“Sharona Joshua’s playing demonstrated that in the hands of an excellent musician the instruments qualities can enhance the work of the greater composers.
Beethoven’s God Save the Queen Variations and Moonlight Sonata, filling the second half, were played so admirably and with such clarity and intensity as to cause even the most jaundiced concert-goer to listen with fresh ears.”
September 2001 Musical Opinion (page 280)
Sharona Joshua at the Purcell Room
Sharona Joshua’s programme at the Purcell Room on 28 April was clearly aimed at the musician in all of us, and the rapt attention of her audience was well repaid in playing of total commitment and deep musicianship. The instrument was a modern copy by Christopher Barlow of a Schantz fortepiano from the mid 1790s and, if from time to time we have been discomfited by the sounds such instruments can produce, Sharona Joshua’s playing demonstrated that in the hands of an excellent musician the instruments qualities can enhance the work of the greater composers.
Mozart’s D major Sonata K576 was brilliantly played, as was Haydn’s E flat major Sonata Hob XVI/49: both of equal stature as works of art, a point proven with genuine style and grace by this pianist. Beethoven’s God Save the Queen Variations and Moonlight Sonata, filling the second half, were played so admirably and with such clarity and intensity as to cause even the most jaundiced concert-goer to listen with fresh ears. Sharona Joshua is a very gifted player indeed, and her career should be closely followed by all genuine music-lovers.
Robert Matthew-Walker
