<p>Huang Zhiyi<br />Extraordinarily impressive playing.  Haydn’s ‘English’ sonata immediately showed energy, sparkle and excellent articulation.  Rhythm needed a little  more poise and control.  The chosen tempo was perhaps a little too fast in order to really allow sufficient time and space for all of the articulation and character to emerge from the music, but there was still an impressive range of sounds and contrasts to admire.  Overall the wit and humour was rather eclipsed- in place we had characterisation that was almost agitated and fearful.  More humanity and relaxed spaciousness would certainly be good to aim for now in an interpretation that emerged here as too angst-ridden and frenetic.</p><p>Clarity and focus of finger work were extraordinary in Liszt’s ‘Gnomenreigen’, a performance that was phenomenally secure, accurate and intense.  The next stage would be to cultivate much more leggiero at all dynamic levels, and to increase the velocity so that the whole etude dances at a more flowing pace.  There is room for much more variety of colour- at present it is rather monochrome in terms of touch and tone</p><p>Mendelssohn’s Andante and Rondo Capriccioso was also extremely secure.  The Andante was too inflexible and rather fearfully agitated in its relentless reluctance to embrace flexibility, gentle rubato and wistful poetry.  The rondo showed finger work emerging from the piano like bullets from a shotgun- extremely accurate and steely pianism.  Next stage would be to develop the touch into a lighter aesthetic, with excitement emerging within a quieter and lighter tonal range.  Physically there is a lot of movement in the performance- which would greatly benefit from a calmer, less accented and less intense and unyielding overall approach.  There were a number of small errors today, but these remained unimportant.  An exceptional recital.</p>