All is pianistic. All is marvellous. The unity “made in Zhu” is impeccable. Her performance was absolute perfection. Her extraordinary technique allowed her to perform runs at a rare speed with millimetric precision, yet at the same time she emphasizes each idea and each detail.
What a pianist! ZHU Xiao-Mei is uncompromising, as she cares about the ethics of the sound. That is her strength: nothing is stressed, nothing suggested, but she frames with such infinite detail that the listener becomes a prisoner of her game. We are left breathless.
One of the most beautiful CDs devoted to Haydn? That could well be! Haydn interpreted by ZHU Xiao-Mei is like dreaming awake. If Haydn himself were to spring out of the earth to play his works, I have no doubt that he would do so in a similar vein: a music of both the unexpected and unbridled joy.
A philosopher of sound is decidedly at work here, one who ferrets out the hidden corners of Bachʼs music with deep concentration and brings it to life, fully aware of all its power. ZHU Xiao-Mei penetrates into the cosmos created by Bach with absolute accuracy.
Her interpretation is sober and rigorous -- that of genius.
A pianist who goes right to the essence, ignoring fear. ZHU Xiao-Mei is on intimate terms with masterpieces.
You have to have heard ZHU Xiao-Mei play the Goldberg Variations: it is as straightforward as that!
