The Independent 19th December 1994
Julian Lloyd Webber, Wigmore Hall, London
There were no frills on offer for Julian Lloyd Webber on Thursday at the Wigmore Hall. No record signings or glossy promo packs. Just an evening of simple, honest music-making, like he always said it should be. Said it on this page, in fact, over a week ago, in an interview that raised expectations about his style of playing. His programme, with French and Russian classics, new works and old novelties, suggested no lack of ideas. He began with Britten’s Sonata in C. Yet neither here nor in Debussy’s late Sonata were the players working at full pressure, despite a noble view of the Prologue and an encounter with the Serenade. Instead, these works gave a preview of the full picture to come: a tonal range that stretched from the lustrous alto timbre to a crisp, succulent bass. The reward came after the interval, in a faultless reading of Rachmaninov’s testing Cello Sonata. Lloyd Webber’s rapt pianissimo was an asset in the plainsong world of another premiere, James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood. Nicholas Williams
