Born in 1981, he studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama, where he held a Postgraduate Fellowship, and at
King’s College, Cambridge, where he gained a Double First in Music.
Since his London concerto debut at the age of 13, Poster has
appeared in a wide-ranging concerto repertoire of over 30 major works,
including Beethoven with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert
Hall, Brahms and Ligeti with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Robin Ticciati,
Chopin with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Grieg with the Hallé at
Bridgewater Hall and the China National Symphony in Beijing, John Ireland with
the State Capella Philharmonic in St Petersburg, Rachmaninov with the BBC
Philharmonic/Yan Pascal Tortelier and BBC Scottish Symphony/James Loughran,
Schumann with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra in Florida, Beethoven Triple
with Southbank Sinfonia/Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Scott Bradley’s Cat Concerto
with Aurora Orchestra/Nicholas Collon.
Poster features regularly on BBC Radio 3 as soloist and
chamber musician, and appeared in both capacities at the BBC Proms in 2008,
2009 and 2011. He has appeared as guest expert in BBC Four’s coverage of the
Leeds International Piano Competition.
He has already made a number of chamber music recordings
with such artists as Jennifer Pike, Doric String Quartet and the Aronowitz
Ensemble on such labels as Chandos and Sonimage.
Tom Poster’s debut
recital for Champs Hill Records www.champshillrecords.co.uk
entitled In
Dance and Song, has just been released and covers a wide range of
repertoire from Gluck to Gershwin by way of Schubert, Ravel and Bartok.
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| CHRCD075 |
Poster follows this with three pieces from Grieg’s Slåtter– Norwegian Peasant Dances, Op72 with, again, his clarity and fine phrasing being
applied to Bridal March from Telemark, rising
to the more dynamic passages with a natural energy and power. Poster builds The Goblin’s Bridal Procession at
Vossevangen nicely with some beautiful little trills in this fine
performance. The phrasing in Prillar from
the Parish of Os shows how he is inside Grieg’s rhythms with a sensitively
judged coda.
With Bartok’s Three
Folksongs from the Csík District, BB 45B Poster goes straight into Bartok’s
style of piano writing with his beautiful pacing, phrasing and clarity, drawing
so much from Rubato, as he does in L’istesso tempo, showing these to be
miniature gems. I love the way he draws back slightly, to such great effect.
Finally in these three pieces there is a sparkling Poco vivo, a delight, direct yet with subtle little inflections.
Schubert ‘s Impromptu
in G flat major, D.899 No.3 has an intimacy that is often lacking, surely
this is a quality that Schubert would have approved of. Poster holds the delicate
ebb and flow beautifully, drawing some lovely colours from his instrument.
This pianist has a distinct approach to Chopin whose Polonaise-Fantaisie
in A flat major, Op.61 receives a beautifully shaped performance that
brings something of an epic stance This more direct and volatile approach opens
up new aspects of the music. It is not at all without its poetic moments such
as halfway through where these is a kind of powerful hushed restraint. In the fiery
section towards the end, Poster shows what a fine technique he has.
Poster gives us three pieces by Kurtag from Jatekok (Games),
bringing his sense of poetry to Hommage
à Farkas Ferenc (2): Scraps of a colinda melody – faintly recollected with
a bell like clarity, superb phrasing and pacing. Quite exquisite. Hommage à Farkas Ferenc (3): Evocation of
Petrushka is superbly done with some fine percussion effects in this
miniature. The extremely brief Hommage à
Nancy Sinatra also has a fine
touch to end these pieces.
It is Poster’s disarming directness that brings so much to Ravel’s Pavane pour une Infante Défunte, letting
the music speak for itself, which it does to great effect. Again there is a
subtlety in his poetic moments, so much more affective for this. It is lovely
the way he allows the phrases to unfold. He has a beautiful touch that can,
again, be heard in Ravel’s Ondine (from
Gaspard de la Nuit), lovely rippling phrases with subtle colourings as well
as lovely broad sweeps of sound as the work develops. An absolute joy.
As if we were not already aware of his versatility, Poster shows that he excels in his Schumann too, with Two Songs. Widmung has a
lovely rubato and such a singing quality. His light touch shows again in the
central section that is quite stunning. Frühlingsnacht, with its odd little
halting, staccato phrases and rhythms, is beautifully done.
If there was any doubt as to Poster’s virtuosic strain, then
this performance of Stravinsky’s La
Semaine Grasse (from Petrushka) will prove his credentials. This is a
tremendous performance, shifting between Stravinsky’s varying moods and tempi
with ease. There is virtuosity, poetry, sensitivity, sheer panache, with this
pianist alive to every little twist and turn. Poster’s superb control of
dynamics and overall structure makes this a formidable achievement.
Gershwin’s Someone to
watch over me (from Oh, Kay!), in an effective transcription by Tom Poster, proves to be the perfect ‘encore’
with Poster’s silken, beautifully phrased playing.
It is impressive how Poster moves from composer to composer with
consummate ease. Poster seems to draw the listener into his concept of how
these pieces should be played. This recital is a sheer joy.
The recording is clear and with plenty of space around the
piano and there are informative booklet
notes by Tom Poster.
Champs Hill, can we please hear more from Tom Poster?
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