An Impressive Piano Recital

This week’s ‘Music at Lunchtime’ concert was given by Form 7 music scholar, Obi, who played Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, accompanied by Anne Bolt on piano. Obi gave a fantastic performance showing great commitment and real technical skill.

The first movement opened with a fanfare-like theme, full of momentum, which quickly dissolved into ferocious semiquaver passages. After a brief contrapuntal cadenza, the semiquavers returned, showcasing the technical demands of the solo part. The second movement was a moment of calm; it was beautifully expressive with great lyricism and sense of time, allowing the poignant harmonic progressions to sing through. The final movement returned to the vivacity of the first movement. It had the same energy, animated even more by irregular metres and finger-flying technical passages. The whole performance was a real showcase of pianistic virtuosity and musical energy- congratulations to Obi!

Next week’s lunchtime recital is given by selected string players, performing solo and chamber music by JS Bach and Mendelssohn.