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Clive Driskill-Smith is just beginning his career, but he has actually taken some glittering prizes: a First from Christ Church, Oxford, the Limpus Prize at FRCO, and, most recently, RCO Performer of the Year in 2000 at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
He will undertake major tours in the next two years in Europe, the USA, Australia, and the Far East.
It is a privilege to witness a rising star, as he is clearly destined to become, and let us hope that he can come back and play the Town Hall instrument at some time.
The organ at St Chad's is on a much smaller scale than that in the Town Hall, but the soloist drew a wide range of sounds from it.
Several local organists said they had not heard the instrument in such fine voice before.
After one of J S Bach's greatest works, we had the 20th century masters, Durufle and Howells, and Liszt's monumental Prelude and Fugue on Bach's name.
A highlight for me was the first movement of Elgar's Sonata in G: how about a recording of the full sonata on our Town Hall instrument, Clive?
The freshness brought to the classics and newer pieces so fluently executed was an inspiration.
A witty fugue by Dupre was a well-earned encore that put the icing on the cake.
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