Thomas Kelly plays Beethoven 4 at the RCM
Cat and mouse with Sakari Oramo
Fascinating to see the woodwinds in a circle behind the piano with the strings behind .I know Andras Schiff does that with Bartok 2 but what a genial idea for Beethoven 4 where there is so much dialogue between wind and piano.
And dialogue there truly was with a crystalline account by Thomas Kelly who is evolving by the minute and becoming one of the most exciting talents of his generation ………..there seems to be no limit to his talent that is taking him in directions that not even he is aware of. A true voyage of discovery every time he sits in front of that black box that he obviously loves so much.
I had heard him five years ago on this very stage play Schumann Carnaval in the Joan Chissell Competition. He was head and shoulders above his colleagues for the kaleidoscopic range and the richness of sound that never became hard or ungracious but grew in luminosity and sumptuous beauty.
I am reminded very much of the Scaramuzza school with the seemingly rubber limbs of an Argerich or Gelber.
