Well-Rounded Artistry in Churen Li’s Manila Debut

Rightly so has Churen Li been described in The Straits Times as “the closest thing I know to be the ‘complete’ pianist.” Indeed, I find the title “pianist-composer” more appropriate than just one or the other, as, with what she showed in her March 15 recital in Manila Pianos, Churen blends the pianist’s interpretive spirit with the composer’s experimental courage into a single form of artistry that you don’t often find among classical performers.

She displayed the depth of her compositional talent from the get-go with her Prelude after Bach. The piece began with a portion from the prelude from Bach’s D minor Cello Suite, before shifting into a more contemporary style. The Prelude unsuspectingly weaved into the next work of that evening, Schumann’s Kreisleriana. The seamlessness of the transition from her Prelude to Kreisleriana was something so subtle yet brilliant, showing how Churen could dialogue with works of classical music, not only through interpretation, but also through creation, with her own music. 

Once considered an oddity of a work (even by the likes of Chopin, to whom it was dedicated), Kreisleriana today is often seen as Robert Schumann’s finest set for piano. That isn’t to say that the work is any less difficult to comprehend than it was during the composer’s time. Kreisleriana is a work of immense emotional and psychological depth, cycling rapidly through melancholy to ecstasy to meditative stillness, so much so that critics and historians often are tempted to relate it to the composer’s mental illness. Churen navigated through Schumann’s emotions, displaying a natural talent for storytelling with the clear intention she exhibited in her voicing. 

Returning from a fifteen-minute interval, Churen proceeded to play Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs. If Kreisleriana showcased the pianist-composer’s narrative capabilities, Miroirs showcased her aptitude for the visual. Churen painted Ravel’s impressionistic scenery with the utmost sensitivity to color and tone. Her performance of “Oiseaux tristes” showed a deep attentiveness to the resonances of each tone, with an almost obsessive observation of the striking of a key and its subsequent decay of sound. “Une barque sur l’océan” and “La vallée des cloches” Churen’s playing exhibited a distinct layering of the melodies against the tonal backdrops. During one of the evening highlights, “Alborada del gracioso,” she captured the piece’s brusqueness before contrasting it with the middle section and switching to a pensive, mystical mode of playing. 

The evening finale was Ravel’s La Valse, a strange play on the waltz form. The piece begins with a looming ambiguity before proceeding to its theme reminiscent of Johann Strauss’s style. Increasing dissonances, tumultuous dynamics, and abrupt glissandos mark La Valse’s gradual descent into the decadent and grotesque (in this way, it shares a similar structure with the Bolero). The “deterioration” of the waltz’s theme into chaos has prompted critics to consider the piece a social commentary on the moral decay of the Jazz age, although this interpretation was contested by some (not least by Ravel himself). Nevertheless, the idea stuck, and La Valse continues to be seen as this fascinating blend of the absolute and programmatic. For this reason as well, it was an appropriate finale, as it showcased the visual and storytelling aspects of Churen’s pianism along with the full prowess of her virtuosity that properly evoked the splendor and decadence of the work’s latter half. 

As a way to commemorate her first time in the country, she performed a piano transcription of Martin Nivera’s Kahit Isang Saglit. Churen is a musician who is both equipped with natural talent and the adventurous spirit to explore bold new paths in classical music. Her performance served as a novel breath of air for piano playing in the Philippines.