★★★1/2 stars
Adelaide Fringe. Pilgrim Church. 25 Feb 2026
Debussy’s Romantic Piano by Candlelight - ‘Clair de Lune’ features British pianist Matthew Shiel performing a selection of piano music which can all be associated with “scandalous love affairs” enjoyed by the composers! The musical selections are mostly popular, but some are less well known, and there was a new composition, a gentle ‘romance’ titled Notturno VI composed by Dr Alfredo Caponnetto.
Shiel is an alumnus of the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and he is a skilled pianist. He has performed hundreds of concerts at fringe festivals and other events around the world and has received awards and glowing reviews. His concerts are diverse and arouse curiosity, especially in those who are looking for non-traditional programs and settings. Tonight’s concert is as much a look into the personal lives of the featured composers as it is a survey of piano literature (predominantly) from the Romantic era. In between musical items Shiel gave anecdotes and interesting insights into the lives of the composers, but the clarity of his speaking voice is sometimes poor.
Shiel begins his program with Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream). It is the perfect choice to start a concert dedicated to affairs of the heart and Shiel is overt in his legato phrasing with aesthetically pleasing and fluid arm movement and hand shaping. Pedalling and rubato is appropriate, and sensitive. One senses that Shiel is at home with the romantic piano literature.
He follows the Liszt with Tchaikovsky’s Barcarolle (June, from The Seasons, op. 37a, no. 6), and again, accentuates the legato phrasing. His work in the right hand clearly brings out the melody. This strong start is followed by works from Bach, Brahms, more Liszt, Caponnetto and finally Debussy (with Clair de Lune, of course!)
Deserving of comment is Shiel’s performance of Liszt’s transcription of Isolde’s Liebstod (literally Love-Death) from the opera Tristan und Isolde by Wagner. It is a fiendishly challenging and muscular piece to play. Liszt’s transcription attempts to make the piano emulate a full orchestra, and therefore requires the pianist to navigate dense chords, lengthy developments, layered textures, varied and rapidly changing dynamics, and demanding yet delicate tremolos in the left hand. The main melody is simple, but just gorgeous, and it is essential it comes through all the ‘feuer und schwefel’ that surrounds it. Shiel worked hard to expose the melodic line and was mainly successful, and he did well to make the piece come to life. The tempo and meter occasionally wandered, but Shiel displayed sensitivity, understanding and stamina. An impressive effort.
The concert was advertised as including “…digital animations by acclaimed Shanghai artist and Disney illustrator Emma Yitong Shen. An immersive musical experience designed to wind you down, find romantic inspiration and open your heart to live and to love.” There were no such animations.
The program finished almost anticlimactically with Caponnetto’s Notturno VI, and with the last note gently fading away into the recesses of the graceful Pilgrim Church, Shiel stood, bowed, and walked away into the gentle gloom.
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Feb to 6 Mar
Where: Pilgrim Church
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
