REVIEW: Young Italian pianist gives breathtaking performance at Glynde Place

In a bravura performance of outstanding virtuosity, brilliant young Italian pianist Beatrice Rana held a capacity audience in almost breathless silence throughout an awe-inspiring rendition of one of J.S Bach’s greatest keyboard works.

The musician, a BBC New Generation Artist, performed Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Glynde Place on Saturday, June 24.

During the uninterrupted delivery of the work (played without an intermission) Beatrice’s technical mastery overcame the many difficulties the work presents.

Yet her very personal and appealing interpretation was in no way affected, allowing her to colour and shape the phrases with expression and subtlety.

She drew from the instrument a wide range of tonal variation, delicate shaping when called for, liquid melodies of great beauty and amazing velocity in the fearsome scalic passages that were notable for their control and precision.

This was one-and-a-quarter hours of incredible piano playing but also, and more importantly, of great musical integrity, technique being totally at the service of the performer’s musical intentions.

The repeat of the Aria that opened the work also brought it to an exquisite and peaceful ending, followed by a tense silence that finally erupted into a standing ovation – a reminder of the similar reaction from the audience at London’s Wigmore Hall, when Rana played the work there earlier this year.

Much praise has been lauded on this young musician and many important international awards conferred on her.

This concert was a clear indicator of why she is already regarded as one of the great new pianists of the 21st century.

If the opportunity arises to see and hear her, take it without hesitation.

This was the second concert in the Glynde Place Concert Series, the third and last being on Saturday, July 29, featuring the superb young Norwegian viola player, Eivind Holtsmark Ringstad.

For tickets to the concert visit www.glyndeplace.eventbrite.com.

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