Leonardo Da Vinci is often labeled a “renaissance man” and dedicated his life to the arts and sciences. Probably the most famous work he did would be the Mona Lisa, but he’s also famous for the Last Supper and, believe it or not – tanks and helicopters. So for any emerging artist today, it’s genuinely refreshing to see someone who’s balancing their work in the arts and in science.
The way I came to stumble upon this thought was in a brief chat with Pianist I-Lin Tsai. I quickly realized that not only did she perform and arrange some of this music on the album, but she also designed the cover graphically by herself. That alone was fascinating to me, but when we talked further, and I told her I’d be reviewing her album, she told me, “more than anything, I did it to inspire my students, who I really care for and want to help by inspiring them.” She said that she sees pedagogy (or study of piano teaching) as an “almost science” or a branch of “heuristics.” As someone who learned piano as a kid, I was shocked. Since most of my memories involve my teacher yelling at me – I digress.
Getting into the album, the opening of the album was an overly free-pulse version of Claude Debussy’s Image Book I. The performance is very childlike in its unpredictable ways. The first movement – Reflections, comes to a very firm climax, yet she clearly is holding back on this initial peak. Although structural playing isn’t something I prefer, I saw this as a clear decision; she was playing freely but within the confines of the structure. The whole piece felt like a circus tent held up by large poles.
What caught my attention was the Suite for Piano Duet on Themes by JJ Lin. I would later find out in our brief encounter that she also arranged this music. The duet, performed with former concert pianist Julian Toha was the clear gem that I-Lin Tsai presents on this album. The performance by the pair is sincere and well played. It’s clear that the two work well together, and from the dynamic approach and ensemble, they put their focus on making the piece both fantasy-like and still a slow build from start to finish.
The second half of the album was positioned to almost mirror the first half. It kept the free-play approach in Bartok and Rachmaninov, culminating with the ending of the Kapustin Variations. The clarity of playing at times could be cleaner and more organized, but from meeting her, I realized that this was her approach from the beginning. Make it a journey – you never know what to expect in the next scene.
If you’re interested in learning more about I-Lin Tsai, seeing her videos, or hearing her album on Apple Music and Spotify, visit her website at ilintsai.com and follow her Instagram @iamannietsai.
