Piano princess dates Schumann for music festival

The annual Beijing Music Festival (BMF) is not short of big Chinese names for staging the works of classical maestros. The first two days of the BMF has seen two Chinese princes dancing on keyboard with their fingers. Now it's time for renowned Chinese piano princess Chen Sa, a winner of several top competitions, who returns to the stage at the Poly Theater at October 13 night with a furious recital.

"I will pick pieces by romantic master Robert Schumann, as Lang Lang and Li Yundi chose to stage pieces of Chopin before," Chen told the Global Times. "It's a great honor to appear on a BMF stage. This year marks the 200th birthday of Schumann, so his pieces are my best option for this festival."

According to her scheduled performance program, Chen plans on playing various styles of music, from Baroque all the way to contemporary music. "In the first hour, I would like to play 'Scarlatti Cadences and Brainstorm' by Sebastian Currier for Chinese music goers for the first time," said the 31-year-old pianist. "These pieces will set the atmosphere for the whole recital."

Chen Sa holds a certificate of honor from the Polish ambassador Tuesday. Photo: Liang Yan

Chen will pay tribute to Schumann in the second half of her recital, which should be markedly different from the first. "I'm planning to present two pieces by Schumann, one of his early works, 'Carnaval, Op. 9,' and 'Fantasiestucke, Op. 111,' one of his later ones," she said.

"Many know the first one pretty well, but the latter, finished during his stay at a mental hospital, is not that popular," Chen added. "These works are fantastic but still some parts are very hard to master."

Chen said she frequently speaks with her counterparts about how to deal with difficult sections of Schumann's music. "Music is kind of emotion," she said. "You can't understand it in a rational way. So some of us think these parts are ridiculous, but they're still there as the composer intended."