Arts Reviews

A pianist who opens a recital with the Bach/Busoni Chaconne is a statement of values, for good or ill. Many are attracted to its extraordinary qualities; fewer can master its musical profundities.

Catherina Lemoni (piano)

John Field Room, National Concert Hall, Dublin Review

Chaconne in D minor...Bach/Busoni

Ballade No 1; Nocturne in C minor Op 48 No 1; Scherzo No 1; Scherzo No 2...Chopin

Explorations...James Wilson

Sonata No 7...Prokofiev

So it was rewarding to hear Catherina Lemoni open her recital at the National Concert Hall's John Field Room last Monday night with an account which sounded so thoroughly rooted in Bach's and Busoni's thinking.

There was something old-fashioned about this young, Greek-born pianist's way of evading detail, while making that detail contribute to its context. A command of textural balance and of tone are perhaps the most impressive technical qualities in her playing. She seems the sort of musician who might admire the long-breathed poetry of Lipatti, or the feeling of Cortot.

Her ability to shape an entire piece was especially rewarding in the four Chopin works, which included the first Ballade and the first and second Scherzos. Intensely goal-driven, yet able to pause to take breath, this was playing full of personality, yet without ego. And those qualities were sustained in a strong performance of Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7.

James Wilson reports that pianists have called his Explorations "The three little pigs". Yet in this performance their technical demands were not what one noticed. It was their shaping, the sense of purpose which infused every second of these tightly written works. Innumerable pianists have more digital dexterity and accuracy than Catherina Lemoni. Not so many can match her playing's musicianship and communication. - Martin Adams