Rob Hao – Hipster-inspired Music and Romantic Miniaturism

Rob Hao | Indie Ditties

Utzon Room, April 8, 2022

A concert rarely offers the opportunity to listen to hipster-inspired music and Romantic miniaturism in the same night. Rob Hao’s premiere of Nicholas Vines’ Indie Ditties and his performance of Schubert and Chopin did just that. Hao is a pianist of exceptional ability, with his stylistic expression ranging from intricate tones to percussive energy; a sign of the young pianist’s musical prowess, despite the earliness in his career.

Hao’s performance of each movement in Indie Ditties had their own character, starting with the spirited Grease on the Handlebars. The music was as fascinating to watch as it was to listen to – a combination of flowing glissandos and well-executed measure changes. A few minutes in, listeners were placed into a much more introverted hipster subculture. Bad Appletude, a cleverly engineered ditty, re-imagining everyday sounds from Apple and Windows devices. Hao brought out the colour of each jingle and sudden redirections in phrasing depicted the comical conflict between the two brands.

Just short of the halfway mark, the audience was hit with the work’s most satirical ditty: HRH Prince Albert. In the program notes, the persona gets a piercing in a ‘certain area’ for greater ‘romantic’ prowess, but things go horribly wrong. The narrative assignment was well understood by Hao. His interpretation matched the highly ironic energy, painting an uncannily vivid picture of the persona’s regret for his most recent life decision. It was a performance that physically shook the piano and the audience.

The twelve quirky ditties concluded with Too Much Ink,  satirising ‘stigmatophiles’ completely covered in tattoos and eventually running out of surface area. Hao’s thoughtfully placed rubato brought out the sudden changes in mood. His dexterity and stamina even after eleven movements brought the work to an intense ending, worthy of the enthusiastic applause it received.

Post-interval, the audience sat back down into a very different musical era. An intimate performance of mazurkas, impromptus and ballades. Hao’s ability in these canonical works was heard well in Schubert’s Du bist die Ruh, maintaining lyrical phrases, even as the texture thickened. A sophisticated understanding of harmonic tension and release was matched by his rubato, a common theme throughout the concert.

Hao ended on a virtuosic note with Chopin’s Ballade no. 1 in g minor Op. 23, cleanly executing the technical challenges of the work with seamless ease. Overall, a breathtaking performance by Hao, full of personality, authenticity and virtuosity; surely a night to remember for all in attendance.

By guest reviewer: Alexander Lau

Alexander Lau is an emerging contemporary classical composer. He studied composition and music theory for six years under Dr Nicholas Vines at Sydney Grammar School. Having played violin for 16 years, Alex often writes chamber music for strings. He is also a member of the Seraphim String Trio, established in 2015. Alex’s compositional style is diverse and often changes. Most recently, his works have been influenced by Brazilian Bossa Nova and American minimalism. Alex is also the composer of ‘Jacaranda Snow’, a piano quartet for the growth mindset picture book, Jacaranda Snow. Alex currently lives in Sydney and studies at the University of New South Wales.