Sonata in F minor K466 - Scarlatti
Sonata in D K96 - Scarlatti
Ballade in F minor - Chopin
Chorale et variations - Henri Dutilleux
Thoughtful musicianship was one of the strengths of Rebecca Cap's piano recital at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre last Wednesday lunchtime. This was not a recital which showed startling individuality; but this 17-year-old musician knows what she wants. Her playing has that objective quality - free of personal histrionics and concerned primarily with doing justice to the music - which suggests that she will continue to learn.
Her playing of Scarlatti made not a nod towards modern, harpsichord-influenced concepts of playing Baroque music on the piano. But the beautifully clear, independently shaped part-writing and the natural rhythm offered plenty of rewards. In Chopin's Ballade in F minor her technique was not quite up to sustaining the refined, Lipatti-like style which seemed to be her aim. Nevertheless, she showed insight into this most sophisticated music. The most authoritative performance was of Henri Dutilleux's Chorale et variations. Stylistically eclectic yet utterly individual, this music got the sort of performance which suits it - precise in gesture and muscular in rhythmic energy.
Rebecca Cap maintained her composure despite a horrendously long interruption from a mobile phone during the Dutilleux. Here's a suggestion for concert managers. After any such incident, the culprit should be subjected, before the assembled audience and performers, to a Maoist-style public ceremony of shaming and repentance. Any takers?
