Brilliant baroque sounds from the prodigious piano talent Julien Libeer

Julien Libeer performing at Emirates Palace as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Festival

The pianist Julien Libeer took to the stage at Emirates Palace on Friday evening as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival’s Recital Series 2015. The 27-year-old was “artist in residence” at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium and, following his performance in Abu Dhabi, will go on to debut at London’s ­Barbican Centre.

The hour-and-a-half concert was intimate, with about 100 audience members, and included baroque and baroque-style music by Bach, Ravel and Schubert.

The first piece, Bach's French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816, consisted of seven movements. As was standard of baroque-era music, this piece had notable contrasts between both the volume and emotion of the music, ranging from piano (soft) to sforzando (played loud with a strong accent) in a matter of measures. Starting off light and airy, Libeer began the piece with closed eyes. It was quickly noticeable that Libeer was playing entirely from memory, with no sheet music in sight. This continued until the end of the evening. Instead, a series of deep breaths – as was Libeer's introduction to the third movement of the French Suite – seemed to act as dramatic cues for the pianist.

He then moved on to Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin. The baroque-style piece was made up of six different movements and ranged from moments of sadness in minor tones to elements of loud, crescendoing chaos, followed by swift decrescendos. Throughout his performance, Libeer emphasised the feeling of the music, not only through the emotion of his playing, but also his physical movement. The last note of the piece included Libeer throwing his hand into the air and leaning back in what looked like a state of utter exhaustion.

Following the interval, Libeer performed Schubert's Sonata in G Major, D894, and a light yet eerie surprise encore of Pierre Sancan's Music Box in A Major. When Libeer ended the performance with another characteristic deep breath and a lingering pause, the audience responded with a standing ovation, a just reward for an emotional performance by a hugely talented young musician.