Wonderful to able to appreciate from afar the beautiful artistry of Mengyang Pan .The elegance of a ballet dancer and the intelligence and artistry of the finest of musicians.I had noticed Mengyang some years ago in the Monza Competition in 2008 where she was a top prize winner and I still have her very fine Emperor Concerto recorded at the final.I have since heard Mengyang many times and it is refreshing to know that she is a now a Professor at the Royal College of Music in London able to share her exquisite artistry with the next generation .An extraordinary elegance and flexibility in all that she does with her arms like great bird ready to pounce on the keys with refined delicacy and ravishing beauty.

From the opening Prélude that she played with such nobility but with a fluidity and elegance that gave it a kaleidoscopic sense of colour and a beautiful sense of timelessness.

The Menuet had a subtle and beguiling sense of rhythm and was deliciously capricious but flowering into a glorious melodic outpourings like a cloud opening as radiant sunlight is let in.It was played with ever more passionate intensity and dying away to a whisper of crystalline clarity and purity with an impish glissando and a final delicate pizzicato.

Claire de lune was where beauty and simplicity combined to bring fresh life to such a well known work.The gently whispered chords with top notes that gleamed like silver were sustained by deep bass notes placed with aristocratic timing. ‘ Un poco mosso’ was beautifully fluid like a breeze gently blowing in this magical atmosphere enveloped by a warm sumptuous harmonic glow from within.The final whispered chord that traversed the entire keyboard was played with refined timing of great artistry.

Gentle refreshing elegance to the Passepied where glimpses of beauty are seen as the gentle patter of the bass is momentarily stilled.

The five pieces that make up Albeniz’ s Cantos de Espana op 232 were played with driving rhythms and seductive plaintive cries of passionate intensity .The Preludia started with a whispered drive of clockwork precision and delicacy as the excitement gradually mounted.A cry of disarming simplicity interrupted this flow with the plaintive beauty of beseeching cries of a melody doubled at the octave .

A sense of freedom in Oriental as she discovered such beauty behind every corner of this unmistakeable Spanish landscape with a rubato of hypnotic persuasion.

An insinuation melodic outpouring in Bajo la palmera and deep mediation of Cordoba was followed by the frenzied dance of Seguidillas breaking into the glorious passionate melodic outpourings of this torrid landscape .

The three works by Liszt were quite remarkable not only for their technical mastery but above all for the architectural shape and refined brilliance she brought to this much maligned composer.Liszt restored to its greatness where empty virtuosity and note spinning of the so called Liszt tradition were substituted for real musicianship and scrupulous attention to the detail that the genius Liszt had left for posterity.

‘Funerailles’ that became the great tone poem of a pianistic genius.The nobility that she brought to the opening was quite extraordinary as the deep bass funeral march was barely whispered until it was gradually passed to the treble almost unnoticed.Such was the refined delicacy from Mengyang that one hardly noticed that the tension was increasing as the sumptuous sounds became richer and richer.The entry of the cavalry was first seen from a distance on which one could hear so clearly the bugle call and as the cavalry gradually increased in numbers the tension rose and the single notes in the left hand imperceptibly became octaves of richness and power.The overwhelming declamation of the little opening bass melody lead to a climax of symphonic proportions and extraordinary technical power and control.The gentle rumour of the retreating cavalry was played with heart rending artistry as it brought this great tone poem to a sumptuous end.

Liebestod was played with a refined sense of colour and a dynamic drive that allowed the music to unfold with passionate intensity but with an architectural sense that gave great shape to this great outpouring of love.

The Rigoletto Paraphrase was played with refined elegance and extraordinary technical mastery that allowed her to bring these operatic characters vividly to life.I have not heard such refined artistry since Cherkassky who shape these paraphrases with such sumptuous beauty and mastery. Mengyang too has a sense of balance that whatever she does there is always the ravishing beauty of sound even when streams of notes are like rays of gold and silver over the sumptuous beauty of the tenor melodic line.Repeated octaves that were mere vibrations of sound of exhilarating excitements and beauty .

An extraordinary recital from an artist where the beauty of what she does on the keyboard is shadowed by the elegance and beauty of the movements as she hovers above the keyboard.Ready to convince us that this is not just a box of hammers and strings but a Pandora’s box full of jewels that only a supreme illusionist can find.It is called great artistry.

Mengyang Pan at St Mary’s Beauty and control – passionate intensity and intelligence

Mengyang Pan at Cranleigh Arts Centre Beethoven birthday concert