Peter Donohoe (piano)

Toccata - Schumann

Arabeske - Schumann

Humoreske - Schumann

French Suite No 5 - Bach

Canteyodjaya - Messiaen

Sonata in C minor, Op 111 - Beethoven

Peter Donohoe's recital at St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, on Saturday was one of the most disappointing events I've attended in a long time. Incredible as it may seem, the pianist's spoken introduction to Schumann's Humoreske made his love of this music clearer than anything in his playing.

In the opening Toccata, he failed to come to terms with the very specific technical demands of this most technically demanding of works, and his handling of the Arabeske had little of the subtlety needed to sustain so dangerously repetitive a piece.

In spite of nimble finger work, Donohoe never managed to penetrate beneath the surface of Bach's French Suite No. 5, and his handling of Beethoven's last sonata seemed to miss the point of the music entirely. The first movement was not so much forthright as redundantly aggressive, and I don't think I've ever heard the second movement Arietta given so consistently in black and white. The delicate shadings of Beethoven's music were almost completely ignored.

The brightest spot in an otherwise disappointing evening came in Messiaen's Canteyodjaya, in which the hefty playing meaningfully conveyed the excitement of raw energy.