Her programme featured Mozart's «Sonata in C minor (K. 457)», the first two movements of Mendelssohn's «Fantasia in F sharp minor, Op. 28», John Field's «Nocturne in C minor» (H. 25), and Chopin's «Ballade n.° 4 in F minor» (Op. 52). I've seldom heard the first movement of Mozart's C minor Sonata played with such pensive, profound cadence. Though the work's dramatic overtones are often most associated with the stormy finale, Ms. Savicevic began building that intensity from the very opening— an intellectual and deeply insightful approach.
The Mendelssohn was my favourite of the afternoon. Its wide, ample arpeggios struck me as elegantly complex yet never overly busy, especially in the opening Allegro. I do confess I still don't quite get what's Scottish in it.
While Chopin's Fourth Ballade was doubtless intended as the recital's crowning glory, I found the John Field Nocturne compelling. It emerged surprisingly bright and optimistic despite its C minor key— a quality that, in retrospect, echoed the underlying ethos of Mozart's sonata, which conveys genuine melancholy in spite its tempo.
The encore, performed after a long and healthy round of applauses, was the first movement of Edward Elgar's «Sonatina».