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This extraordinary young pianist manages to combine an almost clinical precision in his playing with a powerful poetry. Opening with Beethoven’s Waldstein he conjured from the keyboard a lush orchestral sound that filled the opera house. The following Brahms Ballades op.10 was lighter but no less impressive. After an interval he came back with Six Little Piano Pieces by Schoenberg that made me want to hear more. The final piece, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C minor, was a tour de force of technical skill but once again he balanced this with an impressively moving performance where the intricate complexities of the variations did not overpower the emotional power of the music. Two encores, a whisper of a piece by a Hungarian composer where he gently stroked the haunting music from the keys was followed by a roaring Chopin Waltz. Six courses of deliciously satisfying music.

Glyndebourne Opera House, 15 May
Rating:
Andrew Kay

It was a packed house for Arthur Miller’s play about social responsibility versus business, and by the end there were few dry eyes. Director James Newton and his cast were true to the script as the residents of a community on the outskirts of an American town who have lived through a scandal. The company were well-cast; in particular, Tim Blisset who gave a wonderful and sinister performance as the lovable, all-American patriarch whose shady past is closing in. His fragile wife, played by Lyn Fernee, looked as though she might snap in two at any minute and the final member of the Keller family, in a charming performance given by Matthew Lawson, poured his heart out as the show’s social conscience. His apple-pie fiancée, played by Emily Gallichan, was so natural that I didn’t notice she was acting. I left the theatre with a lump in my throat.

New Venture Theatre, 15 May
Rating:
Matt Robinson

Hats off to Adrian Bunting for conceiving such an entertaining theatrical diversion. In one hour he and his talented company told us the story of the disturbances at a theatre in Covent Garden that saw actor John Kemble brought down over an increase in ticket prices after his uninsured theatre was burnt to the ground. It could well have been enjoyed as a history alone but the parallels to modern banking practice where we are all being asked to pay for their mistakes and excesses are more than poignant. Brilliant performances from George Dillon as the arrogant Kemble, Alex Childs as his actress sister Sarah Siddons in a gripping slice of Macbeth, were matched by Steve North as rebellious Henry Clifford, and Julie Nash as Mary Austin Kemble’s supporter who rallied the audience to protest and chant. And given that we were fro the most part reserved Brits, we did a pretty good job of raising the roof and turning the tables on Kemble. A massive slice of fun with a hearty message to boot. I loved it.

The Old Courthouse, 13 May
Rating:
Andrew Kay

To put it simply, words cannot do this production justice. ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ follows the inmates of a mental health establishment in America and their burgeoning friendship with new inmate RP McMurphy, a rogue of a man sent to the facility dodging a prison sentence by faking mental illness. This production is a full-on experience; you are part of the facility, you take your pills, you conform to the rules. To give a full description would spoil it for you; just take my word for it – YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!! Intense, thought-provoking and absolutely brilliant.

The Happy Cell Factory, 14 May (running May 20, 21 & 22)
Rating:
Lee Stevens