CD review

A review from "Pianoforte Magazine":

(Comparison with recording by the American pianist Anton Kuerti of Brahms' F minor sonata):

“Listening to Mr. Carter immediately after Anton Kuerti was a revealing experience. Where Kuerti is driving and frenetic, Mr. Carter is immediately more considered, more formal perhaps in the sense of not grabbing the music for all its worth, but rather taking a more respectful view of the score. That his andante is a lot slower than Kuerti's is a measure of his slightly deeper probing and keener intellectual control. His scherzo is also bigger-boned than Kuerti's, the latter giving us a real scherzo where Carter's view seems to be that a scherzo in the hands of this composer is always going to be a weightier and less sprightly affair. The finale, too, is very rich and full, where Kuerti is splendidly virtuosic. I was left with the overall feeling of a greater command of the whole in Carter's hands, whereas with Kuerti one is impressed by the bravado and brio.

The performance of the Liszt sonata is as fine as I have heard from a younger British pianist for a long time. If Mr. Carter's address is not quite as fearless as, say, Pollini or Zimmerman, he climbs plenty of volcanoes. A natural humility might prevent the last ounce of flaming passion, but in its place are a string of qualities which more than compensate. Always, Mr. Carter plays with a beauty and fullness of tone which are most commendable, the maestoso sections are broad, imperious and satisfying, and in the inner core of the work we find a pensive mind and a natural rapture. The greatest care is taken at every turn, bringing a performance of real polish, of poetry and drama, and of real distinction. The sound is full, sonorous and splendid.”