This may not have been the Parisian salon of the Princess Belgiojoso but the duel between Yunchan Lim and Alexandre Kantorow at the Wigmore Hall in the last 24 hours must have been similar to that between Liszt and Thalberg.

A duel that could well have been between Tureck and Nikolaeva or Sokolov and Volodos. A battle of giants indeed! I had listened to Sokolov playing the Schubert B flat Sonata in Rome and noticed that a few months later in the same hall Volodos would also be playing the same Schubert masterpiece. I returned on purpose to witness these two master interpretations only to find that Volodos had been persuaded to change programme to the Schubert Fantasy Sonata. I was told by his agent who is also Sokolov’s that a hall could not have two great pianists playing the same work in the same season in the same hall! We live in an age where quantity so often counts more than quality. But as Boris Berman once said ‘If the don’t want to come ,you can’t stop ‘em !’ The classical music audience is on a fast decline in Europe as it is on an even speedier increase in China !

The atmosphere ignited by Kantorow last night was rekindled in the second half of Lim’s lunchtime recital this morning https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2026/05/29/alexandre-kantorow-wigmore-125-reveals-the-real-thing-recreation-next-to-godliness/

Schubert D major Sonata was played with dynamic drive with many beautiful things that must be unique for a young man still only in his early twenties. But this was playing from above not within and more of the ‘sturm und drang’ of C minor than the pastoral D major!

It was the Scriabin Fantasy Sonata that was a recreation from within. During the Schubert I was thinking what fine playing this was. With Scriabin I was not thinking anything but there was an animal response as he hit the solar plexus with such overwhelming playing that I too became party of this recreation.I had written some notes but put them aside to be engulfed by this wave of genial invention. Words could never do justice to what we witnessed. As I mentioned to some people outside the hall ready to criticise his Schubert ………but genius is not always pleasant but it is always overwhelming and should always be respected and accepted as a very personal deeply committed statement.

A piano that I doubt was the ‘Old lady’ ? which is usually reserved for retired gentlemen with more pedigree than muscle ! Whichever piano it may have been, has it ever been loved as much as by these two young artists with their burning desire to delve deep into the composers being and become part of a voyage of discovery of burning intensity?

A change of programme unknown to me as I trusted the Anniversary printed programme.From the enticing fantasy world of Chopin, Schubert and Schumann we were treated to Schubert and Scriabin with admittedly the so called Fantasy Sonata of Scriabin 2 ! I was tempted to hand in my hard fought expensive ticket but thank God I was not so foolish!

Three Scriabin Sonatas played as one with the culminating final ‘star’ of the final 4th like an atomic explosion of devastating effect.

Kantorow had seduced us with Liebestod last night and it was now Lim’s turn with the Rachmaninov Vocalise .

The normally rather formal ‘Wiggies’ were like the refined ladies of the Parisian Salons, reduced to a ‘hysterical mob’ just craving for more.

As the Princess very diplomatically announced on 31st March 1837 :’ Thalberg is a great pianist but Liszt is unique ‘ .

I leave it to others to interprete that, as they may.

I am just looking forward to the next 125 years in this hallowed hall that thanks to Artur Rubinstein was saved from the hands of developers.

https://youtu.be/gex0sOR7XZ0?si=9mrtf2ocZ0znbtvx

As Rubinstein famously said you are born with talent you cannot teach it, as these two young Lions of the keyboard demonstrated.