Scott Brady (cello)/Owen Lorigan (piano)

{TABLE} Cello Sonata Op 40 .................... Shostakovich Le Grand Tango for Cello and Piano .... Piazzolla Cello Sonata Op 19 .................... Rachmaninov {/TABLE} DUBLIN Master Classes presented a recital at the National Concert Hall's John Field Room on Thursday night, in its Young Artist series. The programme given by the American cellist Scott Brady and the Dublin based pianist Owen Lorigan was appealing, in that they played three substantial 20th century works.

It was an engaging recital; yet I was not convinced that these players' abilities were shown at their best in music which consistently demands the balancing of big gestures. There was much to enjoy in Shostakovich's Cello Sonata Op 40, in Le Grand Tango by Piazzolla, and in Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata Op 19; yet the Shostakovitch and above all the Rachmaninov require a grasp of musical purpose which is almost symphonic in its breadth. That sense of purpose was wanting; and all three pieces needed a more abandoned type of characterisation.

I wondered how these players would have got on with a Beethoven sonata, for example. Brady is a cellist who has a sure command of tone, and his beautiful shaping might have been more purposeful in music from the Classical period. Moreover, Lorigan's neat unanimity with the cellist might have produced a more balanced partnership; for one of the main weaknesses in the recital was the tendency for cello tone to dominate in discourse.

This was especially evident in the music of the Argentinian tango king, Astor Piazzolla. His artified tangos thrive on the drama between the players; for players read dancers. But that did not come across on this occasion.

That said, I was absorbed by the good tone and impeccably unanimous shaping shown throughout the concert. The recital suggested that both players are worth watching.