KELLY College Concert Society met for the first time this year on Wednesday, January 14 and were treated to a virtuoso recital on the piano by Viv McLean. Aged only 27, he presented a programme of great power and also tenderness.
He began with Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, a towering work which he performed with considerable style. He followed it with Schubert's Impromptus, a complete change of mood but one which he managed apparently effortlessly.
After the interval he played Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata in A flat. Before playing this he asked the audience's indulgence, as he had not practised as much as he would have liked owing to having caught his finger in a door! But he gave a masterly performance. One can only wonder what it would have been like had he managed to practise more!
He finished with Schubert's Wandererfantasie, a work of both passion and sudden intimacy, in which he conveyed with great clarity the work's differing moods.
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For an encore he said he would play something easier, and chose a short piece by Poulenc. This is a young pianist of whom we need to hear more.
The concert was sponsored by the Countess of Munster Music Trust.
FELICITY BARNABY