Review | Zee Zee’s jaw-dropping technique and touch, focused Hong Kong Philharmonic to the fore in Liszt piano concerto and Brahms symphony

From hurtling octaves to hushed arpeggios, Chinese virtuoso Zee Zee was in total command in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the HK Phil

Conductor Christoph Koncz’s expertly shaped Brahms Symphony No 1 brought out the best from the orchestra’s strings and principals Jiang Lin and Andrew Simons

Reading Time:3 minutes

Christoph Koncz conducts the Hong Kong Philharmonic with Chinese soloist Zee Zee in a performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No 1. Photo: Hong Kong Philharmonic

Published: 4:45pm, 8 May 2021Updated: 8:23pm, 8 May 2021

The latest sign of the concert scene’s robust return to life was an equally robust performance of works by Liszt and Brahms from the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Austrian conductor Christoph Koncz.

The concert on May 5, to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and Austria, featured the piano virtuoso Zee Zee (or Zuo Zhang) in her first appearance outside mainland China since giving birth last year in Shenzhen, where she grew up.

Her jaw-dropping technique and touch in Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1 was something to behold. Zee Zee made her intentions known right off the bat, fearlessly playing the opening octave passage that spans the keyboard, a mere teaser for what was to follow and such a powerful response to the orchestra’s aptly majestic and frankly villainous Allegro Maestoso that she might as well have shouted “Take that!”

When the pyrotechnics settled, something akin to a love duet ensued between piano and clarinet (the latter performed by principal clarinettist Andrew Simons) that resembled a warm, tender embrace. But not a long one. Zee Zee was soon back with ferocious downward chromatic octaves that seemed to make the upper balconies shake.

Zhang Zuo, or Zee Zee, produced playing that dazzled in its delicacy and ferocity. Photo: Hong Kong Philharmonic

Whenever musical tenderness emerged, however, the Chinese pianist was always up to the task. Later in the first section she superbly imitated the sound of a harp with brisk, yet hushed arpeggios.

Zee Zee’s treatment of thematic material included an otherworldly nocturne of soft, flowing left-hand arpeggios that acted like a cushion supporting the lovely cantabile melody of the cello and double bass playing in glorious unison in the second section.