Stephen Osborne battled against a hall racked with November coughs, and astonished us with a brilliant display of Beethoven Bagatelles and Debussy and Rachmaninov Preludes.
His mastery of the keyboard was immediately apparent in the Bagatelles Op 33 which opened the concert. Completely in control, but never flamboyant, he constantly surprised; the second bagatelle opened like a jack-in-a-box, the sixth scampered and the seventh was like birds singing in a polyphon.
The Sonata Op 79 began at a cracking pace, without sacrificing a whit of clarity, and continued with tranquil mystery in the andante and the cheerful nostalgia of the vivace.
The second set of bagatelles Op 119 displayed a remarkable freshness. It was like listening to a gripping story, eager to know what comes next. The knotty No 5 fairly galloped along and the moods ranged from barmy disquiet to shivering poignancy.
The Debussy Preludes were three-dimensional pictures of remarkable colour and delicacy, from the fury of the wind to the lapping wavelets of the Engulfed Cathedral. He made the snow fresh and showed us the lovely young girl with flaxen hair as if for the first time.
The Rachmaninoff Preludes Op 32 travelled through innocence to confidence, with moments of majesty and of fury, coming home at the end with smiles and honour in No 13.
He was gracious enough to give an encore: another delicate morsel of Debussy.
An extraordinary artist of startling ability and intelligence, he is surely destined to be one of the great names of the keyboard.
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