A Korean Talent Worth Hearing

Pianist Lee greeting audience members after Bangkok recital

On Friday (October 9, 2009), The Bangkok Chopin Society presented 28-year old Korean pianist Jinsang Lee in a program of Chopin, Hiller and Mendelssohn. Lee is all business. Dressed simply in black, he approaches the piano at a moderate pace, acknowledges the audience briefly, and without fuss or adjustment, begins to play directly. And what wonderful playing it is. From the first notes of a Chopin nocturne, Lee established himself as a serious pianist, at home with the music and determined to give it both meaning and beauty. His Chopin (nocturnes, mazurkas and waltzes) was impeccable, his Mendelssohn Songs Without Words, gorgeous, and his playing of Ferdinand Hiller, a 19th century composer unknown to me, was exciting. Because he is possessed of a strong technique, Lee was able to devote himself to interpretation, which if not passionate, was intelligent.

The piano at the SET Auditorium, which sounds like a Yamaha, is too small and mediocre for a pianist like Jinsang Lee. A gold standard pianist like Lee, deserves a gold standard piano--- a Steinway concert grand.