Hugo Jensen
At the PRM Gala Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on the evening of October 5, 2026, guest pianist Qiao Chen performed Richard Strauss’s Winterweihe, Op. 48, in Walter Gieseking’s piano arrangement. Following the performance through the live stream and recording, this reviewer was struck by the depth Chen found within the piano’s sound.
In Chen’s hands, harmony acquired an almost physical presence. Different layers seemed to occupy different spaces: one would come into focus while another remained further away, still audible and still shaping the listener’s impression of the whole. The piano took on a strikingly three-dimensional quality. A chord had an interior, with individual tones contributing their own colour and weight, and a changing relationship to the sounds around it.
What made this especially absorbing was the way that spatial awareness affected the experience of harmonic movement. As one chord gave way to the next, the listener could sense a shift in perspective as well as a change in harmony. A sound that had seemed settled could reveal an unexpected depth through what followed it. Chen gave these relationships enough presence to invite closer listening, allowing the ear to move between the immediate detail and the broader musical phrase.
There was something quietly thought-provoking about the result. Strauss’s harmonies seemed to open out under sustained attention, drawing the listener further into their expressive possibilities. Chen’s performance invited that attention without making the music feel laboured. Its reflective character grew naturally from the sense that there was always more to hear within the sound.
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