Travel Tips

I gave my debut solo piano recital on 1 September 2002 at the AGF auditorium, Alliance Francaise. Entitled `A Tour through Romantic Europe with Kah Kay',the programme comprised works by Schubert, Schumann, Albeniz and Chopin. Preparations for the recital began in April 2002. It involved a disciplined regimen of 2 hours of practice every evening, more during the weekends and masterclasses with my London-based teacher, Ms Toh Chee Hung.

At 8.05 pm on 1 September, I walked out to the stage and started my recital with the Schubert Moment Musicaux and Impromptu. Schumann's Carnaval followed - it was the highlight of the evening's programme. I started working on Carnaval in December 2001 having been fascinated by the colourful depiction of various people and personalities in the work, a feature so typical of the musical ingenuity of Schumann and the aristocratic German romantic style.

The second half of the programme started off with Spanish music by Albeniz - 3 excerps from the Suite Espagnole, depicting the folk tunes and dances of Andalusia. I have always been very fascinated by the exotic sounds and gypsy rhythms of southern Spain from my travels through Spain in 1997. The interpretation of Spanish piano music by the great Spanish pianist Alicia de Laroccha further strengthened my fascination for Spanish music.

I ended the recital with offerings by Chopin - the Barcarolle in F#, Prelude in C# minor and the F minor Ballade. These were the crowning jewels of the evening. The aristocracy of Chopin's music is exemplified by the lyricism and romanticism of these three late pieces - the mounting expressions of joy and the explosions of passion.

I received three curtain calls after the programme ended and played Rachmaninoff's Polichinelle and Debussy's La Plus Que Lente as encores.

My lawyer friend David flew in a Russian pianist for two weeks in the last week of August 2002 to conduct piano masterclasses. On 25 August 2002, I was introduced to Kerim Vergazov, a burly man who hails from St Petersburg. My first impression of Kerim was that he resembled the young Rachmaninoff. Kerim had an illustrious performing career in Russia and was the first prize winner of the Leningrad Piano Competition. I had been eagerly waiting for this masterclass with the maestro.

I played the Schumann Carnaval Op 9 for Kerim. After playing through the whole work, Kerim shared his vast experience on the Russian art of piano playing with me. The Russian school of piano playing is legendary - their emphasis on tone production, relaxation and articulation is unparalleled by any other school of piano playing and has produced virtuosos like Richter and Horowitz.

Kerin Vergazov is now an accompanist and senior lecturer at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore.

I performed a piano recital at Nat Studio in Bangkok on 3 August 2002 at the invitation of Nat Yontararak, a pianist/composer based in Bangkok. Nat Studio is located in a small soi in the Lad Prao district in north Bangkok. At 4.30 pm that day, I hopped into a taxi and headed for Nat Studio. Meandering through the small and narrow sois of Bangkok, it took 45 minutes to reach an unobstrusive house with a small sign `Nat Studio' at the doorway.

I was warmly greeted by Sugar, Nat's wife, who is also the administrator of the studio. Sugar was a charming and bubbly lady who exuded an air of elegance and aristocracy. Nat greeted me with the traditional `wai' following which I was given a short tour of the studios. There are 8 studios altogether and a music theory room. I counted a total of 6 grand pianos in the whole studio including a 19th century Bechstein with carved legs and ornate score stand. The auditorium was a cosy room tastefully furnished with mahogany wood panelling and overlooked a fountain in the Thai-style courtyard. Occupying the stage was a 9-foot Steinway concert grand piano with another 7-foot Steinway at the side.

There were posters in every corner of the house of family concerts, student concerts and Nat's concerts in Thailand and abroad. In particular, I was fascinated by a two-piano recital in which Nat partnered a French pianist playing on a rare double-keyboard Pleyel piano owned by a member of the Royal family.

At 7 pm, Nat gave me the cue to start the recital after having introduced me to the audience. I went into the auditorium, took the bow and played through the first half of the programme - selections of Schubert and Schumann's Carnaval. All went on well until the last fortessimo chord of the Carnaval when I hear a dull thud - my fears were confirmed during the intermission when we discovered that the strings of the top A-flat had snapped! Unflustered by the incident, Nat and his students helped to re-locate the 7-footer and the rest of the programme proceeded without any further glitch. It was just as well that the technical fault happened before the intermission.

A rousing applause from the audience after the thunderous coda of the Chopin F minor Ballade prompted me to pull out the encore piece - Rachmaninoff's Polichinelle. A lively question and answer session followed. Students asked me questions ranging from practising of scales, and ways of practising. I shared with them my philosophy on music - music is a personal form of communication which is meant to be be shared with everyone. Music students should be exposed to public performances as often as possible - not only does it give them the impetus to practice and learn new repetoire but more importantly it develops musicianship in the person.

A sumptous dinner followed - all my favourite Thai dishes were laid out on the table - Tom Yam soup (spicy but not hot like those served in our local Thai restaurants), Green Curry Chicken, Thai salad and an assortment of desserts and fruits. The conversation was light spirited and I could feel the sense of camaraderie and friendship between the teachers at Nat Studio and students. Nat's teachers are personally taught and groomed by Nat himself. Not all of them majored in music - a few of them majored in other subjects like accountancy and business. One of them entered voluntary monkhood for 2 years and has just returned to teach. It was like one big happy family with Nat as the patriach and Sugar as the matriach. In fact Sugar treats the students almost like her own children. The parents of the students leave everything to the teacher and respect the decisions made for their children.

The evening drew to a close at 11 pm. Nat and Sugar, being ever so hospitable, sent me back to my hotel in downtown Sukhumvit. To everyone at Nat Studio, I would like to say a big `Thank You' for your kindness and generosity.