Don't let the hushed opening bars of the "Appassionata" fool you: pianist
Tian Ying is a first-rate virtuoso and a grade-A showman who plays Beethoven with the kind of power and panache that most pianists bring to bear on Liszt. For some listeners,
Ying's nervous intensity and agitated tempos may recall
Horowitz, while his astoundingly clean textures and astonishingly clear colors may remind others of
Brendel, yet
Ying is ultimately his own man with his own interpretation and he tears into the "Appassionata" with a barely restrained frenzy but complete technical control. The combination of opposites is heady and persuasive. It could be fairly said that
Ying exaggerates dynamic contrasts, recklessly drives tempos, and builds to climaxes quick, but it can't be said that he didn't intend every effect and didn't carry it off brilliantly.
Much the same could be said of
Ying's Schumann -- but with one caveat. His Toccata is burning with energy and blazing with virtuosity while his Carnaval is bright with light and radiant with color -- but while
Ying's extravagant style suits Schumann's Toccata and the more extroverted movements of his Carnaval, he seems to miss the essential soulfulness of the music in the more inward movements. But still, for sheer super virtuoso thrills, few pianists can match what
Ying does with the Toccata and his recital is well worth hearing for that alone. Centaur's sound is clean but a bit dim.