Ensemble

Extraordinary Quiet Playing

MIKE WHEELER is delighted by performances of Haydn, Ravel, Chopin and a Disney improvisation from Scottish pianist Ethan David Loch

 

It's easy to see why Ethan Loch was the winner of the keyboard section in the BBC's Young Musician competition in 2022. Despite being blind from birth, he is already a pianist in full command of the instrument, starting his recital with a brilliant reading of Haydn's Sonata No 60, Hob XVI/50 - Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK, 26 January 2025. While bringing plenty of sheer cheek to the opening movement, he also held our attention with some very quiet playing. The spread chord that opens the second movement was assertive but not overbearing, and Loch went on to explore the music's profundity without making heavy weather of it. The finale simply bubbled, pouncing on Haydn's harmonic twists with utter delight.

Ethan David Loch at the piano. Photo © 2023 Julie Broadfoot
Ethan David Loch at the piano. Photo © 2023 Julie Broadfoot

Textures in Ravel's Jeux d'Eau were as lucid as you could want, sparkling and shimmering with understated panache. Of the two Debussy preludes that followed, Les Collines d'Anacapri balanced a fleet-footed tarantella with gentle song. In Feux d'Artifice, Loch produced a vivid range of colours, and some occasional suggestions of unpredictability. The hint of 'La Marseillaise' at the end sounded suitably distant.

Chopin's Sonata No 3 began strongly, with a judicious balance of the strenuous and the lyrical, bringing out the first movement's contrasts without undermining the structure. Figuration in the second movement was well articulated – even, at one point, suggesting links with the Ravel. An imposing start to the third movement launched an exploratory reading, with more extraordinary quiet playing, though at times it did tend to verge on the self-absorbed. The finale's opening gesture seemed less assertive than expected, but this impression didn't last long, as Loch's drive and energy carried the music through to its jubilant ending.

Ethan Loch. Photo © 2023 Julie Broadfoot
Ethan Loch. Photo © 2023 Julie Broadfoot

His encore was an improvisation based on Alan Menken's title song from the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. He introduced nods to other composers, including Ravel, Chopin and Rachmaninov, before allowing it all to simply float away at the end.

Copyright © 2 February 2025 Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK

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