<<  -- 3 --  Malcolm Miller    EAST AND WEST

It was clearly a performance attuned to the rich canvas of Ben-Haim's style and one would be interested to hear Ms Sarcevic's approach to subsequent piano works by this composer, for instance the popular Sonatine Op 38 (1946), Melody and Variations (1950) Op 42 and the Sonata Op 49 of 1954. Ben-Haim's works in general deserve far greater airing and would be a worthy venture for promoters and artists alike.

Natasa Sarcevic opened her recital with an exciting rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 'quasi una Fantasia' Op 27 No 2 with a serenely paced first movement and dramatic finale. It was followed by translucent accounts of two Preludes by Rachmaninov, Op 32 Nos 5 in G and 12 in G minor. The concert concluded with a fiery performance of another 'Fantasia quasi Sonata', namely Liszt's Apres une Lecture de Dante conveyed with passion and panache, the shimmering textures of the final tableau testifying to her imaginative artistry.