Clarity and delicacy in Mao Fujita’s Carnegie Hall main stage debut

Mao Fujita

By Edward Sava-Segal, 26 January 2023

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“a series of little pearls... assembled in a necklace of amazing radiance”

Reviewed at Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium, New York City on 25 January 2023

Mozart, Nine Variations in D major, K573

Mozart, Piano Sonata no. 9 in D major, K311 (K284c)

Liszt, Ballade no. 2 in B minor, S 171

Brahms, Theme and Variations in D minor for Piano, Op.18b

Schumann C., Three Romances, Op.21

Schumann, Piano Sonata in G minor, Op.22

Mozart, Piano Sonata no. 16 in C major, K545 (Allegro)

Scriabin, Etude in D sharp minor, Op.8 no.12

Moszkowski, Etude in A flat Major, Op.72, no. 11

Mao Fujita, Piano

Mao Fujita takes the plunge into Romanticism at Wigmore Hall

Mark Pullinger, 2nd January

The Japanese pianist’s Mozart is highly regarded, but how would he fair in a programme ranging from Beethoven to Brahms, culminating in Liszt's greatest Wagnerian transcription?

****1

Mao Fujita and Semyon Bychkov deliver a virtuoso pairing in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 2nd October

A daunting program of Strauss and Shostakovich showcases conductor Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic at their very best.

*****

Mao Fujita’s Mozart and Myung‑whun Chung’s Fantastique in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 29th August

An evening at the Seoul Arts Center in which clarity matters as much as volume and the most telling virtuosity comes from a refusal to grandstand.

****1

Heavenly Mozart plus a cadenza world premiere from Mao Fujita

Charlotte Gardner, 20th March

In the second of his Mozart concerto appearances with the Philharmonia, Mao Fujita plays the heavenly Piano Concerto no. 25 in C major.

*****

Mao Fujita: weaving delicate sound tapestries at Carnegie Hall

Edward Sava-Segal, 10th November

Mao Fujita demonstrates his technical prowess and poetic sensitivity in Carnegie Hall's 2024-2025 ‘Keyboard Virtuosos’ series.

*****

Czech Philharmonic's resounding Glagolitic Mass at the BBC Proms

Alexander Hall, 28th August

Jakub Hrůša and his Czech forces give an impressive account of a mass which with its ecclesiastical elements, yet pantheistic spirit and visceral energy points towards a more secular age.

****1

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.