Lorenzo Medel Solo Piano Recital

Lorenzo Medel and the Manila Symphony Orchestra

Featuring:

Lorenzo Medel, piano

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Jeffrey Solares, conductor

Programme:

Johann Sebastian Bach Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV1056

Ludwig van Beethoven Rondo in G major, Op. 51, No. 2

Frédéric Chopin Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39

Claude Debussy Reflets dans l'eau from Images 1

Sergei Prokofiev Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28

Franz Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S.124

The last piano concerto accompanied by an orchestra that I saw was way back in April. No wonder that I’ve been itching to go back to my comfort zone although I’ve been having the ride of my life with all these events for the past month or so. Thankfully, I was able to satisfy my piano concerto craving when Lorenzo Medel, a 15 year old piano phenomenon, had his solo recital at the Philam Life auditorium. Postponement due to bad weather and still a wet and rainy evening on the rescheduled date didn’t hinder people from arriving in droves for this free concert that also featured the Manila Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Solares.

The concert programme was a nice mix of keyboard/piano music from different eras which meant that I had to listen to some pieces that don’t normally appeal to me. The concert started with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV1056, in which Lorenzo was accompanied by a small number of string players from the MSO. Baroque keyboard music is something that I find difficult to appreciate and during this performance, I found myself wondering instead on how the piece would sound if Lorenzo played on a harpsichord instead. The Classical era was represented by Rondo in G major, Op. 51, No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Unfortunately, this is another piece by Beethoven that I never learned to appreciate since I prefer his longer pieces like his sonatas. And I confess that I just wished to have this piece done and over with so that the concert would just move on to the next pieces.

Then Lorenzo’s concert arrived at the Romantic era which is my favorite and he played Frédéric Chopin’s Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39. This scherzo has now overtaken the No. 2 in B flat minor as my favorite among the four scherzi that Chopin composed. He played this extremely well and was able to handle with relative ease the difficult octave passages that have been the bane of many pianists who attempted to play this piece. But my favorite part of this piece is the delicate, cascading notes that require much finesse and my fickleness regarding this part makes me difficult to be extremely satisfied by anyone playing this. He then played Claude Debussy’s Reflets dans l'eau from Images 1 which is one Impressionistic piece typical of the composer. Again, Lorenzo was able to play this piece comfortably but he has yet to achieve the subtle nuances that make a piece like this mesmerizing. But I need to be reminded that he is still just 15 years old and that artistic maturity comes with age and experience. It would be very interesting to hear him play these two pieces after some years and see how far he’d gone.

But I do believe that the next piece, Sergei Prokofiev's Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28 really suited him well. The Prokofiev piece was played with such attack, flair, energy, excitement and with reckless abandon that he seemed to blast off the piano bench at certain moments. It surprised no one that he was met with equally bombastic applause from the audience when he finished this piece which ended the first half of the concert.

Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat Major, S.124 was the sole piece of the second half. This piece is very flamboyant and cheerful devoid of any of the heavy drama of most concerti from the Romantic era. I think that it also suited Lorenzo’s style very well. He nailed this virtuosic piece full of fireworks which is characteristic of Liszt’s compositions. I was glad that the Manila Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Solares, was able to match the piano without drowning each other especially during the thunderous bravura passages. But I felt that during the finale with the descending octaves, he had an urge to surge and I got a bit worried that he might outpace the orchestra. But the MSO really manage to keep up with his pace. And it was exciting to hear the people already applauding even if the last note of the concerto was still being played.

Pianist Lorenzo Medel

The cheers coming from an enthusiastic audience who gave Lorenzo a standing ovation went on for quite some time. Lorenzo responded the call for an encore by playing Nocturne in G major by Rodolfo Cornejo which was indeed a nice change of pace after that explosive concerto. Lorenzo is indeed a phenomenon and is still very young so he still has a long piano career ahead of him. He has nowhere to go but up and it would be very nice to see him continue to develop artistically and add more pieces to his concert repertoire. Lastly, it would also be very nice of him to polish his walk whenever he enters and exits the stage.