Those of us who are his fans have been waiting for Stéfan's return to Malta for some time and were thrilled to read that the Friends of the Manoel Theatre had engaged him to give a recital at the end of last month.

It is quite pointless going through all his achievements here as there are simply too many of them. What set him on the road to study abroad was winning the Bice Mizzi Vassallo competition after taking his LRSM and so he attended the Lyon Conservatoire and Lyon seems to have been his base every since. One newspaper headline after a concert he gave was 'Stéphan Cassar le plus Lyonnais des Maltais.'

 Of the 32 piano sonatas composed by Beethoven, only the Moonlight challenges the Pathétique in the popularity stakes.  It is in the key of C minor, a perfect vehicle for tragic, deeply emotive music. Stefan Cassar's interpretation was strong and fluent. I've heard many versions of the the Pathetique (haven't we all?) but Stefan manages to have his individual stamp on everything he plays. At strategic points in the music he gives us a short break to allow us to catch our breath - and to catch his I suppose. Imagine that Beethovan wrote this sonata when he was 27-years-old, in 1798 the year Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Malta. We are not surprised that it was immediately popular.  Every movement of this sonata has its beauty and is edifying.

Throughout this recital, where the music demanded it, Stéfan  was tossing off terrifying scales and trills seemingly with absolutely no effort. There are sighs and sobs in some of the pieces he played. Stefan Cassar's playing is never carefree. That he is a reflective and intense man who also weighs his words is obvious. His concentration is formidable and especially compelling in the slow movements or passages. He brings a hushed poetic poetry to his playing. His Chopin is especially moving. That evening he played Chopin's Scherzo No 2 in B flat minor surely the most popular of Chopin's six scherzi. There was some scintillating playing in this too and some dreamy, tender and delicate passages. This is such a popular piece of music but one can never tire of these classical pieces which have withstood the test of time. Though half French Chopin did not forget his Polish origins and as he gasped for air on his deathbed in Paris in 1849 he whispered a request that became the stuff of musical legend.  Remove my heart after I die and entomb it in Poland. He wanted the symbol of his soul to rest in the native land he pined for. The story of Chopin's heart is long and complicated and a book has been written about it. But anyway, the world may not have his heart but we have his sublime music. The rest of him is buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris with other grandees.

Brahms gained admirers for his looks as well as his music. As a teenager his flowing blond locks, impressive physique and sea-blue eyes are said to have made many a girl swoon. In his early career he earned a living playing piano in brothels. There are no pianos in brothels  in Malta at least but drugs from what we read in the papers. Brahms was a firm friend of the Viennese waltz king and bandmaster, Johann Strauss II. When Mrs Strauss once asked him for an autograph, he wrote out a few bars of Strauss's greatest hit, By the Beautiful Blue Danube, with the note, 'Sadly, not by Brahms!' Stéfan played two brief Brahms pieces Klavierstücke Op 76 Nos 1 and 2. These short pieces, but especially No 2,  are monstrously difficult to play but Stéfan played them not only with spontaneity but also poise.

Liszt too was on the programme. First Sonetto del Petrarca from Années de pèlerinage - Deuxieme Annee, Italie. Here the pianist showed his prodigious virtuosity and keyboard command of this piece inspired by the Italian humanist writer and poet Francesco Petrarca. This is considered to be among the supreme masterpieces of the piano. One had the sense of Liszt himself hovering over the keyboard as the pianist gave us his interpretation.

Another Liszt piece Stéfan played was Mephisto Waltz No 1. Liszt was not only an acclaimed composer but a phenomenally accomplished pianist and his compositions reflect this. His ability to play the sheer number of notes that he did, at such speed and with such precision, amazed all who heard him. So it is hardly surprising  that in his solo piano repertoire, Liszt stretches the capabilities of both the instrument and the soloist to their limits. In playing this famous work the pianist kept us breathless and almost on the edge of our seats. Absolutely dazzling. I was exhausted just watching him play this very difficult piece and one could only remain with our mouths open at his technical prowess.

He also played Ravel's Une barque sur l'océan from Miroirs. Two composers that I know of portray water in music - Debussy and Ravel. "We should always remember that sensitiveness and emotion constitute the real content of a work of art," Ravel wrote somewhere. And this piece is a combination of both these qualities and so did the pianist.

Whenever I go to a piano recital like this I then return home and binge-listen for the following month mostly the pieces I would have enjoyed at the recital.  

One thing is certain. Our compatriot's recitals are guaranteed to give delight. His devotion to music is so obvious, his talent so prodigious  that we easily forgive him his eccentricities. Yes, about time he gave his locks a good trim.

Let us not wait another few years before engaging him again. He draws the crowds wherever he goes and is kept very busy. Please book him as quickly as possible. He once told me in an interview that playing in Malta also means coming back home,  playing for family and friends and enjoying his favourite Maltese dishes including pastizzi. Please bring him back soon.