The RCM Benjamin Britten Felllowship Recital: Thomas Kelly at Wigmore Hall

RCM Benjamin Britten Piano Fellowship recital: Brahms/Busoni, Schumann, Liszt/Busoni Thomas Kelly (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 1pm, 13.05.2025

Brahms/Busoni Chorale Prélude, Herzlich tut mich verlangen, Op. 122/10 

Schumann  Piano Sonata No. 1in F sharp minor, Op. 11 

Liszt/Busoni  Fantasy and Fugue on ‘Ad nos, ad salutatem,’ S 259 

The Benjamin Briten Piano Fellowship is awarded to an exceptional piano student who has been accepted on the Royal College of Music’s Artist Diploma course. Previous recipients have included Martin James Bartlett and Pavel Kolesnikov. Thomas Kelly, finalist at the Leeds Piano Competition in 2001, received the award for 2023-24. 

He is an exceptional pianist, and his recognition also by the UK branch of the Critics’ Circle in 2022 for Young Talent (Piano) award was richly deserved. 

Kelly’s framing of Schumann by two Busoni transcriptions was a fine idea. The rarely-heard Brahms/Busoni (we tend to think of fBach/Busoni, of course), Herzlich tut mich verlangen from Brahms’ Op. 122 emerged as a gloriously dark realisation. Kelly’s tone was rich, too, almost velvety. Perhaps there was a touch of the ‘Wigmore curse’ of over-projection here, but the piece unfolded most naturally (or perhaps Kelly was imitating a timbally differentiated organ stop?: some organists prefer this, some prefer a more amorphous approach. Try contrasting Arturo Sachetti and Andreas Etlinger’s recordings for an example of each). 

Kelly rightly let the last chord of teh Bhms/Busoni resonate on, and went straight into Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 1. This was a languid reading of the first movement: there is something bout hearing this music played at this speed by a pianist you know has a titanic technque. Kelly seemed to be giving the impression this was improvised; it was remarkable. The second movement is marked ‘Aria,’ with the odd request that it is “Senza passione, ma espressivo”. Kelly did accord the music simplicity, but perhaps with a touch too much pedal. There is no doubt Kelly has octave legato to die for; but was it all a bit too soporific? A “Scherzo e Intermezzo”  was certainly capricious; but again, staccato felt blunted rather than incisive. There was a sense of grandeur, though, alongside music of the dance. The finale was blessed with well-voiced chords and a fine sense of rhythm; its most memorable moment, though, was a moment of what might be best described as pulsating calm, where the inner, as yet unrealised, potential of the music seemed huge. Technically, all was certainly in place (a super-even left-hand) but it was the muscular coda that found Kelly at the height of his powers, textures so perfectly judged.  

As if Liszt did not write music that was hard enough Busoni thought he’d just take t just that step further. The Liszt original . S 259, is for organ or ‘pedal piano’; that piece was published in 1850; Busoni’s piano version appeared nearly half a century later, in 1897. Liszt’s piece is based not on Bach, but on Meyerbeer: the prayer from Le Prophète, where three sinister ‘men in black,’ the Anabaptists, preach revolution against the aristocracy.

You can hear the Meyerbeer original below: a grin recording made in 1970 (the Turin RAI orchestra) conducted by Henry Lewis. The three Anabaptists, Zachary, Jonas, and Mathisen are sound by Robert El-Hage, Fritz Peter, and Boris Crmelli respectively:

... and here's the organ original, played by the great Gillian Weir (a scrolling score YouTube video, this one):

Mirroring the darkness that opened the recital, the Liszt/Busoni piece seems to begin in Hades; attempts at ascent are ruthlessly quashed. Kelly’s reading was visceral. There is a plethora of technical achievements I could list: crisp staccato, perfectly even arpeggiations, radiant chording, stunning prestidigitation. But it was Kelly’s alignment with the Liszt/Busoni soundworld that was supreme. He allowed gestures their due, but still the piece held together. Material was juxtaposed in ideal fashion, with no ‘bleed’ from one to the other. The journey from the opening to the thunderous bass of the close was an epic one. Many readers might know this piece via Igor Levit’s relatively recent Sony recording; Kelly’s strikes me as several leagues above even that. The potential is vast in Thomas Kelly: various aspects of him remind me of the late, great John Ogdon (1937-89), including repertoire choices. So maybe Sorabji is next? Opus Clavicemblisicum? 

To the best of my knowledge, Kelly has yet to appear on disc, so it is good news to read that he has a couple of releases planned: on Rubicon, there will be a disc of organ transcriptions (including the Reubke Organ Sonata and the Liszt/Busoni Ad nos). This wlll follow on from his debut recording, on Naxos, of Hubert Parry piano music, including the two sonatas and the ten Shulbrede Tunes. Both are keenly awaited.