The pianist Alasdair Cameron had a varied programme in his concert at the Queen's Hall. He began with a selection of pieces by Mozart - Fantasy in D minor, Rondo in D major and Rondo in A minor - which were played with precision and a lightness of touch, enhancing the dynamic contrasts in the compositions.
In the Schubert selection - Impromptu in C minor, Moment Musical in Ab major and the Impromptu in Eb major - his mastery of the instrument became apparent in the gradations of tone, with every sound being individually coloured. In the Impromptu in Eb major he played with tremendous virtuosity and fluidity and the pianissimo passages were played with such delicacy you could barely discern the fingers touching the notes.
Next on the programme were rarely performed Liszt compositions. One normally associates Liszt's work as being extremely complex, however the pieces in the concert - Nuages gris, La lugubre gondola II, Elergy II and Schaflos, Frage and Antwort - were written towards the end of Liszt's life at a time when he was keen to experiment with futuristic music.
The result are works that are atonal in places with many lines of single notes, particularly in La lugubre gondola II. It was as if Liszt was revisiting his compositional life and reflecting on what he ought to do and Alasdair Cameron's sensitive playing effectively brought out the pathos apparent in the music.
The Brahms compositions which followed were written at a similar time as the Liszt's works (at the end of the nineteenth century) and were, by comparison, traditional 'romantic' period pieces - two Intermezzos in A major and E major.
The final piece on the programme was Liszt's transposition of Wagner's 'Isolde's Liebestod' - the swan song called love-death - from the third act of his opera Tristan and Isolde. In the nineteenth century composers were keen to help one another as there were no media outlets such as television, radio, the internet and Liszt, to help promote Wagner's work, transposed the orchestral score and created a marvellous piano piece.
Alasdair Cameron is a seductive pianist. With much precision and sensitivity he has the ability to create a vast spectrum of tone and musical colour. A most enjoyable performance.
Concert played 30 January 2011