Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Eglise de Verbier

Colours poured in through a metaphorical stained glass window in Verbier's church.

There were piano arpeggios that could have come from the pen of no other composer

A Finale of scorching changeability and complexity, with a coda whose ferocity drew gasps.

Musical pilgrims gathered in Verbier's church to listen to the cult Russian pianist in a programme of Schumann and Chopin. 

Trust Haydn to provide the music for by far the most engrossing performance I heard at the Verbier Festival. Once again, having heard his music played with verve and appreciation by keen musicians, one wondered why more Haydn is not heard in concert, whether as symphonies, piano sonatas, or string quartets.

Other than the gigantic Salle des Combins, a semi-permanent white tent seating a couple of thousand, the major venue for the Verbier Festival is the local église, perched higher up the mountains than the main square. Marked by a tall bell-tower shaped like a cross, the hall is prowlike, dark, and claustrophobic, enlivened only by coloured slits of light coming from behind the audience.

When a young talent confirms his musical promise it a lovely thing to hear and to see. This is the case with French pianist David Kadouch who performed at the Verbier Festival on Saturday.Last year David was awarded the "Prix d’honneur" at the Verbier Festival Academy which entitled him to play at this year's Festival.