Young pianist to return to give solo recitals

Wang Chao will make his China debut after studying abroad for many years.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Wang Chao will make his China debut in September with solo piano recitals in Beijing and Shanghai.

The audiences will hear the 26-year-old pianist's interpretation of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt's masterpiece Annees de pelerinage (Years of Pilgrimage).

"I thought I might perform the work when I am older," says Wang, who is a Beijing native and now lives in Berlin. "But I want to perform it now because it tells the story of my own life as well."

He made the decision after watching a performance of the same piece last year by the acclaimed German pianist Markus Groh in Berlin.

Groh is the first German pianist to win the top award at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, one of the world's most prestigious classical music contests, which was initiated in Brussels in 1937. He is known for his interpretation of Liszt's music.

Overwhelmed by Groh's performance, Wang says he could understand Liszt's expressions through the work.

"It touched my heart. I want to play this work again and again as a reflection of the different stages of my life," he says.

Annees de pelerinage is a set of piano pieces Liszt composed during his two-year stay in Italy and Switzerland in the late 1830s. Drawing inspiration from a novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, titled Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, Liszt's composition mixes elements of visual art and poetry.

In an introduction to the work, Liszt wrote: "Having recently traveled to many new countries, through different settings and places consecrated by history and poetry; having felt that the phenomena of nature and their attendant sights did not pass before my eyes as pointless images but stirred deep emotions in my soul, and that between us a vague but immediate relationship had established itself, an undefined but real rapport, an inexplicable but undeniable communication, I have tried to portray in music a few of my strongest sensations and most lively impressions."

During his travels for concerts, Wang says his questions about life and places are similar to those Liszt asked. Wang has given recitals with such orchestras as the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the Lorraine Symphony Orchestra, the Santorini Chamber Orchestra in Greece and the Chinese Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Wang has experienced different cultures while being immersed in pursuing his musical career all these years.

Growing up in Beijing, Wang was introduced to the piano by his parents, who are big fans of classical music. He started piano lessons at the age of 4. Two years later, he won a contest in the city. The early years of his career were dedicated to arduous practice.

"Being a professional pianist is a tough job, but I don't want to give up," he says.

At 12, he started learning the instrument with established Chinese musician Jin Aiping, who taught at the Central Conservatory of Music. Wang eventually enrolled at the affiliated primary school in Beijing. He won awards at several international piano competitions like the Grand Prix at the European Piano Competition in France in 2013.

His first album, Liszt & Chopin, under the German record label, Acousence Records, followed soon after.

In 2008, Wang moved to Germany to study at Hochschule fuer Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He enrolled at Universitaet der Kuenste Berlin in 2011 to continue his studies with Klaus Hellwig.

Hellwig is a well-known German pianist, whose solid techniques and rigorous attitude influenced Wang.

"He broadened my vision as a pianist. He let me listen to and imitate the sounds of other instruments, such as the violin and the cello," says Wang.

Like his teacher, Wang also prefers to play pieces that tell stories.

If you go

7:30 pm, Sept 3. Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall, 1380 Fuxing Zhonglu, Shanghai.

7:30 pm, Sept 18. Forbidden City Concert Hall, Zhongshan Park, west of Tian'anmen Square, Beijing. 400-615-5111.