An evening of great music…Cellist Steven Retallick, violinist Dino Akira Decena and pianist Lee Jae Phang presented two great masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire in Kuala Lumpur on March 2, 2025.
The hour long concert opened to a packed hall and was met with several rounds of enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49
I. Molto allegro agitato
II. Andante con moto tranquillo
III. Scherzo. Leggiero e vivace
IV. Finale. Allegro assai appassionato
Ravel Piano Trio in A minor, M. 67
I. Modéré
II. Pantoum: Assez vif
III. Passacaille: Très large
IV. Final: Animé
Among the highlights… a short extract from the final movement of the Ravel during the concert in Kuala Lumpur on March 2, 2025.
By Foong Pek Yee
foongpekyee@gmail.com
Feb 15, 2025
updated: March 4, 2025
Maurice Ravel’s piano trio, completed in 1914, gained inspiration from a wide variety of sources; from Basque dance to Malaysian poetry (pantun in Bahasa Malaysia)
The second movement – “Pantoum” – is a poetic form derived from the pantun.
“Ravel adopted an orchestral approach while composing his trio and created a texture of sound unusually rich for a chamber music work.
“It is unique in the repertoire for its luxuriance of colour and its brilliance,” says Lee Jae.
The concert “Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth” is to celebrate the works of Ravel who is one of France’s greatest composers.
Ravel was born on March 7.
Ravel’s Trio will be paired with Mendelssohn’s D minor piano trio – an audience favourite since its premiere in 1840.
Lee Jae says Robert Schumann famously declared it as “The master-trio of the 19th century that will continue to delight future generations”.
Full house : Concert pianist Lee Jae Phang, violinist Dino Akira Decena and cellist Steven Retallick performing piano trios at the Grand Opening of the First Edition of the European Music Cultures Festival (Nov 1 – 3, 2024) in Cambodia.
Steven Retallick is an Australian citizen, born in Amsterdam to a family of musicians.
He moved to London at an early age and was educated at the Purcell School, a specialist music school, before attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he completed his cello studies under Professor Stefan Popov.
Throughout his career, Steven Retallick has worked professionally with various orchestras, including the Orquesta Sinfónica de Asturias and Orquesta Ciudad de Granada in Spain, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Wichita Symphony in the USA, the Royal Bangkok Symphony in Thailand, Opera Australia and the Adelaide Symphony in Australia, and the Ulster Orchestra, London Symphony, and Philharmonia Orchestra in the UK.
Steven has also guested Principal with the Singapore Symphony, the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, the Sun Symphony Orchestra in Vietnam, and from 1998 to 2021, he was Co-Principal with the Malaysian Philharmonic.
His solo performances include the cello concerto by Gavin Bryars with the Malaysian Philharmonic, “Snapshots,” a commissioned work for cello and orchestra by Adeline Wong, also with the Malaysian Philharmonic, and the Malaysian premiere of Schnittke’s Epilog.
Dino Akira Decena is one of the Philippines’ most accomplished and sought-after violinists, renowned for his exceptional talent as both a soloist and chamber musician.
He has performed with nearly all major orchestras and chamber groups in the country.
Dino has held prominent positions, including associate
concertmaster for The Phantom of the Opera (2012)
and Les Miserables (2016) in Manila, concertmaster
for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra, and violinist for Miss Saigon in Manila and Taiwan.
He has also performed with various notable groups, such as the Metro Pop Orchestra, the Filharmonika Orchestra, and the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra, and in productions like
Star Wars: A New Hope and Do You Hear the People Sing?
Dino continues to contribute to the arts as a violin teacher at St. Paul University, Sta. Isabel College of Manila, St. Scholastica’s College of Manila, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, and the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, and he teaches violin to children of pastors at the Maranatha Christian Academy.
Lee Jae Phang is a Malaysian concert pianist, teacher, accompanist, and chamber musician.
He has performed in the UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, Beijing, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Malaysia, during which he also worked with conductors such as Christopher Adey, Mark Heron, Davide Levi, Nick Meredith, Frank Lennon, Dr. Martin Cook, and Mihnea Ignat.
During his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, his piano trio Trio Lazuli performed around the UK and they had masterclasses with Kathryn Stott (duo partner of Yo-Yo Ma), Frans Helmerson, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Jeremy Young, Wu Qian, and Sasha Sitkovetsky.
Lee Jae himself also had piano masterclasses with Stephen Hough CBE, The Juilliard School faculty members Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio, French pianists Philippe Cassard, Michel Béroff, and Bernard d’Ascoli, British pianists Christopher Elton, Vanessa Latarche, Ronan O’Hora, and other renowned pianists such as Nelson Goerner, Vovka Ashkenazy, and Daniel Shapiro.
In addition to receiving many awards, scholarships, funds, and winning many other competitions, Lee Jae won the ‘1st Beethoven Performance Award of the BPSE & Beethoven in Altaussee Festival 2016’ prize in Austria.
Given his deep love and fascination for Beethoven’s music, Lee Jae has recorded almost all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas and published them on his YouTube channel – these sonatas being ranked amongst the highest Himalayan peaks of a pianist’s repertoire.
Great musical partners: (from left) Dino Akira Decena, Lee Jae Phang and Steven Retallick at the Grand Opening of the First Edition of the European Music Cultures Festival (Nov 1 – 3, 2024) in Cambodia.
Photos : Courtesy of Lee Jae Phang
