I have heard Herman play quite a few times since being tipped off by a very distinguished musician friend about this very talented young man. I have heard most of his recent repertoire but was missing the Liszt study and Chopin Scherzo op 39. I had recently accompanied Herman to the Walton Foundation on Ischia where I had heard a very fine ‘Waldstein’ Sonata ,the Schubert A minor and Prokofiev 7th which is reviewed in some detail below. His playing is growing in stature and authority every time I listen to him. This is a musician who enjoys playing to others as he is on a voyage of discovery in which each time an audience stimulates his imagination to search ever more deeply into the score even taking more risks as he brings the music alive with searing intensity. Opening with Liszt’s second Paganini study one was immediately struck by the beauty of his playing and the shape he gave each phrase. There was a beautifully capricious question and answer to the opening that like the Chopin Scherzo that was to follow there are two layers that are being played out simultaneously. The chorale like melody commented on by scintillating glistening arabesques. In the Liszt it is more apparent as the ornamentation passes from above to below but the musical line in-between remains constant. A beautifully shaped ending to this first episode was interrupted by the double octaves where even here Herman managed to play with shape and style, not just with muscle and speed. A kaleidoscope of sounds allowed him to shape this very energetic central episode with colour and charm so the return of the opening episode was linked up creating a unified whole.There was a beautifully pensive coda where technical mastery was at the service of Herman’s poetic fantasy and musicianship.
Herman found the same poetic beauty in Chopin’s Third Scherzo which is so often played as separately contrasted sections and rarely shaped into the tone poem that it can become in a true artist’s hands. A wistful opening leading to the octaves that were shaped with loving care, not loosing in passionate intensity but with a range of colour that gave a more horizontal shape to passages played so often with vertical power, where the line is lost. Herman allowed these octaves to dissolve naturally into the beautiful chorale that Chopin carves out with sumptuous richness ,with one long line, accompanied but not interrupted , by glowing cascades of notes that illuminate this beautiful chorale. The mysterious change to the minor key Herman allowed himself more time without interrupting the long architectural line but just enhancing the genial mastery of Chopin. Even the long preparation to the coda was given all the time necessary for it to unfold with the deep bass pedal notes sustaining the melodic line until the coda is allowed to erupt. Fearless playing where Herman gave free rein to his temperament knowing that his fingers would follow with mastery and brilliance as he brought this masterwork to an exciting conclusion.
His Brahms op 119 I have heard before but today it seemed to have gained in maturity with a timeless glowing beauty. The ‘Adagio’ of the opening Intermezzo was played with great maturity where he could shape the long lines with the freedom of an artist who has really digested the score .He brought a fleeting beauty to the ‘Andantino’ second Intermezzo with its beautiful central ‘grazioso’ that Herman played with simplicity and radiance. The third Intermezzo was played with a capricious lightness that I have only ever heard from Curzon, with the final flourish played scrupulously in time bouncing over the keys with featherlight grace. A final Rhapsodie that was shaped with a sense of line rather than just graceless chords .A beautiful sense of legato to the central episode before the build up to the tumultuous final bars of nobility and sumptuous authority.
Prokofiev’s 7th Sonata was played with brilliance and desolation. A harrowing story that Herman played out with fearless mastery and poetic understanding. The ‘precipitato’ was a ‘tour de force’ of mastery and passionate intensity.
An encore of the slow movement of Schubert’s A minor Sonata D 784 was calming balm after such a war torn journey with Prokofiev.
Herman Med Cerisha, a 20-year-old pianist from Putignano, Italy, began studying piano at age 6. At 8, he was accepted into the top piano class at the George Enescu National College of Music in Bucharest after achieving full marks in the entrance exam. There, he trained under Elisa Barzescu, receiving a strong foundation rooted in the Eastern European musical tradition.
In 2020, Herman won a scholarship to study at The Purcell School and, in 2021, was named Bechstein Scholar Student of the Year. In 2024 he received multiple offers from leading UK conservatories and accepted a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music under Professor Florian Mitrea.
Herman has claimed over 40 international competition titles, including distinctions in the Chopin Junior Competition, Berman Competition, and Orbetello Competition. His 2019 win at the Pianisti i Ri competition in Kosovo led to a solo performance with the Philharmonic of Priština, where he performed Grieg’s piano concerto.
He has participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Boris Petrushansky, Dmitri Alexeev, and Noriko Ogawa. He has also worked with Leonid Margarius and Franco Scala at the Imola Piano Academy.
He has performed in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall playing Beethoven’s 3rd piano concerto, the Romanian Athenaeum, and Moscow’s Svetlanov Concert Hall. Between 2018 and 2022, he collaborated annually with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania as a soloist. In 2025, Herman became a Talent Unlimited Artist, where they kindly support his musical journey.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 