ARTS

David Fung is widely

regarded as one of the
most exciting young
pianists on the
contemporary
international concert
stage.

Bliss with
Beethoven
David Fung says every pianist wants to play the Emperor
Concerto at least once in their lives, Philip OBrien writes

s the Academy Award-winning film

The Kings Speech ends, a poignant but
familiar piece of music plays over the
closing titles. Its a passage from the
second movement of Beethovens
Piano Concerto No 5, more popularly
known as the Emperor Concerto. With the piano
weaving gently around the strings, its a passage
which is restrained yet full of yearning, perfectly
fitting the tenor of the film. And its not surprising that
it has also been used on the soundtrack of other films,
from Dead Poets Society to Picnic at Hanging Rock.
But the remainder of the Emperor Concerto, the last
of Beethovens piano concertos, is very different in
tempo and style to this second movement. The rest of
the concerto has a lively allegro (cheerful and brisk)
tempo and the work was considered ground-breaking
in its fresh approach to the role of the piano in relation
to the orchestra.
Beethovens Piano Concerto No 5 will be performed
by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in the first of its
Llewellyn Series for 2011, together with
Mendelssohns Symphony No 3 (Scottish), in a
performance to be conducted by Marc Taddei and

featuring soloist David Fung on piano. The Emperor

Concerto has such a range of emotions, Fung says. It
has elements of the restraint typical of the Classical era
in music but is also florid and exciting, evocative of the
later style of the Romantic period.
Its also significant for its redefinition of the role of
piano soloist, he says. It broke with tradition with a
long piano cadenza [virtuosic passage] at the beginning
of the concerto rather than at the end. And, at times,
the work also seems very much like a dialogue
between piano and orchestra. Every pianist wants to
play this piece at least once in their lives.
Fung, 27, is widely regarded as one of the most
exciting young pianists on the contemporary
international concert stage. Now based in the United
States, he was born in Hong Kong and grew up in
Sydney where he attended James Ruse Agricultural
High School. He began learning piano at the age of
eight and his early musical ability was confirmed
when he completed his Higher School Certificate
music course two years early, at the end of Year 10.
He also learned harpsichord and violin but admits
that, then, music was something he did for pleasure
rather than vocation. Its only been in the last decade

that Ive discovered my deep spiritual love for music

and decided that I couldnt live without it.
When the time came for tertiary study, he was
offered a place at the Colburn Conservatory in Los
Angeles in its inaugural year and, in May 2007, was
the first pianist to graduate from the institution. Since
then, hes performed with leading orchestras in the US
and Australia and has given recitals at prominent
music festivals.
Im interested in a wide repertoire, from early
music on period instruments, such as the fortepiano,
to works by emerging contemporary composers. But
one of my great loves is the Viennese Classical period
to which the Emperor Concerto belongs.
This work was written in Vienna in 1809, the year
that Napoleons Grande Armee invaded the Austrian
capital and as Beethovens hearing was rapidly
deteriorating. Dedicated to the composers patron
Archduke Rudolph, its popular title had no
connection with Napoleon of whom Beethoven was
once enamoured but, instead, was given later by
English musician Johann Baptist Cramer because of its
noble bearing.
The Emperor Concerto has a long first movement, in
allegro tempo. The piano immediately features
prominently in a cadenza of nearly two minutes and
seems almost to set the musical agenda. In fact at
certain points in the first and second movements,
Beethoven creates a mood with pianistic rather than
orchestral colour, Fung says. But there are still
large orchestral parts brass duets and woodwind
solos and the piano weaves in and out of these.
The second movement Adagio un poco mosso
(slowly with a bit of movement) begins with a
string chorale that sets the mood, followed by the
woodwinds and then the piano, which seems to lead
the melody. The piano almost suggests an unfolding
of something, such as the beginning of a new day, and
as the movement progresses much of the emotional
meaning comes from the piano, he says.
The third movement Allegro ma non troppo (fast,
but not overly so) follows imperceptibly from the
second. The last movement is a celebration, a heavy
flat-footed German dance that never stops. Its like a
party that only gets better and, just when you think
that everything is coming to a close, there is a final
surge of energy that finishes the piece.
Fung is very conscious of the musical tradition to
which he belongs. Music is about connecting with
what has come before and with what comes after. Its
so important to be aware of past, present and future
so as to maintain a cultural legacy.
He lives in New Haven, Connecticut, where he is
completing a doctorate at Yale University, but travels
to Manhattan each week for performances. But if the
life of a concert pianist seems precarious compared
with, say, a violinist, Fung is unconcerned. Theres
room for everyone, if you look hard enough. Im
particularly interested in reaching smaller audiences,
in creating educational programs, playing new music
and disseminating a wider repertoire.
Embracing both Classical and Romantic styles, he is
both disciplined and passionate about his work. This
is a beautiful vocation. Theres not a day I dont wake
up and want to read scores and play music.
He also enjoys travelling and is looking forward to
revisiting Canberra. Rachmaninov once said, Music
is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for
music. Thats exactly how I feel.
David Fung will perform Beethovens Piano Concerto
No 5 in E flat major, Op 73 (Emperor) with the Canberra
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marc Taddei, on
Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in Llewellyn Hall,
Canberra School of Music. The concert also features
Mendelssohns Symphony No 3 in A minor, Op 56
(Scottish). Pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. Bookings: Ticketek
on 13 28 49 or www.ticketek.com.au

SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2011, THE CANBERRA TIMES PANORAMA 17