The pianist who made me forget I was deaf

Well, it is now Wednesday – and, as ordered by Big Bro, I am doing my anti Snow Dance at every available opportunity.

No SNOW I say! NO SNOW!

Anyway, last night Pa came down to London and we went to see Cedric Tiberghien in concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank.

Brilliant!

In fact, it was, without a doubt, one of the best piano recitals I have been to for quite some time – Sorry Imo (gen Cooper) – and I was clearly not alone in thinking that. Sat beside Pa and I was a group of screaming fans – at a piano recital!!!!

What struck me first of all about Cedric Tiberghien, was that in the last five years – since I last saw him play at the Wigmore Hall – how much he seems to have grown, in my eyes anyway! He dwarfed the Steinway Grand and once seated reminded me of Shroeder, the piano player and Lucy’s love interest, from Peanuts – knees bent right up and back arched over the keyboard.

The second thing that struck me was how he appeared to be slow dancing with the piano, right there on stage. He seemed to be caressing the keys – teasing out beautiful melodies with ease.

The opening piece – by Chopin – was undoubtably the best. But the programme, entirely made up of Polish composers and mostly Mazurkas was utterly captivating.

Pa was worried about how much of it I had heard, as Tiberghien’s touch really is light, but I felt as though I heard it all. My seat did indeed allow me to key-read the high bits but the jaunty left hand carried me through any out-of-frequency sections with such ease that I completely forgot I was deaf.

And if a pianist to make me forget that – well, he must have been good!