Adam Gyorgy Brings Manhattan To Singapore
PUBLISHED November 8th, 2013 01:50 am | UPDATED January 20th, 2016 03:47 pm
Adam Gyorgy dropped by Singapore last week as a stop on his Southeast Asian leg of the ‘Contrast Tour.’ Truth be told, I had never been to a professional classical music concert before (besides the odd school symphonic band performances that come once in a rainbow moon), much less heard of his name. I did appreciate classical music (with Symphony 92.4 being one of my favourite stations to turn to once Lush 99.5 got boring in the day) but I decided, after doing my research on the Hungarian virtuoso, that the best way to write about this was to discover it in the flesh and let my aural gut speak for itself, like how I approach every other gig. And my ears told me that Adam Gyorgy’s music was nothing short of enjoyably great and moving.
As Adam described in his programme notes, he believed strongly that every performer had to ‘nurture a special relationship with his pieces,’ something which he demonstrated in his pieces, especially his original compositions. After breezing through Mozart’s Sonata in C Major and a bold interpretation of The Wedding March, the standout of the night fell after the intermission, when the current Manhattan resident performed ‘A Day In New York,’ an original composition titled after his experience with the city. With complex phrasings and layers in the piece, it really brought me right back to my days in Manhattan, musical flashes of memories of the roads and the streets and people and weather. That was a fantastic piece to experience, and one that stands easily alongside another hit composition of his, ‘Searchin.’
Adam Gyorgy’s A Day In New York Video
The man described as one of the finest Liszt ambassadors in the world certainly delivered that promise as he went back to the stage for the encore, playing the effusive La Campanella that really demonstrated why he deserves that praise. He certainly had enough technique for it, executing the glissandos and staccatos at lightning-quick speed, and his interpretation of the song really brought out the energy and passion that characterised Liszt’s playing. Meeting the man himself later, I was surprised to see that he had a really firm handshake for a guy who moved them so spritely across the piano. All in all, it was very enjoyable, and not least because of the artist I was listening to.
Adam Gyorgy’s Performing La Campanella Video
