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DUNCAN HONEYBOURNE Kidderminster Library

From the archive, first published Thursday 1st Nov 2001.

DUNCAN Honeybourne's display as a piano virtuoso at the latest Live at the Library presentation by the Classical Music Society, was especially notable as he had endured a six-and-a-half hour drive to get to Kidderminster, having been held up in traffic, and arrived with 10 minutes to spare.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Nicolas Medtner's death, the programme opened with Three Hymns in Praise of Toil.

Honeybourne gave a masterly performance of Brahms' Piano Sonata No 3 in F minor, from the Allegro Maestoso movement to the gentler Andante, a hectic Scherzo, and a dramatic finale, leaving the audience eager for more.

Chopin's Ballade No 1 in G Minor was expressively played, as were the Preludes in G major and G sharp minor by Rachmaninov.

The programme ended with Medtner again, a Sonata Romantica in B flat minor, when another commanding performance was enjoyed, from the tuneful Romanza, through a Scherzo played at breakneck speed, and the finale, which enveloped the room.

Before going home several people expressed a wish that Honeybourne will make a return visit. I second that.

VJS

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