Submitted by Solinski.Griz Piano Arts, Sep 28, 2007 15:50

Dear Mr.Kirshnit With the exception of the first sentence, we found your review not very fair to Hong Xu considering that he got a standing ovation and very high marks from the notable audience and his teachers jerome Loewenthal and Douglas Humpherys. Here below, we are sending you the review of Dr. Sterling Adams, a renowned musicologist, pianist and founder of the Hilton Head Piano competition. Sincerely, H.Mano Solinski A Review By Sterling Adams New York City, September 15th. When the young Chinese pianist Hong Xu won second prize in the 2004 Hilton Head Island International Piano Competition, his superb playing and engaging personality attracted special attention from islanders Dr. John and Geneva Griz, and Mano and Brigitta Solinski of nearby Savannah, Georgia, all generous supporters of the annual event. His subsequent appearance with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in an impressive performance of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3, replacing the first prize winner who was unable to take advantage of this portion of his award, further endeared him to friends and supporters of the competition. Motivated by the desire to give young pianists the opportunity to appear in venues throughout the United States, the Solinski-Griz Piano Arts partnership was formed to support worthy young artists such as Hong Xu. The first sponsorship of the newly formed Piano Arts group was Saturday night's New York debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall by Hong Xu. Xu, currently a master's degree student at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal, is a phenomenally gifted musician with a well-developed technique which enables him to express the widest range of musical ideas. The program chosen for his debut performance featured works by Mozart, Chopin, Prokofiev, Huang Ruo and Liszt. Xu began with Mozart's early three-movement Sonata in E flat major, K. 282. Stressing the warmth and intimacy of the two opening movements, Xu rounded out the work with a delightfully animated and impeccable interpretation of the allegro finale. With remarkable control and fine tuned sensitivity, Xu next gave a powerful reading of Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasy in A flat major, opus 61. There were moments that soared with breath-taking momentum and contrasting lyrical passages that stirred the soul. It was Chopin-playing at its finest Four vividly characterized selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Opus 75, brought the program's first half to a close. After intermission, Xu continued with the North American premiere of a piano composition by Chinese-born American composer, Huang Ruo, who was in the audience. Before performing "Four Tunes from Hainan Island," Xu invited the composer to the stage to make a few comments about his work. Regarding compositional technique, Ruo explained that the first piece was a canon, the second an ostinato and the third and fourth were contrapuntal, the forth employing inverted counterpoint. His aim was to write pieces that could be played by both children and mature artists. He cited the well-known prior examples of this intention by Schumann and Debussy. The most interesting and technically demanding of the four short pieces, were the second, called "Sun Man Tune" and the last, "Diao Sheng Tune." Ruo's writing is inventive, original and concise. The attractive pieces were well received by the audience who gave generous applause to Xu's performance and to a bow by the composer.

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