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. In the presence of his long time professor - Dimitri Bashkirov - David excelled. While his programme was perhaps constrained (other musicians higher up the pecking order had chosen pieces he would have preferred) he made full use of the performance opportunity. The Haydn variations were a promise of the technical and musical abilities to come. Perhaps limited expectations, given that the Schumann Concerto without orchestra is not the most brilliant of his works, it was a new approach which offered new understanding to the work. But it was in the second half that David truly excelled - the 24 Shostakovitch preludes were romantically presented in sequence, much as a painter would have wished to be seen to paint. There was colour, style, shade and touch in an ensemble which left his audience aware they were watching a great musician of tomorrow, today. Even the highly demanding Bashkirov told David afterwards that he had enjoyed the performance - giving him the highest praise.