Music for the fearless, foolhardy

Devil's Trill Sonata . . . . . Tartini

Solo Sonata in G minor . . . . . Bach

Fantasia in C D934 . . . . . Schubert

La Campanella . . . . . Paganini

Violinist David O'Doherty, a graduate of the DIT Conservatory of Music who is currently studying under Pierre Amoyal in Lausanne, is clearly enamoured of music which makes virtuosic demands.

The programme he presented at the NCH John Field Room on Monday night might suggest to a seasoned eye that he was either fearless or foolhardy. The concert itself left one with the feeling that he was a bit of both, the only possible sign of circumspection being the absence of Gerald Barry's Triorchic Blues, which was advertised in the NCH's January calendar of events, but omitted without explanation from the concert itself.

O'Doherty presented an evening of music which would make exceptional demands on any player's technique in terms of razor sharp bowing control, the pinpoint accuracy of intonation, and a capacity to handle double-stopping with easy fluidity. His performances demonstrated that he has the spirit for the sort of music he chose, but only rarely the fingers to deliver what it demands.

There is a certain credit that performers can run up with an audience for heightening listeners' awareness of the sheer difficulty of the task in hand. But at the end of the day, the notes need to be more securely in rhythmic and melodic place than it was in O'Doherty's gift to deliver on Monday.

In his favour, it has to be said that he showed an unwavering gutsy determination in the face of the not quite surmountable tasks he set himself.

The same could not be said of his accompanist, Deborah Kelleher, who, when the going got really tough in Schubert's Fantasia in C, simply left out portions of the notoriously difficult piano part.