Tony Chen Lin

The Press
Masterworks: Pathetique
Christchurch Symphony Orchestra with Tony Chen Lin (piano)
Charles Luney Auditorium
Review: Christopher Moore
Mar 26 2018

This was Tony Chen Lin's big night, but the lanky Chinese-New Zealander showed few signs of nerves as he walked on stage at Christchurch's Charles Luney Auditorium on Saturday.

This was a return home for Lin, who won the Christchurch Junior Concerto at the age of 14, before graduating from the University of Canterbury with string of accolades and moving to Europe to complete his classical music studies.

Now he was back to make his professional debut with the CSO. Greeting him was conductor Benjamin Northey, a full house and one of the most demanding piano concertos in the repertoire – Maurice Ravel's dazzling Piano Concerto in G major.

Unfazed, Lin conquered this seductive Gallic siren in a fastidious, yet full-blooded performance, marked by total control and diamond-hard precision. It was also a partnership made in musical heaven, as the CSO and Lin together tackled Ravel's slightly louche jazz inspired moods with exceptional clarity and control. Lin played the wistful slow movement with such sensual intensity that you could almost sense an audience holding its ...continued

Christchurch Mail
Tony Chen Lin (piano) and Jun Hong Loh (violin)
Review: Patrick Shepherd
The Piano, Christchurch.
10 April, 2017

Tony Chen Lin is very familiar to Christchurch audiences, having lived here when he was younger and made numerous trips back to perform since studying and work­ing overseas, but he has now introduced us to another fine musical talent in violinist Jun Hong Loh.

Every note, phrase and inflec­tion were carefully considered, both players extremely expressive in their playing and demeanour as they explored every avenue open to them in the three quite different works on show today.

From the opening bars of the Allegro from Mozart's troubled Sonata in E minor K.304, it was clear that here were two performers totally in sync with each other, both playing with the same intent, understanding and musical direction.

The two movements presented today showed both the sadness and the optimism that pervade the sonata.

In the Tempo di Minuetto the duo achieved a sense of aching from the plaintive violin opening and the frequent mood shifts were well done. I particularly liked how they created a sense of space by taking plenty of time.

Gao Ping's Questioning the Mountain was ...continued

Christchurch Mail
Tony Chen Lin and Jun Bouterey-Ishido (piano)
Review: Patrick Shepherd
Chamber Gallery, Rangiora.
15 November, 2017

Both these exceptional young pianists are making names for themselves performing in Europe and studying with some of the best teachers. Their combined CVs are formidable and both Tony Chen Lin and Jun Bouterey-Ishido are pursuing careers that already feature awards and acclaim that promise so much. That the pair show dazzling technical confidence and ability is a given for all the works they performed but what was really exciting was the conceptualisation of the programme and the deep thinking behind it.

Playing four hands at the piano (piano duets, if you like) is not something that one hears often although, having said that, in recent years there have been a number of concerts where this genre has been explored. It takes a certain kind of connectivity between the performers, a degree of anticipation and musical thought that has to be totally in step otherwise it becomes merely an interesting exercise. Chen and Bouterey-Ishido had this, seemingly thinking as one and working together very convincingly.

For me this concert was always going to be about Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, one ...continued

Christopher’s Classics
Piano Four-hands

Tony Chen Lin & Jun Bouterey-Ishido
The Piano, Christchurch – 2 November 2017

Reviewed by Tony Ryan

The standing ovation at the end of this recital was affirmation of some very special music-making and certainly, for me, one of my top two highlights from an intensive year of concert, opera and recital-going. As it happens, my other musical high point from 2017 was also a concert in the Christopher’s Classics series; that one featuring Diedre Irons and string principals from the NZSO.

Each of these concerts included a major, if less well-known, work by Schubert. The Piano Quartet from Irons and co proved an exciting and captivating encounter because of a truly exceptional and virtuosic performance and, while Tony Chen Lin and Jun Bouterey-Ishido delivered similar excitement and virtuosity in other parts of their piano duet programme, their interpretation of Schubert’s Grand Duo Sonata was the one minor disappointment of the evening. It may not be one of Schubert’s finest pieces, but, played with less romantic indulgence than we heard last night, it can survive its more-than-forty-minute duration more effectively. Lovingly played as this sonata was, perhaps Schubert’s greatest piano duet masterpiece, ...continued