The Guardian
Milton Court, London The Venezuelan pianist was mercurial and dazzling in this Spanish-themed recital including Chopin, Scarlatti and Albéniz adding improvisational mastery with a Purcellian take on Here Comes the Sun Mozart did it. Liszt, famously, too. You could hardly stop Bach and Messiaen – even Boulez dabbled. But at some stage improvisation disappeared from the concert platform; experimentation became something to do privately and in advance rather than in public and in real time. Unless you’re Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, who has spent a career reinstating the art on the concert platform. So far Montero’s three-concert residency at the Barbican hasn’t yielded an opportunity – not so much as a cadenza – so I suspect many of the substantial audience for her solo recital were there in hopes of hearing more than just the advertised programme. Continue reading...
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