Vera Osina plays Anthony Phillips – Concert review Bad Wildungen

Ivory Moon – Vera Osina performs piano music by Anthony Phillips in Bad Wildungen on February 22, 2026.

At the end of 2025, it was announced that there would be a special concert as part of the Piano Days ("Klaviertage") in Bad Wildungen (located between Kassel and Marburg) that would be of particular interest to fans of Anthony Phillips. A performance by pianist Vera Osina was announced, in which she would devote herself entirely to the piano music of Anthony Phillips. Since Anthony himself does not perform live, such concerts are a rare opportunity to hear Ant's music live. Andreas Schütze was there in Bad Wildungen and describes his impressions:

Bad Wildungen is not only worth a visit for those seeking relaxation and spa guests. It's also interesting for lovers of good music. For this year's annual piano festival, something very special was planned. A matinee concert featuring piano music by Anthony Phillips, performed by the gifted pianist Vera Osina. Between the individual pieces, love poems by Pablo Neruda and Erich Fried were read by Sören Gehrke. In such a setting, this was perhaps a good idea.

After introductory remarks by the organizer, who asked the audience to enjoy the performance as a whole, to save their applause for the end, and to donate generously, nothing stood in the way of a unique musical experience.

The compilation and selection of pieces was very successful and also held a few surprises in store. And one surprise was certainly the opening with Sleepfall: The Geese Fly West. In this pure piano version, one naturally misses the flute sounds of John Hackett and the oboe of Rob Phillips or Kate St. John. But perhaps Jonathan Dann will find a suitable recording for another Archive Collection. Otherwise, the basic track of the version heard yesterday comes pretty close.

The suite Sea-Dogs Motoring, Rapids and Moonfall (all from Private Parts & Pieces IV: Ivory Moon) as well as Autumnal from the first Private Parts & Pieces album were skilfully performed. When I hear Moonfall, Lindsey Moore's beautiful vocals always play in my head. This is followed by excerpts from Slow Dance for solo piano. It's the kind of idea you have to think of first, and it works very well in this form without orchestration. And it has a high recognition value.

For future performances, hopefully, a suitable adaptation of Tarka could also be considered. It would certainly be worthwhile, as this masterpiece has plenty of potential. Having begun with the oldest published composition, the concert logically ended with the soon-to-be-released Gemini. This has already been premiered by Martha Argerich at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona.

When Ant's new double album is released in April, it will surely contain enough musical gems that are just begging to be performed live in front of an audience, so we can hope that there will be a sequel!

Since a lot of effort and work must have gone into the preparations (in which, as I learned in passing, musicians from the Ant Band were also involved), it would be a shame if Vera Osina did not perform this programme again!

In the end, the question remains. Is it worth travelling a total of nearly 500 km for music that you can also listen to at home? In this case, I can answer that question with a resounding yes!

Author: Andreas Schütze
Photos: Christian Hedler, Andreas Schütze

Setlist:

Sleepfall – The Geese Fly West
Suite: Sea-Dogs Motoring
i. Sunrise Over Sienna
ii. Basking Shark
iii. Sea Dogs' Air
iv. Safe Havens
Rapids
Moonfall
Autumnal
Slow Dance: Movement I-IV
Gemini
Fiver (Encore)