"Laura , whose return to the Society was greatly welcomed by the audience, opened the recital with the Prelude and Sarabande movements from “Pour le Piano” by Claude Debussy. The first movement had a shimmering brilliance that truly reflected the Javan bells of the composers imagination and gave an immediate demonstration of  Laura’s ability to impose her musical interpretation on a performance.  This was followed by “un Sospiro” (a Sigh) by Franz Liszt, which was a very brave choice considering Liszt was reputed to be the best pianist in the Europe of his time. However, our soloist rose to its demands and demonstrated complete mastery of the contrasting moods, which, for your reporter, showed the whole range of the sigh of the wind in the rigging of a ship from the raging tempestuous to the blissfully calm. A delightful performance, in which, again the artist had injected the spirit of her own interpretation. The final item in the first half offered a complete change as we were gently ushered into the 1920’s and the jazz influenced “Three preludes for the piano” by George Gershwin. Laura’s obvious enthusiasm for the pieces was reflected in her joyful performance, but more importantly her technique gave a natural lyricism to the music, which, particularly in the Second Prelude, gave a truly conversational aspect to the music." HORNDEAN MUSIC SOCIETY Novermber 2013