Following last year’s solo recital, accompanied by the perennially stylish Academy of St Martin in the Fields, pianist Khatia Bhuniatishvili returns for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major.
After a smouldering start with Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, his Piano Concerto in A Major can’t help smiling, and dispenses sunshine as well as reassurance ahead of Haydn’s effervescent symphonic farewell to his time in London. A new addition to the programme is Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, inspired by the composer’s visit to Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa.
More usually associated with the likes of Liszt, Rachmaninov, and the romantic repertoire, the Georgian-born, Paris-based pianist turns her attention to the confiding classicism of Mozart. Bringing to bear a characteristic individuality, she possesses, says Gramophone, ‘a compelling stage presence, a warm glowing tone, and strongly expressed ideas’.