Francesco Piemontesi: Recital – review

This young Swiss pianist (b 1983), a multiple prize-winner and BBC New Generation Artist, has dedicated his recital disc to Alfred Brendel whom he names, together with Murray Perahia and Mitsuko Uchida, as inspiration. This reflects the kind of pianism to which Piemontesi aspires: composer wins over ego, musical integrity over flashiness, tireless preparation over hopeful inspiration. You can hear it in that ultimate test of musical character, Bach's Partita No 1 in B flat. Piemontesi succeeds, even if the ornamentation is at times a little intrusive. In Handel's Suite in B flat, Brahms's Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel and Liszt's Vallée d'Obermann, this pianist reveals a powerful gift of intimacy. You have to stop and listen.