Music / Andrea Molteni. At Wesley Music Centre, November 1. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA.

It was a pleasure to spend an evening experiencing rising Italian star of the keyboard, Andrea Molteni, close up in a recital that turned out to be rather like an intimate house concert.

He began with the appropriately-titled work by JS Bach, his Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971. Composed while Bach was working at Weimar and reflecting the court’s interest in Italian music, the work was originally intended to produce an Italian flavour by using the contrasting forte and piano capacities of a harpsichord.

Molteni was at all times in perfect control of his keyboard, from the almost scientific precision of the opening movement through the andante, punctuated by a distinct left-hand part, to the final exciting presto.

Next up was Luigi Dallapiccola’s Sonatina Canonica su Capricci di Niccolò Paganini, written by an Italian composer notorious in his own country for his short-lived flirtation with Fascism.

Described by the composer himself as “a little series of trifles”, it was, Molteni explained to the audience, “humoristic”. This was clear in the unconventional combination of notes and rhythms, but perfect for Molteni’s skill, especially in the vivacissimo part of the second movement where his hands and fingers flew across the keyboard.

It was only in the extravagantly romantic opening allegro of his third choice, Beethoven’s Sonata op.106 Hammerklavier, that Molteni relaxed and spread his wings. But not for long, for this work, he told us, was fascinating because it started in the old romantic style but became wildly experimental, so much so that in the allegro risoluto movement, he seemed to be replicating all the parts of an orchestra in his playing.

For the final work, Molteni chose a Franz Liszt piece inspired by Bellini’s opera, La Sonnambula, Grosse Concert-Fantasie S393iii, but the Italian connection quickly dissolved into pure Liszt in some of the most extraordinary finger work seen in a long time. It was a sheer pleasure to watch this.

After taking a bow, he returned to the piano to perform a very, very short part of a Sonata by Scarlatti, whose works he has famously recorded.