Mozart: Overture to the Marriage of Figaro

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings

Beethoven: Violin Concerto

Complete mastery of the score marked Tasmin Little’s performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at the Theatre last Sunday.  This enabled her not only to project a solo line of unfailing beauty, but to direct the orchestra in such a way as to bring out every ounce of musicianship.

This was a partnership with a lot to offer, and we, the audience, were the privileged recipients.  At the close the orchestra showed their affection and respect, deflecting the tumult of applause to their guiding star.  She returned the compliment. 

The quality of the London Mozart Players had been evident from the start of Mozart’s “Marriage of  Figaro” Overture.  Sheer technique made every semiquaver count, with impeccable ensemble.  The fizz was that of champagne that hurts the pocket but delights the palate. 

After this came the sumptuous sound of the strings in Tchaikovsky’s Serenade.  The glorious introduction requires, and received impassioned commitment.  The orchestra echoed every nuance of Tasmin’s leadership perfectly.  Precise rests gave lift to the waltz;  the hushed holiness of the Elegia was heartrending; the finale’s folksy tune fairly bounced along;  while the inner parts – not least the violas – brought every strand of the texture to life. 

So it wasn’t just the Beethoven, even if that was the crowning glory. 

It’s a difficult work to bring off, as Brian Richardson said in his informative pre-concert talk.  But perfectly judged tempi made this large-scale lyrical masterpiece seem not a note too long.  The cadenza, wonderfully played, filled the theatre with sound.  And while the hymnic slow movement seemed to embrace visions beyond ordinary perception, the finale brought everything down to earth with an appropriate flourish. 

This was an unforgettable occasion, and a fitting testimony to the devotion and wisdom which retiring secretary Gill Edmonds has brought to the Society.  What she has accomplished has enriched our lives.  Thank you!   And all very best wishes to her successor, Mary Cooke.

Andrew Seivewright top

Song recitals have long been out of fashion at music clubs; but the partnership of Anna Stephany (mezzo) and Jonathan Beatty (piano) evoked a warm response from the audience last Sunday, and showed what we’ve all been missing.

These two young artists, full of promise but not short of achievement, presented a varied programme that took in songs by German, Rumanian, British and American composers, with one Australian too, the ever-popular percy Grainger.

Schumann wrote beautifully for both the voice and the piano and the first half of the programme was taken up with his music, and that of his wife Clara – one of the 19^th century’s outstanding pianists.

If betrayed, or unrequited love was a recurring theme, there was also strong contrast in a song like “The Soldier” which gave pianist Jonathan a chance to beat the drum. The give-and-take between the two artists in songs like “March Violets” was a constant joy. In initiative passages too, there was a winning unity in their phrasing.

Some people enjoyed Clara Schumann’s songs even more than her husband’s! Predictably the dramatic “Lorelei” offered full scope for Anna’s rich vocal resources and there was a charming walz-song to end with.

After the interval came a group of French songs by the Paris based Rumanian, Georges Enesco – highly regarded as a violin teacher by Yehudi Menuhin. The composer seems to have enjoyed writing in ancient style – as here, perhaps in deference to the 16^th century lyrics by Clement Marot, it was interesting to hear these songs, which linked up well with two items by Purcell and Pelham Humfrey. Perhaps Warlock, too, with his Elizabethan leanings, followed in the train of programme planning. “My own Country” is a lovely melody supported by rich harmonic colouration.

Its theme prompted Anna to express the pleasure in visiting the Lakes. Jonathan, too, spoke up to introduce a welcome folk song arrangement by Percy Grainger. Samuel Barber’s delectable “The monk and his cat” made the audience long for a performance of more of his “Hermit Songs”.

Possibly the treatment might have been more feline and hedonistic, and the Coward and Cole Porter items were also a bit “straight and understated”. An encore was well received, though, personally, I feel you can’t turn back from Broadway!

This was a rewarding recital by two artists with much to offer – especially so, I thought, in the Schumann songs.

Andrew Seivewright top

A large audience of families, friends, members of the public and of the Keswick Music Society, thoroughly enjoyed a concert given by a cross-section of the musically talented young people from Keswick and the surrounding area, on Sunday evening at the Theatre by the Lake.

We heard classical, jazz and more popular contemporary idioms, and from near beginners to Grade Eight level performers all played confidently and entertained their listeners with a wide range of musical styles and difficulty..

The Keswick School Jazz Orchestra opened both halves of the concert in style and played with great verve and rhythm including some impressive improvised solos.

As might be expected, the piano was the most frequent instrument, with enjoyable solos played by Danielle Butchart, Alastair Francis, Alice Sheppard, Joshua and James Selby, Francesca Lee, Charlotte Strachan, Jemima Middleton and Debbie Lyn, and the last two combined with Ruth Grimshaw in a jolly piece for six hands, River Dancing by Pamela Wedgwood.

Stringed instruments were the next largest group, very much a tribute to the hard work and dedication of local teacher, Sue Johnson. There were solos from Francesca Lee, Jenny Bradley, Rebecca Hughes, Richard Sykes, Hannah Fanning, Anne Marie Quinn, Sol Ligertwood, Jemima Middleton and Elanor Watts, many reaching a very high standard. The Keswick String Quartet, consisting of Rosie Watson, Elizabeth Sykes, Rebecca Hughes and Eleanor Simper, bravely tackled the difficulties of playing chamber music and The Keswick School String Ensemble gave a rousing performance of Handel's Minuet and La Rejouissance.

Solo wind instruments were represented by imaginative and well played solos from Jack Hancock (Saxophone) who also played Bass Guitar, and Adam Robinson (Tuba). The Jazz Orchestra included a number of flute or clarinet players, so might we hope for some solos from them next year?

While the programme consisted mainly of instrumental music, there were movingly expressed vocal solos from Anne Marie Quinn and Alix Atherton, and from Lauren Grace who sang a number with the Jazz Band.

It was good to see that some of the performers appreciated and acknowledged the audience's applause as at a professional concert, and perhaps in future concerts the others could be encouraged to do likewise.

The Keswick Rotary Club took this opportunity to present their awards to outstanding musicians from Keswick School, introduced by their Head of Music, Marie Lee. From the lower school, Alastair Francis, Charlotte Strachan, Jack Hancock and Richard Sykes were chosen, and from the sixth form Jemima Middleton.

Representing the Keswick Music Society’s committee Marjorie Dymock, their Chairman, voiced the gratitude of the large audience present to the performers, their teachers, the concert's organizer Joan Sparey (KMS President) and the theatre staff who worked hard on stage management.

This concert is an annual event, which, along with the open rehearsals of the Northern Sinfonia and London Mozart Players, forms part of the educational outreach of the society to those who, in a very real sense, represent the Music Society of the future. It is hoped that music making will continue to flourish amongst young and old alike, and there will be many more such occasions in the future.

Sunday 24th February 2008

Concert Review

Freshness of invention was to the fore in this stimulating programme of music by Vivaldi and Britten, given in the Theatre by the Lake, Keswick on Sunday 24^th February. As Northern Sinfonia Director, Bradley Creswick made clear in his his pre-concert talk, interviewed by Brian Richardson, Vivaldi set out with his L'Estro Armonico (harmonic  inspiration) concertos to liberate music from the self-imposed limitations of the Corelli generation. Likewise Britten in the 1930s sought to introduce continental influences, such as Mahler and Schoenberg, to a conservative musical establishment.

It was an interesting juxtaposition both of period and, to some extent colour, although it seemed a pity to only hear the wind quintet in Britten's Sinfonietta when presumably there are Vivaldi works which could have exploited some of these instruments. Nevertheless, the many permutations used by the latter in his concertos - for four, two or one violin, or two cellos - allowed for sufficient variety within the overall string sonority. 

The Northern Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra of the highest quality, and it was not insignificant that no less than eleven individual players took solo parts in this performance. The violinists, too many to name individually, all without exception played with ease and fluency and an instinctive response to the Baroque style. Vivaldi was one of the first to explore the possibilities of the solo concerto, and Simon Browne made short work of the Concerto in G major. The cello is often taken for granted, so it was good to have an opportunity to hear the Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor, ably performed by Louisa Tuck and Rosie Bliss.

For those with a taste for a more modern idiom, Britten's Simple Symphony was an invigorating opening to the concert, incorporating lively and energetic outer movements which framed a delicate pizzicato second movement and "Sentimental Saraband". His Sinfonietta (Op.1) for wind and string quintets is altogether more demanding in terms of the level of harmonic dissonance and rhythmic diversity, and this was a sharply focussed reading and an effective foil to the remainder of the programme.

Appearances by the Northern Sinfonia in Cumbria are all too rare these days, so it was good to be able to welcome them back to Keswick. There will be another opportunity to hear them, in Bach's B minor Mass, which will be performed with the Cumbria Rural Choirs under the baton of Simon Halsey on Saturday 8^th March in the Sands Centre, Carlisle.

Ian Hare  top

Sunday 13th January 2008

Takemitsu: Between Tides

Debussy: Premiere Rapsodie

The New Year was full of eastern promise at the Theatre by the Lake on Sunday evening. The Japanese composer, Takemitsu, inhabits a world of oriental contemplation, Messiaen was influenced by Indian rhythms and scales, and Debussy was impressed by the Javanese gamelan orchestra which visited Paris in 1889. All, in their different ways, sought to blend eastern and western musical traditions in their music, which was so ably illustrated by the Gould Piano Trio with the eminent clarinettist, Robert Plane.

Another important theme was the love of nature, evident in Takemitsu's Between Tides and in Messiaen's use of bird song. Between Tides illustrates the idea of "slack water", the pause when tides reverse direction, and is consequently very still, with occasional eddies of movement, in which the music washes over you like water over stones. This was a sensitive performance, involving the two string players who often played together or in dialogue, and the piano which quietly explored unusual and evocative harmonies.

 One would not have guessed that Debussy's Premiere Rapsodie was composed as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire, as it is so full of expressive gestures and contrasting moods. However, Robert Plane's performance would undoubtedly have received a premier prix, with his subtle control of dynamics and rapid detail. It was easy to believe that the piano accompaniment was later orchestrated, as Benjamin Frith brought out all the colour in the varied textures.

 However, the main work in the programme was saved for the second half, although it had been ably introduced before the concert by Brian Richardson to the significant number who attended his illuminating talk. The music of Messiaen remains controversial to this day, and often arouses strong reactions for or against. But there was no doubting the sincerity and accomplishment of his Quartet for the End of Time, a major triumph of the human spirit when one considers that it was written and performed in a prisoner-of-war camp in the depths of winter 1941. As so often, Messiaen took his inspiration from scripture, and used his music to express faith and hope in the life beyond. What an uplifting experience it must have been, and we were able to share in that, thanks to the superb playing of the leader Lucy Gould, cellist Sally Pendlebury, and the other players already mentioned. It was a performance which brought out all the vivid contrasts of colour, texture and mood, and which had a sublime and spell-binding effect upon the audience. It was a fitting way to mark the centenary of Messiaen's birth in 1908, one of the leading composers of his generation.

Ian Hare  top

Sunday 2nd December 2007

Fitzwilliam Quartet

Lucy Russell violin  Jonathan Sparey violin
Alan George viola   Andrew Skidmore cello
with
Moray Welsh cello
Carolyn Sparey viola

Brahms: Sextet in B flat

Schubert: Quintet in C major

                                                                                                                                                  Brian Richardson   
           

Diamond Jubilee Celebration - left to right:
Andrew Skidmore, Jonathan Sparey, Joan Sparey, Alan George, Carolyn Sparey, Moray Welsh, Lucy Russell

 top

Sunday 4th November 2007

The Hermitage String Trio and

Nikolai Demidenko piano

Mahler: Piano Quartet Movement in A minor (1876)

Dohnanyi: Serenade Op 10 (1902)

Schubert: Adagio & Rondo Concertante for piano & string trio in F D487

Brahms: Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60

Concert Review

Maybe every event in a Diamond Jubilee Season has to be a glittering occasion.  This was certainly true of last Sunday’s concert, given by Nikolai Demidenko with the Hermitage String Trio.  The climax came in the second half when international pianist and the newly-formed, but prestigious Trio combined in a wonderful performance of Brahms’s C Minor, Op.60 Piano Quartet.  So spell-binding was their reading that the only regret was that it had to end – which of course it did, to a richly deserved ovation.

Often a solitary figure, Brahms had a deep concern for the well-being of his stricken friend, composer Robert Schumann, and an abiding love for Schumann’s wife Clara.  Indeed the falling two-note figure that begins the quartet is thought to denote her name, and the slow movement’s heartfelt cello solo, his love for her.  Leonid Gorokhov’s playing of the melody was deeply expressive.

 Later on, violist Alexander Zemtsov was to blend with the cellist in perfect chording to accompany the soaring tones of Alina Imbragimova’s violin – this is a name to remember.   Meanwhile Demidenko’s beautiful “touch” persuaded us that cantabile is not the sole preserve of string players.

 While giving the stormy passages a symphonic dimension the pianist was never too dominant.  (By all accounts Brahms himself was a much heavier player!).  Throughout, the give-and-take between performers was the essence of chamber music.  As they say of footballers at their best, “they played for each other”.  And, as a result, the music made sense.

 Very helpful too, in this connection was the pre-concert talk by Ian Hare.   To a large and appreciative audience Ian spoke of the work’s structure, themes and various moods.  It kindled anticipation, completely justified in the concert.

 The first half of the programme featured music by teenagers Mahler and Schubert, and the relatively youthful Dohnanyi.

 Demidenko began the Mahler Piano Quartet Movement in A minor most stylishly – almost as if accompanying a Schumann song cycle.  The full sonority of the strings then became apparent as did their well-matched excellence in imitative passages.  In the final section violinist Alina Ibragimova took off in stellar fashion.

 The string players then played the Seranade in C by Dohnanyi.  Fullness of tone there was again, elegance and individual distinction.  It’s an attractive work that, to me, just lacks really good tunes.

 You could never say that of the music of Schubert, whose Adagio and Rondo Concertante for String Trio led up to the Interval.  First cousin to “The Trout” perhaps, this concertino was more bird-like than fishy, with a series of chirrupings from the piano, gloriously played.   There was even a suggestion of Haydn’s telling of the glory of God in “The Creation”; but that’s the Viennese tradition for you.

 Amazingly enough there was a passing cloud to dim the Schubertian sunshine, but all over before umbrellas clicked into fast forward.  For sound engineers only!

The second concert in the Diamond Jubilee Season of the Keswick Music Society was given by the young American pianist, Andrew Brownell, on Sunday evening. The Theatre by the Lake was as usual the setting, with the platform beautifully bedecked with floral displays.

With an impressive curriculum vitae and handsome photograph in the advance publicity, much was expected of this artist, and to a large extent our expectations were fulfilled. The programme was well contrasted, with works by Bach, Chopin and Debussy, and the presentation was professional and polished.

Bach's Capriccio 'on the departure of his beloved brother', is an interesting work, composed when he was only eighteen, as it reveals a more human side to a composer who can often seem lofty and remote. The playing was marked by warmth of tone and clarity of counterpoint, as well as a ready response to the changing moods of each section.

With the recent influx of Polish immigrants to this country, there ought perhaps to be a resurgence of interest in the music of Chopin, and we were certainly treated to a substantial offering from that master of the piano. His Mazurkas (Op.24) were redolent both of his native land and also the refinement of the Parisian salons, where many of them were performed. The Sonata in B minor is a powerful work, and it was a pity that some extraneous noise in the auditorium caused an interruption. Nevertheless, there was no doubt of Andrew Brownell's technical mastery and interpretative insight, particularly in the lively Scherzo and triumphant Finale.

Debussy's second set of Preludes dates from 1913, quite late in his career, and some members of the audience may have found the idiom a little too abstract. However, there was real variety of colour and texture from this exponent of the so-called "impressionist" school, ranging from the autumnal 'Feuilles mortes' (Dead leaves) to the brilliant 'Feux d'artifice' (Fireworks) - quite seasonal, on reflection. Andrew Brownell seemed quite at home in this idiom, and the audience was reluctant for it to end.

Keswick Music Society could not have made a better start to their Diamond Jubilee Season.  Some people go to a concert to hear technically proficient playing, some to hear the musicality of the performance & some just to enjoy the overall presentation.  The Balsom Ensemble delighted the near-capacity audience in all respects when they performed at Theatre by the Lake on Sunday evening.

Alison Balsom, who was named Best Young British Performer in the 2006 Classical Brit awards, started the Ensemble in 2004 in order to develop repertoire featuring the trumpet.  She has gathered a group of friends who have played together for a number of years whilst developing their own successful solo careers.  Watching the Ensemble play, it is obvious that Ellie Fagg (violin), Julia Graham (cello) and Tom Poster (harpsichord/piano) enjoy playing with Alison Balsom and that enjoyment enhances their music greatly.  The concert was beautifully presented as members of the Ensemble took it in turns to introduce the pieces they were playing. 

The first half of the concert focused on the Baroque music of Bach, Purcell and Handel and gave Alison Balsom a chance to demonstrate her mastery of the piccolo and Baroque trumpets. In the opening Concerto in D by J.S. Bach, the piccolo trumpet provided a bright and lively sound in the faster outer movements whilst, in the slow central movement, there was some beautifully delicate playing as the theme was passed between the trumpet and violin.  This idea of interplay also worked well in Purcell’s Musicke from ‘King Arthur’ Suite.  This piece allowed all of the instruments to shine through including the cello and harpsichord in the third movement.  Bach’s Sarabande and Gigue, adapted from his Solo Cello Suite number 2, was a more contemplative piece and demanded good control from the solo trumpet.  The large interval jumps and long slow passages really showed off Alison Balsom’s technical skill and control.