Aristo Sham is a 29-year-old Hong-Kong born pianist whose first prize in the 2025 Van Cliburn Competition resonates with his astonishing force, clarity and assurance. Already, his publicity tells us 'he has a penchant to take on the great moments of the piano repertoire,' including Brahms Second Concerto and the complete solo piano music. At the same time his programme for his first major recording, entitled' Timeline,' reflects a distinctive and elevated musical taste. Here is no obvious show-case, but a concern with deeper musical values confirmed in Sham's own lengthy accompanying essay.
Opening with Bach's C minor Toccata his credentials, those of a born concert performer, are immediately apparent. The command is unfaltering at every level, and there is a no less authority in the relatively austere Bach-Busoni ;Sleepers Awake' transcription. Turning to greater virtuoso opulence in the Bach-Busoni Chaconne Sham leaves an indelible impression, alive with steep changes in dynamics that are as dramatic as they are faultlessly gauged. Even with a wealth of outstanding recordings in the catalogue from the legendary performance by Michelangeli, from Alicia de Larrocha, Rubinstein, Petri, Bolet and, more recently, Benjamin Grosvenor, the impact of Sham's breadth and verve are mesmeric.
Then there are the Six Brahms-Busoni Buson Organ Chorale Preludes and a retreat from such outsize rhetoric into a restrained, autumnal beauty; never more so than in No 5 with syncopations that are inimitable Brahms.
The Busoni Ten Variations on Chopin's C minor Prelude remain controversial. For Sham they adhere to the composer's aesthetic of 'intellectual virtuosity,' while others see Chopin's nobility as seen through a distorting mirror. I recall Halina Stefanska's objection to a pianist including it in his repertoire at the Leeds Piano Competition, for her an unforgiveable breach of taste. But again, Sham's performance whether reflective or high-flying is a wonder of undiluted mastery.
Finally, and this time an abrupt change of direction in Grieg's 'Holberg Suite.' The requirements here are radically different to anything else in Sham's programme and for the first time, and despite impeccable pianistic credentials, I noted a certain severity. It is not that I am asking for the improvisatory freedom or 'careless rapture' associated with, say, Cortot or Kempff, but there is a lack of charm, of a more personally engaged response. But again, Sham rises to the emotional challenge of 'Aria' with its near Franckian chromaticism and whirls his way through the final 'Rigaudon' in a manner that silences criticism.
This is a remarkable disc and I look ahead to further recordings that that test Sham's range and musicianship to an even greater extent; in Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann etc. Universal's sound is vivid enough; it is as if Sham is in the room next to you, yet there is admirable space around the sound.
Bryce Morrison