HEARING Andrew von Oeyen play a piano piece is like being invited to taste the most delicious roast turkey at a stranger's house. The first cut of the meat is as good as the last piece. On a balmy evening of October 14, while autumn manifests itself like an ice queen caressing evening nook and bored corners of one's bone, the leaves dropped like ice cubes, Oeyen also dropped his fingers on the piano keys.
However, he played with no cold treatment but a rapturous reverence to Franz Liszt's Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major. The George Eastman Theatre, home to the famous Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), was filled with men and women who were mostly dressed in gowns and tuxedos, hungry to savor Oeyen's brand of playing skills. The congenial 26-year-old native of New York City did not frustrate them. As soon as the RPO under the baton of Professor Christopher Seaman and Oeyen delivered the first note, the atmosphere of the venue became a living space. It was great transition for Mr. Oeyen as he had under his repertoire other strings of memorable pieces like Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 with the San Francisco Symphony and the New Mexico Symphony, Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Beethoven's Concerto No. 1 with the Hartford Symphony before coming to Rochester for a concerto. The young man engaged in a short chat with the audience along with Prof. Seaman several minutes before the program started as part of the new system the RPO. The striking Oeyen, whose other attributes are his blond hair and deep sea blue eyes, said that it was an honor for him to play Liszt's piece as it is being considered as one of the most technically challenging pieces of the composer. And the young pianist did not fail to impress the audience as the demanding piece was delivered with great reverberation. Professor Seaman made it a full piece considering that Liszt meant it to be a "piano and orchestral piece". Oeyen's tremolos were precise and clear like crystals dropping on a piece of glass. He made it sure that every note becomes an element of the whole piece; even his grace notes are liquid, almost like an acciaccatura. Overall, his performance was spectacular. His years of training (he began taking lessons at the age of four) proved he had tempered his technique and his approach to showmanship. He had to go back to the stage twice as the audience made a resounding applause. Even conductor Seaman had to acknowledge the triangle player (as one of the significant instrument in the piece) for a superb delivery. One old lady sitting in front of us was so moved she can't help but cheer (we found out later that she's the daughter of the man who discovered xerography). But the evening did not end with Mr. Oeyen's performance. The RPO gave a bold and teasing rendition of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. The last time I heard the piece was in a movie Immortal Beloved, a story about the life of the composer. Professor Seaman did not only treat the piece as a masterpiece but showered it with tempered elegance. Outside the venue, the night was cold and cruel. The dead leaves drop, blown. They rattled on like tin. But the autumn music inside warmed the hearts of everyone.
However, he played with no cold treatment but a rapturous reverence to Franz Liszt's Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major. The George Eastman Theatre, home to the famous Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), was filled with men and women who were mostly dressed in gowns and tuxedos, hungry to savor Oeyen's brand of playing skills. The congenial 26-year-old native of New York City did not frustrate them. As soon as the RPO under the baton of Professor Christopher Seaman and Oeyen delivered the first note, the atmosphere of the venue became a living space. It was great transition for Mr. Oeyen as he had under his repertoire other strings of memorable pieces like Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 with the San Francisco Symphony and the New Mexico Symphony, Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Beethoven's Concerto No. 1 with the Hartford Symphony before coming to Rochester for a concerto. The young man engaged in a short chat with the audience along with Prof. Seaman several minutes before the program started as part of the new system the RPO. The striking Oeyen, whose other attributes are his blond hair and deep sea blue eyes, said that it was an honor for him to play Liszt's piece as it is being considered as one of the most technically challenging pieces of the composer. And the young pianist did not fail to impress the audience as the demanding piece was delivered with great reverberation. Professor Seaman made it a full piece considering that Liszt meant it to be a "piano and orchestral piece". Oeyen's tremolos were precise and clear like crystals dropping on a piece of glass. He made it sure that every note becomes an element of the whole piece; even his grace notes are liquid, almost like an acciaccatura. Overall, his performance was spectacular. His years of training (he began taking lessons at the age of four) proved he had tempered his technique and his approach to showmanship. He had to go back to the stage twice as the audience made a resounding applause. Even conductor Seaman had to acknowledge the triangle player (as one of the significant instrument in the piece) for a superb delivery. One old lady sitting in front of us was so moved she can't help but cheer (we found out later that she's the daughter of the man who discovered xerography). But the evening did not end with Mr. Oeyen's performance. The RPO gave a bold and teasing rendition of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. The last time I heard the piece was in a movie Immortal Beloved, a story about the life of the composer. Professor Seaman did not only treat the piece as a masterpiece but showered it with tempered elegance. Outside the venue, the night was cold and cruel. The dead leaves drop, blown. They rattled on like tin. But the autumn music inside warmed the hearts of everyone.
(Published in Sun.Star Bacolod Oct. 28, 2006 under my column, The Mango Generation)
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