A remarkable recital by Wellington pianist Jian Liu at the Concert Chamber was a fitting way for the Rotorua Music Federation to celebrate New Zealand Music Month.
His technical finesse, mercurial fingers and crystalline purity in the quieter passages marked him as someone to watch.
The programme had fantasias by
five composers, imaginative works which don't fit into any standard musical form.
His interpretations were often inventive though unexpected changes sometimes interrupted the flow of ideas.
Surprise was used to good effect in C.P.E. Bach's Fantasia in C where the expressive performance revealed the piece as a foretaste of styles used by the great composers to come.
