Drei Klavierstⁿcke D.946 - Schubert

Vier Impromptus D.899 - Schubert

Neil Cooney's first programme of piano pieces by Schubert will be followed by another, also in the Hugh Lane Gallery, at noon on Sunday July 1st. Last weekend's recital was like a party where one meets up with old friends. They retain their winning smiles but their features have somewhat thickened over the years.

Schubert's sheer fecundity, the way in which he can make his music sound as if composed on the spot, was well brought out, as was his gift for seductive melody. Of the Three Piano Pieces D. 946, two are in flat keys; of the Four Impromptus D.899, three are in flat keys, so the overall mood was one of soothing restlessness, occasionally disturbed by emphatic bursts of an extrovert nature. If Cooney had been less emphatic in his playing, these bursts might have carried more weight.

Schubert might well have enjoyed the resonance of the Hugh Lane Gallery, but his own piano would have produced a smaller, more intimate sound, better suited to these charming pieces.