29 June 2011
Review of Grace Francis Recital at Tillingham Congregational Church by John Phillips – Maldon and Burnham Standard
No better pianist in the world today than Grace
Consummate playing in performance to remember on Dengie
“There were ten extremely unfortunate individuals last Friday, and they didn’t even know it. All of them knew of, but failed to buy the ten unsold tickets for what was probably the most mind-bogglingly wonderful piano recital given in Essex since Franz Liszt came to Chelmsford more than 150 years ago.
Most of the audience had heard, or heard of, Grace Francis’s performance in Tillingham last June, and had returned eager for more of her consummate playing, and interpretations.
I reviewed that concert in ecstatic terms and having heard her three times since, can report that she continues to improve in terms of the subtlety of her interpretations and in the variety of her tone, colour and dynamic range.
Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Balakirev’s Islamey are rarely heard live, the former because of the difficulty of making it work, and the latter because of its fiendish difficulty.
I have never heard a better performance of either piece, even on disc. In fact, I defy anyone to name a better pianist in the world today.”
John Phillips
Review by John Phillips from the Maldon and Burnham Standard