AFTER the famine, the promise of a feast!
The first recital of the 73rd season of the Scunthorpe and North Lincs Concert Society was auspicious in many aspects. The gathering at the Outward Academy, Foxhills, was a return to the status quo ante after the closures, cancellations and sheer callousness of the Covid scourge. The costs of the epidemic are still to be fully assessed but for the Society concertgoers here at last was the opportunity to begin again, to pick up from where the conversation was broken off. Here were the small tokens of near-normalcy, the printed programmes, the refreshments and the raffle tickets. Mundane matters, of course, yet meaningful nonetheless.

A sizeable audience, including a welcome number of new faces, was in place to greet Alim Beisembayev, whose presence gave a sense of occasion to the event. This young virtuoso (who was born in Kazakhstan) is already collecting plaudits and laurels, including first prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition last year.

He began his programme with a thoughtful and measured account of Bach’s French Suite No 2 in C minor, a familiar work that continues through the generations to charm and delight. Comprising six short and contrasting dance movements, the prevailing mood of the music might be described as vivacious or jaunty.
No single adjective can be employed to describe Schubert’s Sonata in C minor D958, a piano masterwork that ranges through all the registers, musical and emotional, yet seems never to settle on a single mindset. Beisembayev’s compelling interpretation never faltered, absorbing Schubert’s
constant oscillations – now surging, now subsiding, now fierce, now feathery – and presenting a sonata of the fullest integrity.

Haydn’s Variations in F followed the interval, another jewel in the diadem of keyboard classics. Here was another assured performance, sure-footed and rich with fidelity. The bold arpeggios that lead to the climax of the variations were like giant wing-beats pointing towards a future more turbulent than Haydn might have imagined.

That future included the glitter and dazzle of Franz Liszt. Selections from his Transcendental Studies formed the impassioned conclusion to the recital. Alim Beisembayev scaled these pianistic pinnacles with vigour and finesse, seemingly undaunted by the challenges of a work simply beyond the reach of most pianists.
After the black and white blizzard of Liszt’s snowscape (Chasse-Neige) it was a simple matter to ignore the squalls and showers beyond the exit door.
We have come through, carried on a cascade of notes and a heartbeat of music.

www.alimbeisembayev.co.uk/