint and Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ, Cage’s Third Construction and In a Landscape, and more. Robert van Sice, director.

Free Admission

Concerts & Public Relations: Dana Astmann, Danielle Heller, Dashon Burton New Media: Monica Ong Reed, Austin Kase Operations: Tara Deming, Chris Melillo Piano Curators: Brian Daley, William Harold Recording Studio: Eugene Kimball WSHU 91.1 fm is the media sponsor of the Horowitz Piano Series at Yale.

P.O. Box 208236, New Haven, CT · 203 432-4158

Robert Blocker, Dean

music.yale.edu