Dorset County Museum Music Society

Tom Poster, Wednesday January 27th

As a replacement for Ivana Gavric, you couldn’t hope to hear a finer pianist than Tom Poster. Having made his concerto debut aged 13, Tom went on to win international piano competitions, and also the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician of The Year 2000; very fine credentials.

Tom began his recital with Schubert’s A Major Sonata D 664. Composed in 1819 this very attractive early work was played with great affection and much attention to detail, particularly in the witty final movement, with its somewhat quirky and unexpected use of accents. We then heard Schumann’s Waldszenen (forest scenes).

This collection of nine pieces, one of his last piano compositions, and written in 1849, unfortunately receives fewer performances in comparison with his other works. Schumann was already by that time suffering from physical and mental health problems, which eventually led to him voluntarily entering an asylum some three years later, and to his death in 1856. In Tom’s performance, you could almost imagine being in the forest of the title; each of the nine miniatures was beautifully shaped. The last piece, Abscheid (farewell), was particularly moving.

In the second half Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 received a very thoughtful, and expressive performance, culminating in the final section, which was played with great panache. Then, after three of the most well-known of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, Tom came to the last piece in the programme.

Ravel’s La Valse, in this transcription by the composer of his famous orchestral piece, is a tour de force for the soloist. I know the orchestra version of this piece so well, having played it many times, but this was the first time I had heard it in the solo piano version. I must admit I was bowled over by all the sounds and colours which Tom released from the keyboard. I can’t imagine how this was done with just ten fingers, other than hours of practice and dedication, but suffice it to say it brought huge applause from the audience.

Jennifer Sanders, to whose memory this concert was dedicated, would have been delighted by it.

Review by Russell Dawson.