Jonathan Kuo: Java Dreams Album Review – young pianist brings incredible joy to difficult tasks | Classical music

“Wisn’t it in the heart of a globetrotter?” asked the Lithuanian-American pianist Leopold Godowsky in the preface to his Java Suite, which was published in 1925 and was inspired by what he heard and saw during a long trip to Southeast Asia. He wanted this 50-minute travelogue to be the first in the Phonoramas – Tonal Journeys for the Pianoforte series, and it’s a shame he couldn’t write the others. Indonesian pianist Jonathan Kuo on this, his first solo recording.

Kuo is a fascinating soloist, who takes on the contradictions of a work that has a Lisztian dimension but somehow remains predictable, with a Debussian feel to a child. He concentrates, making the songs into long, sweeping sounds, subtly reinforcing the bass lines even though most of the work is going on above the keyboard. The first movement is inspired by the rhythmic sounds and pentatonic harmonies of the gamelan; after that the sections paint pictures of a moonlit Buddhist temple, fragrant flower gardens, chattering monkeys and a stunningly beautiful puppet show. There are many people in the street making the music loud, and the picture of the sunrise over the mountain of Bromo brings the middle happiness.

Kuo includes the Suite and Three Journeys from Petrushka that Stravinsky composed for Rubinstein—a pianist who claimed to be jealous of Godowsky’s technique. Kuo’s playing feels a touch tried here, missing the song’s momentum, but only by millimeters: it’s still a fun and catchy song.