Osborne makes a compelling case

STEVEN OSBORNE Albert Hall, Launceston August 7

ASCREENshowing Scottish pianist Steven Osborne’s fingers hung above the Albert Hall’s piano, the audience drawn further into the dichotomy of a program of Prokofiev and Debussy.

Osborne started with Debussy’s Estampes. The soft Pagodes and La Soiree dans Grenade movements were immediately transportive, and the Jardins sous la pluie that followed light and lively.

In Prokofiev’s Sonata No.6, Osborne delivered the Allegro Moderato with determined, raucous power and fanfare, and the jauntily martial Allegretto and romance of the Tempo di Valzer Lentissimo were equally compelling. The Vivace finale bickered between youthful innocence and ominous drive.

Osborne again created an instantaneous reverie state in the flickering opening movement of Debussy’s Images II, Cloches a travers les feuilles.

Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut was a highlight, with Osborne cultivating a solitary, meditative, lunar cousin to Pagodes with delicate economy. Bright, skittish goldfish in Poissons D’or concluded the set.

Osborne patiently unravelled the expansive melancholic wandering in the Andante Sognando of Prokofiev’s 8th Sonata. The middle movement was a daydreaming minuet performed with elegance and wonder, before the juggernaut Vivace was given a colossally thrilling performance.

The jazz-inflected encore that followed, though pleasant, slightly sanitised the Prokofiev’s impact.

This recital was an experience of thoughtful and effective programming, physicality allied to musical wisdom, and exceptional clarity in thick textures all skilfully framed by affectionate introductions to the composers.

The hedonistic expressive coolness of Debussy and the audacious mechanical dynamism and fairytale-like wandering of Prokofiev were superbly manifest.

— TOM MISSON