Anthony Byrne (piano)

{TABLE} Piano Sonata Op. 53 (Waldstein) ............. Beethoven Mephisto Waltz No. 1 ........................ Liszt Images Book 1 ............................... Debussy Three Pieces for Piano ...................... Benjamin Dwyer Waltzes Op. 64 .............................. Chopin Polonaise in A flat Op. 53 .................. Chopin {/TABLE} ONE of the strong points of Anthony Byrne's piano recital last week was the first performance of Benjamin Dwyer's Three Pieces for Piano.

Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No. 1 came across as a warhorse of virtuosity; yet it lacked the enormous conviction and excitement this music can have. This disparity had less to do with the rather splashy style of playing than with rhythmic looseness.

The tendency for things to Just happen rather than to be forged was inimical to large scale shape, and to making Liszt's calculated virtuosity sound purposeful. Other pieces on the programme had similar limitations, especially Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata.

Anthony Byrne was far more convincing in the first book of Debussy's Images. The straightforward pacing of "Homage a Rameau", for example, suggested a specific view of the piece, different from the usual poised genuflection, but worth consideration.

Benjamin Dwyer explained the ideas behind his Three Pieces far Piano, which was commissioned by Anthony Byrne, with the assistance of the Arts Council.

The music shows Dwyer's characteristic feel for proportion, though I did find that the first piece expanded its range of sonorities too quickly for its demanding aim of being a study on the diminished octave.

The third piece draws on ideas suggested by South American music, and concentrates on the piano's percussive qualities. Here Anthony Byrne used his strong piano tone to telling effect, and made the music's considerable technical demands seem at one with its expressive purpose.