Hitting the right notes, 11 years old

The Performers’ Platform Series of concerts at the Music Room, St James’s Cavalier, affords an opportunity for young performers to show their worth.

A well-projected brilliant atmosphere marked Eric Thiman’s Flood Time with its very evocative swirling notes- Albert Storace

Having just turned 11 only 10 days before her first solo concert, young Myra Cassar shows she has a lot of talent.

Confidence and an assertive touch, together with a strong musical sensitivity marked her recital. This consisted in mainly short pieces, of which she performed about three by heart. I was not really counting because she had my attention focused on her approach and delivery of each piece.

Her expressive touch was clearly evident in Fiocco’s Andante, after she moved with ease into the baroque world of Telemann with an allemande from a Suite in A.

It was the same smooth transition when she came to Clementi’s Sonatina Op. 36, N.6. There was a bit of a hiccup in the work’s second section; otherwise it was clearly very articulate and performed with close attention to dynamics.

Mozart’s Adagio in C, K.536 was as brief as it was pleasant, and followed by the rather melancholic mood of Macdowell’s To A Wild Rose. When Cassar performed Gedike’s Miniature in D minor I found her precocious sensitivity at its best.

A well-projected brilliant atmosphere marked Eric Thiman’s Flood Time with its very evocative swirling notes which were as rapid as they were clear. In Durand’s Premiére Valse the piece’s brilliance and well-paced tempo were very good.

The promising young pianist ended her recital with Badelt’s He’s A Pirate, from Pirates of the Caribbean: The curse of the Black Pearl. This was one which she performed without a score. It came across powerfully, and after one or two hesitant moments it was brought to a fine finish.