Poetic pianist excels when mirroring Ravel

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Feb 6, 2007

Huddersfield Music Society said Imogen Cooper was "a pianist of virtuosity and poetic poise" - which fits exactly.

Miss Cooper is a reflective, emotional performer who perfectly magnified Beethoven's intention for the first movement of the Sonata in A Major (op 101) to be played with "the innermost feeling".

Mozart's Sonata in A Minor (KV 310) was presented second by Cooper - "too great and original" to be a curtain-raiser.

She entertained us with the piece but, for me, the clarity of Mozart's faster passages didn't shine through.

Her body language and energy were magnificent in Tippett's Sonata No. 2. From the first declamatory and extreme chord, she clearly enjoyed this piece and it showed. In the complex passages, she used the instrument at its best with clear, detailed playing.

Ravel's Miroirs was a masterstroke of playing, performance and programming.

From the cascading phrases of Oiseaux tristes to the contrast of busy waves and the rocking boat in Une barque sur l'ocan, she excelled in this "unpianistic" music.

Composer and performer showed their genius in the final movement La vall des cloches.

This was a colourful array of bells from a monotone through to a full peel against the background of Ravel's exquisite theme. The most breathtaking moment came as the busy music calmed to silence as the bells seemed further and further away. Imogen Cooper was indeed the perfect "mirror" for Ravel's music.