The Irish Times reviews François-Frédéric Guy at the NCH in Dublin.

François-Frédéric Guy (piano)

NCH, Dublin

Bach - Preludes and Fugues 1-5 (Book 1). Bartók - Sonata. Liszt - Bénédiction de Dieu dans le solitude. Beethoven - Sonata in C Op 53 (Waldstein).

There's a story told about the great pianist Artur Schnabel in the recording studio. Schnabel, who had to be coaxed and cajoled to subject himself to the vagaries of the microphone in the 1930s, was a risk-taker who sometimes delivered showers of wrong notes. On an occasion when someone suggested that another take might yield a better result, he snapped back, "It might be better. But would it be as good?"

The paradox came to mind listening to French pianist François-Frédéric Guy at the National Concert Hall. Guy has always been a disciplined player. But the fearlessly tight, anti-rhetorical rein he kept on Bartók's angular, crunchingly dissonant sonata was remarkable by any standards.

The five Bach preludes and fugues with which he opened were steady, even when swift, the touch firm, the counterpoint rolled out with a kind of magisterial formality.

Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata, by contrast, was almost headlong, the tempos of the outer movements taken at what might have been expected to be just the far side of comfort. To be sure, the lines did rather tend to blur, but it was impressive to hear such impulsiveness sustained without a descent into instability.

The Bénédiction de Dieu dans le solitude from Liszt's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses was projected with strength, the suggestive aromas of Lisztian incense dispelled in favour of a style of grand oration.

So where does Schnabel's remark come into all of this? Well, in spite of the many details of mastery which took Guy beyond the achievements of his last recital here six years ago, the overall effect was actually less appealing. It was almost as if some essential quality of musical character, of individual personality, had diminished along the way. - Michael Dervan

Resurgam, IBO/Duley

St Nicholas of Myra Church, Dublin

The Irish Baroque Orchestra and its affiliate choir Resurgam marked Holy Week with three 18th-century settings of the crucifixion hymn Stabat Mater. Alongside Pergolesi's much-loved version for solo soprano and alto were Vivaldi's for solo alto and Domenico Scarlatti's for a cappella chorus and continuo - an intelligent mix of the familiar and the recherché.

Few penitential texts have inspired such lively and varied music. The sentiments may be doleful, but their expression in short stanzas prompts the composers frequently to change the mood.

Packed with a large crowd, the church of St Nicholas of Myra lost none of its acoustic bloom. While its stone surfaces resisted the impact of bass tones (and hence also the harmonic effect of chorus and continuo), they added extra colour to melodic nuances and ornaments.

Creating some splendid resonances of his own was countertenor Owen Willetts, whose falsetto was no less impressive for its sumptuous low notes than for its ringing high ones. He showed an innate sense of the music's style, both as soloist in the Vivaldi and in duet in the Pergolesi with equally strong soprano Lynda Lee.

Mark Duley, the IBO's artistic director, doubled as conductor and continuo organist with characteristic efficiency and verve. His instinct for the music's natural pace ensured smooth transitions between tempos.

Though the sparser aspects of Scarlatti's quirky polyphony brought out certain inconsistencies of choral timbre, Resurgam's 20 voices added up to a luxuriant tutti suggesting more numerous forces.

From within their ranks came some lively solo singing, particularly in the culminating Amen chorus. Here, Duley's unremitting drive made for a thrilling conclusion. At its best moments, the IBO's gut-strung playing had a steely lustre. It was a sure sign of their progress from a merely idiomatic to a truly distinctive early music sound. - Andrew Johnstone