Review | Pianist Aristo Sham wows Hong Kong audience at Bach, Ravel and Rachmaninov recital
Sham played his first homecoming recital since winning the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas in June
Chances were that even if pianist Aristo Sham Ching-tao had shown up for his first homecoming recital and only played variations on “Happy Birthday”, the audience would have been just as enraptured.
The 29-year-old pianist had a bounty of musical gems in tow, some of which were key solo works that helped secure his impressive win at the Cliburn.
That said, any concerns about hearing “carbon copies” of those competition performances on August 30, as he kicked off his Asian tour, were unfounded.
In a convivial preconcert talk hosted by HKU’s chair professor of music, Daniel Chua, Sham explained that after the Cliburn competition, he now finds himself in a quasi “transitional phase”, with new-found freedom to begin shaping his own musical stories and textures.
Solid, centred and multi-textured playing were the hallmarks of Sham’s opening recital.