Kōrero with Tony Chen Lin

We caught up with award-winning pianist Tony Chen Lin ahead of his New Zealand tour with Belgium-based string quartet Sonoro. The Chinese New Zealander, who currently lives in Budapest, is looking forward to returning home.

When were you last in NZ, are you excited for this return?

I visited Aotearoa last year after a three-year absence due to the pandemic. The previous occasion was in 2019 when I last did a solo tour with CMNZ. I am very much looking forward to touring again and to seeing the wonderful people around the country whom I adore.

Besides whānau & friends, what do you miss the most about Aotearoa?

A good mince and cheese pie with a generous dollop of Wattie’s tomato sauce. Mmm.

How did this programme come about?

Originally [we discussed] a programme centred around ‘Death and the Maiden,’ so we knew from the outset that Schubert’s string quartet would feature on it. I join the quartet in the second half in Schumann’s sublime Piano Quintet. Apart from simply being a perfect masterpiece, it is also an innovation of its time, being the first work written for this formation: piano and string quartet. During that period, concerts were becoming increasingly public, gradually moving from private salons into larger concert halls. The instrumentation and writing of this work reflect this, straddling between chamber music intimacy and symphonic sonorities, with every instrument playing a unique role.

Two of the greatest Lied composers, this programme also links Schubert and Schumann through their remarkable Lieder; each of the two larger works is preceded by a Lied by its respective composer, acting as a kind of amuse-bouche to whet our appetite, set the mood and to bring us into their world. Schubert often incorporated his songs into large-scale instrumental works; the ‘Trout’ Quintet and the ‘Wanderer’ Fantasie are two other examples. In this string quartet Schubert uses his haunting Lied ‘Der Tod und das Mädchen’ as the theme for the set of variations in the second movement, so the song pairing here was a no-brainer. As preamble to Schumann’s Piano Quintet, we have the lovely ‘Du bist wie eine Blume’ (You are like a flower) from his song-cycle Myrthen Op 25, a wedding present for Clara. Although ostensibly unrelated to the Quintet, I can’t help but also hear an allusion to this song in its second movement. Listen out for it!

A singer might have come in handy to perform the original songs, but seeing as none of us is willing to step up to that challenge, we will have a taste of these songs as Lieder ohne Worte in beautiful arrangements by Elliot Vaughan, written especially for our ensemble.

What’s your association with Sonoro and what, in your opinion, makes them stand out as an ensemble?

A serendipitous encounter. I first heard the Sonoro Quartet in Budapest a couple of years ago when they came for the Bartók World Competition for String Quartets. I was so captivated by their performances that I later asked them to collaborate. For me, the Sonoro Quartet not only bring an electrifying energy to their performances, I also admire their openness to experiment, their strong passion, and their courage to dare.

What can audiences expect from your performance together?

To hear two magnificent masterpieces in the chamber music repertoire by two of the greatest masters of the nineteenth century. The universality of this music rises above time and place and speaks directly to humanity. Like the glorious culminating fugue in Schumann’s Quintet, each of us adds to its colourful tapestry and contributes to its richness and beauty with our own individual voice, regardless of whether we’re from Belgium, Ireland, France, or just another Chinese-Kiwi from Down Under.

CMNZ Series Sonoro Quartet & Tony Chen Lin will be presented 13-28 July.