BINNS ORGAN RECITAL, ALBERT HALL Date : 14.07.08
GRAHAME WHITEHEAD
YOUNG American organist Ahreum Han is a rising star of the classical organ world, holder of a prestigious Oundle Award alongside numerous other prizes; to judge from her outstanding performance at the Binns Organ, this star will rise very high indeed.
Her playing was meticulously prepared and full of personality. Across the range of pieces, she was stylish and exceptionally fluent; her mature musicianship understood every nuance of mood and emotion and conveyed it with a transparency that was easy on the ear.
Han opened with a gripping account of Bach’s BWV 564, the radiantly decorative toccata, the autumnal adagio and the measured exuberance of the fugue all equally attractive. She clearly relished the delicate, haunting melody of Elgar’s Chanson de Matin, and she picked out sensitively the very different moods of the four movements of Mendelssohn’s Sonata No 4.
Other highlights included Dupre’s Allegro deciso from Evocation, personal music full of powerful, rapidly shifting emotions and played so well that it kept the audience on the edge of their seats; and Guy Bovet’s Hamburger Totentanz, less macabre than its title but with an exciting use of rhythm which Han conveyed to perfection.
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk