Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival: 26 & 27 November 2014

Extract

As a result of her wonderfully exciting performance of Unsuk Chin's Etudes at hcmf//'s ‘free Monday’ in 2013, Singaporean pianist Mei Yi Foo was invited back for her own concert this year. Given the depth, intensity and diversity of the works in her mid-week recital, it was surprising to discover that she is not a contemporary music specialist. Richard Baker's Breaking The Ground (2003) contrasted furious bass material, rhythmic and syncopated, with gentler, higher-register patterns, freer rhythmically but on repetition becoming more energised. These distinct materials are gradually drawn together, exploiting the range of the keyboard and creating a very satisfying organic unity. Thomas Adès's Still Sorrowing (1992) is an early work by the composer, its Cagean preparations gradually removed by the page-turner towards the end; a fey, elusive, dream-like piece, it shows the questionable fluidity of conception that is a hallmark of the composer's style. Jukka Tiensuu's Fantango (1984) was a powerfully swinging entertainment; despite their title and miniaturism, Kurtág's Játékok (Games) were more substantial, the pianist providing a delightfully characterful account of the concluding ‘derangement’ of Mad Girl With Flaxen Hair.