Tuesday 24 February 2015

Imaginative and intelligent programming from the Britten Oboe Quartet

© Eric Richmond

The Britten Oboe Quartet performed a varied programme as part of the Strings Attached Coffee Concerts series.

Britten Oboe Quartet
Nicholas Daniel - oboe/cor anglais
Jacqueline Shave - violin
Clare Finnimore - viola
Caroline Dearnley - cello






Elgar - Andante and Allegro for Oboe and String trio
Knussen - Cantata for Oboe and String Trio
Mozart - Adagio for Cor Anglais and String Trio, K580a
Britten - Phantasy for Oboe and String Trio in F minor, Op. 2
Lutyens - O Absalom, Op. 122
L. Berkeley - String Trio, Op. 19
Mozart - Oboe Quartet in F major, K370

Brighton Corn Exchange, Sunday 22 February 2015.

'The smooth liquid tones of Daniel’s cor anglais was the perfect palate cleanser'.

'They took the recapitulation from a delightfully controlled pianissimo to a rousing yet poised finish'.
'An imaginative and intelligent programme, performed with great commitment and a real desire to communicate'.


Read my full review here.

Friday 20 February 2015

BREMF Consort of Voices presents Regina Caeli


BREMF Consort of Voices, directed by Deborah Roberts, will perform music by two Tudor composers, John Sheppard and Robert White, to include White's beautiful settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah.


Saturday 7 March, 6pm.
St Paul's Church, West Street, Brighton


Tickets here or on the door (£12, £10 concessions).


Click to find out more about Brighton Early Music Festival.

Tuesday 17 February 2015

Mahler to remember - Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle's London residency concludes

© Monika Ritterhaus

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmoniker concluded their London residency with two performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, 'Resurrection', with soloists Kate Royal (soprano) and Magdalena Kožená (mezzo-soprano), the London Symphony Chorus and the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (Chorus Director: Simon Halsey).  The orchestra began the concert with Helmut Lachenmann's (b.1935) Tableau for orchestra.


Royal Festival Hall, Sunday 15 February 2015.






'We were rewarded with a performance to be remembered for some time to come.'

'The choral focus and precision was stunning, with every word still crystal clear, with total commitment and energy for their final climax.'
© Monika Ritterhaus

'A fitting conclusion to a triumphant residency from Sir Simon and the Berliner Philharmoniker.'


Read my full review here.

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Glorious Baroque



Sunday 29 March 2015, 6pm
St John sub Castro, Abinger Place, Lewes

Baroque Collective Singers
John Hancorn, conductor
The Baroque Collective
Nicholas Houghton, chamber organ

Vivaldi: Magnificat
Scarlatti: Stabat Mater
Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri









The Baroque Collective Singers and their conductor John Hancorn present a glorious concert of Baroque choral music. Domenico Scarlatti’s ten-part Stabat Mater is one of the great masterworks of the time, featuring soaring vocal lines and plangent harmonies. The Magnificat is one of Vivaldi's best-loved choral  works, brought to life in this performance by a quartet of string players from the Baroque Collective playing authentic Baroque instruments alongside the Baroque Collective Singers. Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri is a wonderful cycle of seven cantatas each addressed to a different part of Christ’s crucified body and will feature solos by members of the choir.


Tickets: £10 (under 16s free) available from Lewes Tourist Information Centre (tel: 01273 483448) or on the door

CD Reviews - February 2015


Clare Hammond is a fearless pianist, specialising in virtuosic repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries, often championing the work of contemporary composers and premiering their work.  She performed in a stunning lunchtime recital at the 2013 Brighton Festival.  Her latest CD is ‘Étude’.  It includes 26 études, a form which began as study exercises for pianists to develop a particular aspect of technique, but largely through the efforts of Chopin and other pianist-composers after him, has become an art form in itself, with composers exploring the outer limits of technique and pushing the pianist to new extremes of virtuosity.  The disc begins with three from a set of twelve ‘Études d’exécution transcendante’ by Russian composer Sergei Lyapunov (1859-1924).  This set was dedicated to Liszt, and completed the cycle which Liszt had begun of studies in all the 24 major & minor keys.  Though whilst Liszt was clearly a major influence, this is undoubtedly music from the late Romantic Russian nationalistic school.  With surging rivers (‘Térek’), an atmospheric ‘Nuit d’été’ and an full-on raging ‘Tempête’, the three chosen here give Hammond a perfect opportunity to set the scene for some barnstorming playing.  The six Piano Études which follow are from South Korean composer Unsuk Chin (b.1961).  Often thinner in texture, yet no doubt more technically demanding, these pieces manage to convey remarkable energy and imagination within the potentially restrictive demands of studies based on repetition or scales, and are probably the most pianistically challenging works on the disc.  Hammond seems to relish the challenges set, yet also manages to find a sensitive touch in the delicate moments amid the fireworks.  Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s (1882-1937) set of 12 Studies live in the same soundworld in many ways as Debussy’s études, composed just one year earlier than Szymanowski’s (in 1915).  These are short pieces, all under two minutes long, and Szymanowski does well to create a specific mood in such a short space of time, although there is perhaps less variety across the different études here, with the consistently bitonal harmonies creating an other-worldy feel throughout.  The disc ends with Ukranian pianist/composer, Nikolai Kapustin’s (b.1937) Five Études in Different Intervals, providing the perfect closing sequence for this astonishing disc.  Kapustin combines classical and jazz styles in a unique way, and here he takes a seemingly restrictive concept, a specific interval for each study, as a starting point for five exuberant and joyous confections, once again fiendishly challenging. 


The Six Concerti Armonici for strings and basso continuo were first published in 1740, but without an ascribed composer.  There have been many theories, and the most popular choice for many years was Pergolesi.  But the mystery was solved in 1980 by the Dutch musicologist, who found a manuscript of the concerti with a preface by Count Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692-1766).  A renowned Dutch diplomat, he was also admired for his compositions.  The Innovation Chamber Ensemble consists of principal string players from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, under the artistic direction of Richard Jenkinson, and they certainly show how much they enjoy this change of repertoire with stylish and spirited playing throughout.  This are not early instrument expert performances, but they play sensitively, and it is only perhaps in the slow movements where occasionally the sound is a little heavy for my liking.  However, these are beautiful concerti and contain great variety and invention, giving the Innovation Chamber Ensemble plenty of scope for varying tone and dynamics, which they do well.  Predominantly in the Italian style, they are nevertheless far from formulaic works, and many of the faster movements practically fizz with energy.


Harpsichordist Steven Devine performs regularly with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and London Baroque, and has performed on numerous occasions in events in the Brighton Early MusicFestival.  His Goldberg Variations recording won much deserved phrase, and he follows this with a further disc of J S Bach, including the ‘Italian’ Concerto and ‘French’ Overture, both from the second part of his ‘Clavier-Übung’.  But Devine starts his disc with the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903.  Right from the word go, it is clear that this is full-blooded harpsichord playing, and and recorded sound from Chandos is appropriately warm and upfront.  It is refreshing to hear the harpsichord played with command and intent, and not in an overly sensitive and precious way, which is sadly often the case.  I like the rhythmic drive he gives, not allowing the rapid ornamentation in the Fantasia to upset a strong sense of pulse.  This is equally evident in the Aria variata which follows – a theme with 10 variations ‘in the Italian manner’.  The Fantasia in C minor, BWV 906 comes next, and again precision and rhythmic integrity is paramount here. Although the form of the ‘Italian’ Concerto which follows is clearly based on the concerti with orchestra, of Vivaldi, Bach takes this and uses dynamic contrast and varying textures to create a virtuoso concerto for the solo instrument.  Once again the opening movement has drive and energy, but in the central slow movement, Devine shows that he can also make the instrument sing, allowing the beautiful aria solo line to breathe, before the crashing Presto sweeps aside contemplation.  The ‘French’ Overture closes the disc, and opens with a long Ouverture movement which is a phenomenal construction in itself.  Here Devine’s programming makes perfect sense, with this great work offering the opportunity for him to bring together his strong virile approach with a lighter touch in the faster dance movements such as the Passpieds and Bourées, as well as giving us a touching Sarabande.  The closing Écho is given suitable panache, and he clearly enjoys the echo effects to their full – a joyful end to a stunning recording.


(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, February 2015)

Monday 9 February 2015

Karl-Heinz Steffens conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra

Karl-Heinz Steffens returned to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra in performances of Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Overture, Op. 21 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major, 'Pastoral', Op. 68.  They were joined by baritone Markus Werba to perform a selection of songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Mahler.

Royal Festival Hall, Thursday 5 February 2015.

© Francesco Luciani
'The Philharmonia was on fine form, with tight ensemble throughout, and they responded well to Steffens' assured control of dynamics'

'Werba gave a highly characterful performance of the chosen songs'.

Steffens' 'enthusiasm and energy was matched by an attentive and lively performance from the orchestra'.

Read my full review here.