Taek Gi Lee playing Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto at last year’s finals. Photograph: John Cole

Prizewinner returns for autumn recital

2014 winner of the Hastings International Piano Competition, Taek Gi Lee, has returned to the UK for a few select performances, including another recital at Fairlight Hall this Saturday, 31 October. This evening, 28 October, he is centrepiece of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra programme at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon with one of the most popular works ever written for the piano: Grieg’s piano concerto. HOT’s Chris Cormack knows Taek-Gi will  show how he can master the dramatic opening,  the rich lyrical melodies and the other passages of show-stopping virtuosity.

Taek Gi Lee has lost none of his flair; in 2014, he won first prize at the Hastings International Piano Competition with his interpretation of the notoriously challenging Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 and he has just repeated a performance of this at Mote Hall in Maidstone with the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra.

Taek Gi Lee. The Kent Messenger described his performance as ‘measured, poised and extraordinarily mature for one so young, especially in the spectacular first movement cadenza, the luxuriant velvety adagio and the dramatic dive into the finale’. Photo: John Cole.

The Kent Messenger‘s Susan Elkin described his performance as ‘measured, poised and extraordinarily mature for one so young, especially in the spectacular first movement cadenza, the luxuriant velvety adagio and the dramatic dive into the finale’.

The 19-year-old has been learning the piano since he was six and is still studying at the Julliard School in New York – now with Professor Robert McDonald. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, he currently lives in Warren, Connecticut, USA. At the Hastings competition, he captivated everyone from the moment he first touched the keyboard with an astonishing fluidity and lyricism in his playing.

The Autumn Recital programme is as follows:

J. S. Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C minor, BWV 813
L. v. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Meditation”, Op. 72 No. 5

And after the interval:

F. Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1
F. Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
F. Liszt: Les jeux d’eau a la Villa d’Este (The Fountains of Villa d’Este)
F. Liszt: Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi sonata

Taek Gi Li Autumn Recital: Saturday 31 October at the Recital Room, Fairlight Hall, Martineau Lane, Fairlight TN35 5DR.

Grounds open at 2.30pm, concert starts at 3pm. Tickets £15 including cream tea. Available HERE and at Hastings Tourist Information Centre, Aquila House, Queens Square, Hastings TN34 1TL.

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