LUNCH-TIME CONCERT

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29767, 9 March 1962, Page 15

LUNCH-TIME CONCERT

Piano Recital At University The season’s University recitals began yesterday afternoon when Miss Diana Stephenson gave a pianoforte recital. She began her programme with a spirited performance of Haydn’s Fantasia in C. Occasionally the echo caused a blurring of some figurations. Her sensitive feeling for phrasing and her ability to create beautiful sounds were apparent in the Beethoven Sonata in F sharp major. Op. 78. She plays with relaxation which gives excellent control of tone—especially in the grading of soft nuances. There were some harsh sounds at times at loud levels. However, the music, as she creates it. is always beautifully shaped and has stirring vitality. Her playing of Chopin’s Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, revealed a refined sense of poetry and also a heightened feeling for drama in music.

Three Preludes by Debussy were stylishly played with warm feeling for expression and excellent understanding of their style and of their picturesque messages. Miss Stephenson holds the rapt attention of her audience. The programme ended with the Scherzo and Fugue, Op. 26. by Samuel Barber. Miss Stephenson played this work at a concert here earlier in the week, and she again showed thorough understanding of it and mastery of its technical problems. The University Hall was filled for this concert and lunch-hour recitals will continue throughout the term on Thursdays at 1.10 p.m. —C.FB.