The morning recital at the Royal Over-Seas Legion was exquisite and perhaps proves once and for all that there is a great deal of truth in the old housewives saying that ‘the early bird catches the worm.’ Despite their youth, both Jun Sasaki and Sean Shibe display a maturity beyond their years, truly connecting with the pieces and consequentially both delivering a wonderful performance. Both musicians aptly and elegantly demonstrated the beauty of their instruments. First on stage was Sasaki, a magnificent young cellist performing Bach’s Suite No. 1. Sasaki remained the absolute picture of elegance throughout his performance, injecting a burst of life into the room, every note being made with either a quiet pride or a subtle melancholy.This was followed by Shibe who retained the room’s acknowledgement of excellence, breaking interspersing Bach with a brief interlude of Mudarra’s Fantasia X111, the warm tones of his classical guitar highlighted to perfection. He then returned to Bach, performing Lute Suite No 2. Shibe retained a resounding sense of control over the music, seeming to instinctively understand when to hold back and when to play more passionately; the honeyed tones of the guitar permeating every inch of the room. The true mark of the almost entrancing performance was the audible fidgeting and expulsion of breath in the gaps between sections, as the audience are suddenly transported back into their everyday world.
