Piano Works by Schumann, Liszt, Janacek & Brahms Piano Works Haochen Zhang

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Kinderszenen, Op. 15:
• 1 No. 1. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Of Foreign Lands and People) 01:31
• 2 No. 2. Curiose Geschichte (A Strange Story) 01:13
• 3 No. 3. Hasche-Mann (Catch-as-catch-can) 00:32
• 4 No. 4. Bittendes Kind (Pleading Child) 00:51
• 5 No. 5. Glückes genug (Happy Enough) 01:15
• 6 No. 6. Wichtige Begebenheit (An Important Event) 00:52
• 7 No. 7. Träumerei (Dreaming) 02:21
• 8 No. 8. Am Camin (By the Fire-side) 01:05
• 9 No. 9. Ritter vom Steckenpferd (Knight of the Hobby-horse) 00:38
• 10 No. 10. Fast zu ernst (Almost Too Serious) 01:36
• 11 No. 11. Fürchtenmachen (Frightening) 01:49
• 12 No. 12. Kind im Einschlummern (Child Falling Asleep) 02:16
• 13 No. 13. Der Dichter spricht (The Poet Speaks) 02:17
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886):
• 14 Ballade No. 2 in B Minor, S171/R16 13:52
• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928): Piano Sonata 1.X.1905, JW VIII/19:
• 15 I. Předtucha (Foreboding): Con moto 05:38
• 16 II. Smrt (Death) 08:14
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117:
• 17 No. 1 in E-Flat Major 06:00
• 18 No. 2 in B-Flat Minor 04:31
• 19 No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor 07:18
• Total Runtime 01:03:49

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In 2009, at the age of 19, Haochen Zhang became one of the youngest musicians ever to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Since then he has had a busy concert schedule, primarily in his native China and in the U.S.A. but also in Europe where he made his début at the BBC Proms in 2014. Recording has been less of a priority for Zhang, and it is only now that he releases his first studio album, recorded at the Reitstadel, the well-known audiophile venue in Neumarkt in Germany. For this recital, Haochen Zhang has devised a programme made up of works that he feels particularly close to. As he writes in his own liner notes, they ’not only speak to me in a very intimate way, but also connect with one another at a corresponding level of intimacy: as a whole they form a unique musical narrative.’ The pieces all share a reflective and introspective quality, albeit reflective in different ways. Opening the disc Schumann’s Kinderszenen were described by the composer as ‘reflections of an adult for adults’ and in the closing Op. 117 Intermezzi, Brahms also seems to be looking backwards – but with resignation rather than intimate tenderness. Framed by these two, the works by Liszt and Janá?ek contain overtly dramatic episodes, but contemplative interludes form a recurrent feature of the Ballade, and in Presentiment, the first movement of Janacek’s Sonata, the dark forebodings seem to rise up from the composer’s own soul.

Haochen Zhang, piano

Haochen Zhang
Since his gold medal win at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, 26-year-old Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang has captivated audiences in the United States, Europe, and Asia with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination and spectacular virtuosity.

He has already appeared with many of the world’s leading festivals and concert series and following his performance of Liszt Concerto No. 1 at the BBC Proms with Yu Long and the China Philharmonic received rave reviews: ‘He made the Allegretto dance with Mendelssohnian lightness and Lisztian diablerie, and played the melody of the Quasi Adagio with melting softness.’ Ivan Hewitt, The Telegraph.

A popular guest soloist for many orchestras in his native China, Haochen made his debut in Munich with the Munich Philharmonic and the late maestro Lorin Maazel in April 2013, preceding their sold-out tour. Haochen has also toured in China with the Sydney Symphony and David Robertson, in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai with the NDR Hamburg and Thomas Hengelbrock and following a performance in December 2014 with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in Beijing, Mo. Gergiev immediately invited him to his Easter Festival in Moscow, Russia.

Highlights of the 16/17 season include a new recital CD, to be released by BIS in February, which includes works of Schumann, Brahms, Janacek and Liszt; extensive recital and concerto tours in Asia with performances in China, Hong Kong and Japan; return engagements with Philadelphia Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Haochen will also give recitals in San Francisco, Palma de Malloca, Imola, Helsingborg, among others. He makes his debuts with the RTV Slovenia and Asturias Symphony Orchestras, and will tour Europe with the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra having been their resident artist in the previous season.

In past seasons, Haochen Zhang has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, London Symphony, Japan Philharmonic Singapore Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras. In recital he has performed at Spivey Hall, La Jolla Music Society, Celebrity Series of Boston, CU Artist Series, Cliburn Concerts, Krannert Center, Wolf Trap Discovery Series, Lied Center of Kansas and UVM Lane Series, among others. International tours have taken him to cities including Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Dresden, Rome, Tivoli, Verbier, Montpellier, Helsingborg, Bogota and Belgrade. Haochen is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with colleagues such as the Shanghai String Quartet, Benjamin Beilman and is frequently invited by chamber music festivals in the US.

Haochen’s performances at the Cliburn Competition were released to critical acclaim by Harmonia Mundi in 2009. He is also featured in Peter Rosen’s award-winning documentary chronicling the 2009 Cliburn Competition, A Surprise in Texas. His complete competition performances are available on www.cliburn.tv.

Haochen is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied under Gary Graffman. He was previously trained at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Shenzhen Arts School, where he was admitted in 2001 at the age of 11 to study with Professor Dan Zhaoyi.

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