Music / Ian Munro piano recital. At Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, September 13. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA.

In a clever move, The ACT Keyboard Association took advantage of the fact that one of Australia’s most eminent pianists, Ian Munro, would be in town to adjudicate for them as part of a weekend of music.

A seemingly perfect concert in execution and balance began with Munro, who had driven from Melbourne the day before and spent all Saturday judging young Canberra keyboard students, changing the program order to “warm up” with Robert Schumann’s Arabesque in C major Op. 18.

That had been written, he said, when Schumann was just 29 and painfully separated from the love of his life, Clara.

“I think you can hear the longing,” he told the audience before playing the work in an almost meditative way.

A well-known Canberra pianist behind me was heard to day she had positioned herself strategically so that she could watch his hands, a good idea, since the modest Munro speaks entirely through his fingers, avoiding false histrionics and concentrating totally on the keyboard.

After the “warm up” Munro turned to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7, telling the audience that you don’t often associate Beethoven with light-heartedness but that there was no doubt about it in this case.

His firm, confident touch in the allegro molto e con brio gave away to a more expansive, lyrical style in the largo con gran espressione followed by a breathtaking allegro and concluding with the playful rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso, though working to a quiet conclusion.

There followed three short works by Chopin, a composer beloved of his old Melbourne piano teacher Roy Shepherd. At age 14, we heard, Munro had found it difficult to relate to the Polish heroic mode, but with age he had become more and more a Chopin admirer.

Beginning with the Nocturne in F♯ major Op. 15 No. 2, followed by the very famous Waltz in C♯ minor Op. 64 No. 2 he concluded with Ballade No. 3 in A flat major Op. 47, performed with quiet grandeur.

The biggest treat of all was left until last, for as well as being a consummate pianist, Munro is also a noted composer and he treated us to a a suite of five short pieces, his Fairytales, inspired by Russian folktales and written as a present for a friend last year.

These tales began in a dark and menacing way, Princess Vassilisa’s Dream, about a wise princess. That was followed by About Quests and Magic Rings, in which the high notes evoked magical powers.

The third and most trident piece, Galloping Cossacks, saw Monro use the full range of the keyboard to suggest horses galloping across the steppes, followed by another dark piece, About Sorcerers and Spells before his conclusion, Forest of Lost Children, where the often-light finger suggested a mystery, a question mark.

This intimate, one-hour concert was a small gem, sparkling before an audience of Munro aficionados, piano students and their families and teachers.