Lloyd Buck's Recital at the Royal College of Music, 31st March 2006

A goodly contingent of (Alkan Society) members attended Lloyd Buck's recital, which in fact formed part of his final examination at the Royal College of Music. The programme chosen was challenging both in terms of interpretation and technique. Beginning with two Bach transcriptions - the Siciliano from the BWV 1001 Flute Sonata in Alkan's version, and the Prelude and Fugue BWV 543 in Liszt's - it continued with Mozart's E flat sonata K282 and Prokofiev's First Sonata, before ending with two very different examples of Alkan's music; the well-known Barcarolle from the Op. 65 Chants, and the hardly-ever performed Scherzo focoso, op. 34.

The two transcriptions, Alkan's pastoral in nature, Liszt's virtuosic - an alternation of character which ran through the recital - gave Buck the oppertunity to demonstrate from the start his thoughtful concern with textures and transparency, coupled with admirable fingerwork. Heroic as was his performance of the Prokofiev, the Mozart lingers longer in the mind, cool but sensitive.

The Scherzo focoso, Alkan's opus 34, was characterised by Ronald Smith as 'a remorseless path to pianistuc immolation for all but the most invincible techniques'; he surmises that it may have been originally intended for the minor key studies, op.39. This piece, extrodinarily obsessive even by it's composer's standards, is yet far more than a note-spinning virtuoso display. Alkan was clearly sensitive to many types of fire - as we can hear in the slightly comic L'incendie au aillage voisin of the op. 35 studies - and this piece also displays many varieties, from flickering flames to white hot intensity - apart from the implicit diabolic fires of the soul. Carrying this piece off is not just a challenge for the fingers.   The relentless pedal point of the closing pages, for example, tests the listener's tenacity to the limit, as well as the player's. Buck's performance was triumphant and won a correspondingly enthusiastic response from his audence.....Buck's exuberance, clear enthusiasm and immolation-proff technique fully justified his decision to make this the climax of his recital.

Extracted from the review of this performance by David Conway of the British Alkan Society - www.alkansociety.org

Regarding the new CD - 'The Forgotton Romantic' - Keyboard Works of Sergei Bortkiewicz

"Wonderful playing ... listening to this CD makes it very clear that it is time to put this composer back onto the 'must be played' list" David Porcelijn