Auckland Museum's 2012 Fazioli International Piano Recital series was rather awkwardly set up, with all four concerts coinciding with major operatic and orchestral events in the city.
This year's dates have been more wisely appointed and Oleg Marshev had no competition for his Saturday concert of Debussy and Mussorgsky, which made a half-filled auditorium a sad commentary on the fickleness of the city's music-lovers.
The Russian pianist is a frequent visitor and, although he is not one to be daunted by the most athletic of virtuoso demands, he is not a wildly demonstrative performer.
With Marshev, Debussy's second volume of Preludes dispensed its own cool poetry. The utter calm of the opening Brouillards occasionally flared, but morphed seamlessly into the saturated, autumnal chords of Feuilles Mortes.
Marshev is good at making connections. The brusque, heartless habanera of La Puerta del Vino was yet to come, but the dead leaves of the previous piece seemed to suggest their own muted, Ravelian waltz.
