It's been a long time since a young British pianist has stirred up the sort of waves that have been set in motion by Freddy Kempf (right). When he was placed third in the 1998 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow - much to the consternation of the audience - the Sunday Times carried an explanatory report to the effect that the allocation of prizes had actually been controlled by the Mafia. Kempf, like Ivo Pogorelich in Warsaw in 1980, has become celebrated for what he didn't win as well as for his actual playing.
Now in his mid-20s and contracted to the Swedish label BIS, Kempf gives a free, BBC recital at the Waterfront Studio in Belfast tomorrow. He's certainly chosen a programme that's guaranteed to make him stand out. He'll play the complete Transcen-dental Studies of Liszt, one of the pinnacles of mid-19th century keyboard virtuosity, more often heard on disc as well as in the concert hall - singly or in small groups than complete in a single instalment.
