Any pianist who tackles the Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor by Camille Saint-Saens invites judgement by the highest standards. Lara Omeroglu, accompanied by the orchestra of the Watford Philharmonic Society, with Terry Edwards conducting, more than met these standards in her performance at this 75th Jubilee Spring Concert of the Society.

This concerto, composed in 1868, is one of those pieces, written between roughly 1850 and 1925, to overwhelm the audience by the display of spectacular virtuosity. It was added to the programme of this concert at short notice. Lara, who is 16 and attends the Purcell School in Bushey, told me that she was playing it for the first time; she had learned it by heart in a fortnight.

The work begins with a long solo for the piano. It was clear at once that Lara is completely confident, and therefore has time to think about what she is playing. She had absolute control of this demanding music. Her phrasing and tempi were faultless. She watched the conductor, and if ensemble occasionally faltered when the orchestra joined in, it was they who were wrong. Above all, she was clearly enjoying herself. She has not developed the irritating mannerisms of some virtuosos: let us hope that she never does.

The second movement is Allegro scherzando - certainly not slow. Then the last movement is Presto. The rhythms vay. The pressure on the pianist's technique hardly ever lets up, but Lara was untroubled.

I first heard a similarly demanding concerto, Grieg's (by coincidence, written in the same year), played in this excellent hall in 1947. The soloist was Myra Hess. The Watford musical public has now been privileged to see in Lara the appearance of a comparable star.

For me, among the other works played at this concert, it was Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb that was most worthwhile. Among the four soloists, Rosie Coad (soprano) and Andrew O'Connor (tenor) were more at home. There is an important organ part, for which the recently restored Compton organ of the hall proved entirely suitable. The orchestra of the WPS, in accordance with their custom, had professional stiffening and could usually do what was required; the choir sometimes could not. Praiseworthy though it is that a mainly amateur body does so well, that is the difference that must be allowed for by comparison with professionals.

The Society is to be congratulated on an ambitious programme in its final concert in this hall before a year's closure for refurbishment.

Graham Mordue