Fantasias for Piano - Martin Cousin presents some unexpected treats, performed with effortless and expressive virtuosity

The Fantasia is a form that has been used by many composers since the sixteenth century, and has its roots in a sense of improvisation. There are therefore many choices a pianist could make when forming a programme around the genre, but pianist Martin Cousin has certainly taken us down an unexpected path on his latest recording. He begins with Kenneth Leighton’s (1929-1988) Fantasia Contrappuntistica, Op. 24, not a well-known work, but one of great interest across its five linked sections. From a majestic opening Maestoso, it quickly moves to a virtuosic, even wild Toccata, full of angular lines, and ending with pealing bells before dying away. This leads into a lugubrious Chorale, beginning in intense lower registers of the instrument, before working its way steadily upwards, the hymn-like line threading through the chordal textures. The work ends with not one but two fugues, the first darkly jerky, developing into constant, running movement, and the second races on faster, before returning to the dramatic maestoso mood of the opening briefly to end the work. Cousin’s playing is clearly articulated, and he contrasts well the almost intellectual starkness of the fugal writing with the more dramatic chordal textures. The mood of Lawrence Rose’s (b. 1943) Piano Fantasia, Op. 24 (dedicated to Cousin) that follows is not dissimilar, its six movements embracing angular, fugal writing within a constantly shifting chromatic soundworld. But there is perhaps a broader range of styles here, from the almost whimsical, light opening to the weightier, almost Brahmsian variations in the Largo, and the bouncier, almost quirky conclusion to the fourth movement Allegro. Cousin drives through the rhythmic, Bach-like second movement  Allegro, with tight articulation of the angular lines, and his rapid finger work high up the keyboard in the second Allegro is highly impressive, as is the tender Andante in the final movement. From there, we jump into a completely different world, with Rachmaninov’s (1873-1943) five Morceaux de Fantasia, Op. 3. Cousin now relishes the thicker, more sustained textures, yet still gives the opening Elégie a singing, swinging lilt, to contrast with the more passionate movement of the central section. His energy at the conclusion is thrilling, as is the fiery central section of the famous Prélude that follows. The Mélodie’s melodic line is initially slightly on the heavy side, but he builds the texture well, and the Polichinelle is great fun, with orchestral textures and impressive virtuosity. The Sérénade that ends the set certainly has a mediterranean feel to its rich, swinging waltz, which provides a perfect link to the final work on the disc, Manuel de Falla’s (1876-1946) Fantasia Baetica. It was dedicated to Artur Rubenstein, but apparently he abandoned it after playing it a few times, deeming it too long and not playable enough. However, Cousin makes a strong case for it here, and what it lacks in melodic line, it makes up for with imaginative textures, from the guitar-like opening, through harp-like glissandi to more percussive repeated note patterns and weighty statements. There are plenty of cascading, dramatic flourishes, certainly evoking that improvisatory sense of a fantasia, and its insistent, hammering repetition builds via more watery glissandi and limpid clustered chords to an astonishingly virtuosic conclusion. Cousin takes us a long way from the more inwardly intellectual world of the Leighton and the almost Shostakovich-like Rose, via richly expressive Rachmaninov to the wildly expansive de Falla, all the while demonstrating effortless command virtuosity in the highly varied styles. 

Various. 2025. Fantasias for Piano. Martin Cousin. Compact Disc/Download. Convivium Records CR103.

Convincing MacMillan from Benedetti contrasts with Noseda's full-on Shostakovich

Nicola Benedetti & the London Symphony Orchestra
© LSO/Mark Allan

Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

Nicola Benedetti (violin)

London Symphony Orchestra

7pm, Thursday 3 April 2025

Barbican Hall, London

★★★★

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Festive Overture, Op. 96

James MacMillan (b.1959): Violin Concerto No. 2

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112, 'The Year 1917'

Festive Overture:

'Noseda took the LSO through a tight and spirited rendition, with strong articulation from the strings in particular'.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the London Symphony Orchestra
© LSO/Mark Allan

MacMillan:

'There’s a particularly aggressive central solo, where Benedetti didn’t hold back on, producing lots of extra ‘noise’ from the bow and wood of the instrument, and she also mesmerised with rapid minimalist repetitions, as well as rising trills at the opening'.

'... towards the end MacMillan’s master stroke, a series of duets between the soloist and different instruments, started playfully with the double bass and ended with a sweet duet with the leader'.

Symphony No. 12:

'There was a relentlessness to the sheer intensity and volume here, but Noseda and the orchestra kept us with them by fully exploiting the moments of ‘downtime’, few and far between though they are'.

'That full-on finish, a feat of stamina for all involved, was indeed electric, but within that, Noseda still managed to shape some of the final surges, almost running forward to the edge of the podium and back'. 

Read my review on Bachtrack here.

Brighton16 joins forces with Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra

Brighton chamber choir Brighton16 is joining forces with Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra for a performance of Duruflé's Requiem this coming Saturday at St George's Church in Worthing (St George's Road, Worthing BN11 2DS). 

The performance is at 7pm, and the concert will also include Vaughan Williams' Mass in G minor, a world premiere of Ansel Chaloner-Hughes' Elegy for organ, harp and strings, and Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) in a new arrangement, also for organ, harp and strings. The organist will be Edward Byrne (Magdalen College, Oxford) and the mezzo-soprano solo in the Duruflé will be Frances Rowberry. The concert will be conducted by Matt Jelf.

Tickets are available here.

Brighton-based singing teacher achieves the highest level of certification in Estill Voice Training®

Stefan Holmström

Stefan Holmström is a trained opera singer who has been teaching voice for many years now. He has recently achieved accreditation at the highest level within the Estill Voice Training® method, EMCI (Estill Mentor & Course Instructor), and is both the first Brightonian and the first person from Sweden to achieve this. I have been having singing lessons with Stefan for over ten years now, and I caught up with him to find out more about this latest achievement, how he came to use the Estill Voice method in his teaching, and a little more about his path to singing and teaching.

Estill Voice Training® is a scientific, evidence-based system for vocal development founded by Jo Estill in 1988. Jo Estill was an educator, voice researcher and singer who sought answers to the question 'How am I doing this?' The revolutionary system she created uses simple everyday sounds to identify individual anatomical structures within the larynx and vocal tract. These structures are then trained in detail to give conscious, predictable and reliable control of the voice. 
 
First of all, how did you get into a life of music, and singing in particular? ‘I actually started out as a flute player. I grew up in a small town in the north of Sweden, and I was lucky that there were many opportunities to make music there’. From about the age of 15 it dawned on him that he could do this for a living. So he went to university in Gothenburg for a teaching degree in flute, with singing as a second discipline. He started to be drawn to singing – ‘in a way, I got into singing on the back of my flute playing’ – and he started having singing lessons at the age of 20 - ‘a good time to start, when the voice has settled in’. The singing went well, and the dream of being an opera singer suddenly became a possibility. So following a Master of Fine Arts in Music and Performance in Malmö, Stefan came to England for his opera training at the Guildhall, and has stayed here ever since. So his ‘inspired journey’ to singing was quite organic. ‘Opera and voice bring together many things that I’m interested in – I’m scientifically minded, quite artistic, and interested in drama and languages’. So he found that singing offered him wider opportunities for expression than playing the flute, as much as he enjoyed that.

Stefan running a recent Estill workshop at
Club Farense, Faro, Portugal

And how was the singing training he received? Well, it would seem that it was largely traditional, with an emphasis on breathing and placement of the voice. But Stefan describes having a clever teacher that ‘kept me singing, building my range gradually and finding suitable repertoire’. This included folk songs, with an emphasis on communicating the text and telling a story. Classical singing was the ruling aesthetic in terms of technique, but it was also about working slowly and learning to ‘embrace your sound’, as one teacher put it. Stefan then worked as a professional singer for many years, both in opera and in the West End as part of the cast of The Phantom of the Opera. Working on eight shows a week exposed him to many different approaches to singing. He also began to notice what could cause singers problems. For example, a very breath-focused approach often led to singers pushing their voices, and this in turn led to problems with constriction in the larynx. It became clear that his classical training alone didn’t provide answers to these problems. It was during this time that he began having lessons with Paul Farrington, Vocal Health & Technique Consultant at the Royal Opera House. Paul trained and studied with Jo Estill, and was an early pioneer in using her system in voice teaching. For Stefan, (excuse the pun) lessons with Paul were ‘a breath of fresh air’. Paul explained the purpose of exercises, and what was going on with the voice, key aspects of the Estill Voice method. As a professional singer, Stefan found that Paul’s clear, practical approach worked well and was very calming. He also realised that a deeper understanding of vocal craft gives the confidence to make interesting decisions about artistry.
 
How did it come about that he started teaching? Well, despite having seemingly left the teaching degree behind, an interest in sharing ideas, problem solving and helping people had not gone. So when one person came along to Stefan for a lesson nearly twenty years ago, during the time he was working with Paul, it fell into place, and the rest, as they say, is history.
 
What is it about Estill Voice Training® that is so different? For a start, Stefan sees it as much more inclusive - to use a common phrase, ‘Knowledge is Power’. It is based on correct anatomical knowledge, with a scientific approach, and respects how our bodies actually work. In many other schools of voice training, breath is king, and there is a focus on placement of the voice, often without clear explanations. It can be a ‘Do what I do’ approach. But you can progress further and more quickly if you know what you’re working with, and make sure that craft rather than wishful thinking is at the centre of your artistry. Whilst working with the legendary Swedish Wagner soprano Birgit Nilsson in Malmö, he remembers her saying, ‘You should always sing on the interest, not on the capital’. What she meant was using resonance to make the voice carry over an orchestra rather than wearing out the vocal folds with brute force. Whilst she was not an Estill teacher, there is a connection here. Estill Voice Training® focuses on putting the right amount of effort in the right place - you could say, working smarter, not harder.  
 

Stefan Holmström

So what does Estill have to offer classical singers and teachers? Stefan argues that learning how to isolate different elements of what physically makes up the sound a singer produces broadens a singer’s craft and as a result, offers greater opportunities for interesting, emotional artistry. It also means that vocal health can be closely monitored and the instrument continuously balanced to maximise economy. The idea of voicing  ‘on the interest, not the capital’ applies, of course, to everyone, but is extra important for classical singers who rely on projecting the voice without using a microphone. And whether it be opera, operetta, art song or early music, being able to create the right ‘mix’ consciously is a great asset. The same applies to other styles - musical theatre, rock, jazz and so on. This conscious independent control at the heart of Estill Voice Training® means you can choose the kind of sound you want to produce. ‘Classical singing requires long, dedicated training, and because of this it’s easy to get stuck in one sound. The Estill idea that you can change your timbre according to style and take a playful attitude to your artistry is something I find liberating!’
 
What does it mean to have reached this point and receive this accreditation?
‘I’ve always been curious & passionate about anything to do with voice, so it’s actually all part of ongoing, lifelong research. It’s inspiring and thrilling to have knowledge and tools that can help people, but it’s also a hard, rigorous path with lots of ongoing study. The world of vocal development can feel quite unregulated but the EMCI certification demonstrates I’ve done my research and can offer the highest possible standard of teaching available. It’s of course also an honour to be part of an international community of incredibly dedicated practitioners. And it’s fun! That’s important! Voice is a fun journey that never ends!’
 
So where next? ‘I’m looking ahead at developing my teaching here in Brighton, in Sweden and also in Portugal. My courses will offer the next generation of teachers and performers a chance to develop through proper understanding of anatomy, physiology, acoustics and vocal function. And because I’ve been a performer myself I understand what it means to put yourself out there and also what it means to do so with the support of craft you can rely on even on a ‘bad day’! Everyone from a beginner to high level professional can learn to do far more with their voices than they might think’.

Find out more about Estill Voice Training® here: https://estillvoice.com/

and visit Stefan's website here: https://www.stefanholmstrom.co.uk/

Bach sheds light in a impressively dark outing from the Australian Chamber Orchestra

The Australian Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican
© Mark Allan/Barbican

Alexander Melnikov (piano)

Jeroen Berwaerts (trumpet)

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Richard Tognetti (director)

7.30pm, Friday 21 March 2025

Barbican Hall, London

★★★★

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1850): The Musical Offering, BWV1079: Ricercar a 6 (arr. Richard Tognetti (b.1965)

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G major, BWV1048

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Piano Concerto no. 1 in C minor for piano, trumpet and string orchestra, Op.35

Encore:

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Sonata for Trumpet & Piano, 3rd movement, extract

Sofia Gubaidulina (1931-2025): Reflections on the theme B-A-C-H, for string quartet (arr. for strings)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op.110a (arr. Rudolf Barshai (1924-2010))

Encore:

Thomas Adès (b.1971): Arcadiana, Op.12 No.6: Albion

Jeroen Berwaerts & the ACO
© Mark Allan/BarbicanBach:Bach:

Bach:

'The Third Brandenburg Concerto had lively pace, brightness and understated dynamics, allowing for joyful interplay of solo lines'. 

Shostakovich:

'All concerned certainly delivered excitement, but also the darker uncertainty that lurks beneath its surface frivolity'.

Hindemith:

'Berwaerts delivered Hindemith’s drawn-out setting with stately solemnity and impressive control, over strangely lilting piano rhythms from Melnikov'.

Gubaidulina:

'The ACO ratcheted it up with searing intensity to a screeching climax, with eery glissandi peppering the route along the way'. 

Alexander Melnikov
© Mark Allan/Barbican

Shostakovich:

'The ensemble here brought intensity and commitment, and the second movement’s wild dance was indeed disturbing'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra scale new heights with Colin Currie at the helm in a celebration of Steve Reich

Steve Reich

Colin Currie (conductor, percussion)

Joanna MacGregor (piano)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Ruth Rogers (leader)

7.30pm, Sunday 23 March 2025

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★★

Steve Reich (b.1936): Music for Pieces of Wood

Lou Harrison (1917-2003) & John Cage (1912-1992): Double Music

Terry Riley (b.1935): Half Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight, from Salome Dances for Peace

Yoko Ono (b.1933): Pieces for Orchestra

Reich: Runner

Reich/Gerhard Richter (b.1932): Moving Picture (936-3)

(Director: Corinna Belz (b.1955))

I’ve been following most of Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s 100^th season, enjoying their ever more adventurous and interesting programming, and their latest offering, a concert centring on the music of Steve Reich (b.1936) saw them reach new heights of excellence. With conductor and percussionist Colin Currie at the helm, chamber-sized BPO forces tackled some highly challenging repertoire, and the percussion section in particular, who have already shown themselves to be a key part of the BPO’s development over the last few years, rose to the occasion. 

 

So to begin with, Currie joined the four percussionists for Reich’s popular and mesmerising Music for Pieces of Wood, and this 9 minute piece, consisting of five players with tuned claves (pairs of wooden sticks), knocking out constantly crossing and phasing rhythms. There’s a pattern that began with just two players (Donna-Maria Landowksi & Meadow Brooks) setting the base rhythms – and they need particular commendation for the stamina of maintaining this throughout the whole piece. They were joined by Currie, then Cameron Gorman, and finally Chris Brannick, building up the complex, hypnotic rhythms. The pattern is repeated three times, so going back to two players, and building up again, before the whole thing comes to an abrupt stop. The almost full Dome audience was completely drawn into their tight and intense performance, making for a great start to the evening.

 

From centre stage, attention then shifted to the far right, and an array of bells, brake drums, sistra, gongs, tam-tams and even a thunder sheet, to which the four BPO percussionists moved to perform Double Music by Lou Harrison (1917-2003) and John Cage (1912-1992). With the brake drums laid out in an array on the floor, and other instruments circling them, the four players crouched down and drew us into the gamelan-inspired soundworld, beginning with a ringing from a Tibetan bowl, and building to a resonant mix of sounds, the metallic tuned brake drums against the rattling sistra and rumbling tam-tams and gongs. One couldn’t always tell exactly what was producing which sounds – there was some use of the sides of the gongs or tam-tams to produce yet more different timbres. Harrison & Cage composed two of the four sections each independently, but the result creates a unified soundworld, ending with the instruments’ long final resonance hanging in the air. 

 

Colin Currie

Next it was the turn of strings, and a quartet led by BPO leader, Ruth Rogers, with Nikki Gleed, Caroline Harrison & Peter Adams. They were conducted here by Joanna MacGregor – once the piece was underway, it was clear that this was a necessity. Terry Riley’s Half Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight from his Salome Dances for Peace is a frenetic mash-up of rhythmic energy, with the players often at odds with each other. There are moments of more congruent movement, but they are brief, and MacGregor’s ongoing beat was essential for keeping the players on track. They performed with commitment and confidence, and whilst there were moments that felt on the very edge of control, they stayed together and united for the more stable conclusion, with drones underpinning eastern-infused melodic lines and confident use of harmonics, slides and glassy tones as they died away to nothing.

 

The percussionists returned for Yoko Ono’s (b.1933) Pieces for Orchestra, joined by MacGregor on the piano. Her playing involved lots of plucking and scraping inside the piano, with some watery work on the keyboard later on. The percussionists began unwinding rolls of tape, then moved from instruments to tapping and beating the floor, the speakers, seemingly anything on the stage. There was bowing and scraping on the sides of glockenspiels or vibraphones and elsewhere, and the players moved around their area of the stage slowly. The overall soundscape was surprisingly effective, although once the percussionists had then slowly exited, with Joanna MacGregor left shuffling a deck of cards, it wasn’t entirely clear what it amounted to in the end.  

 

There was a little stage resetting before the final piece of the first half – Steve Reich’s Runner. The musical forces were set out symmetrically, with a string quartet, a wind trio, a piano and a vibraphone all doubled, all joined by a single double bass. Currie was back to conduct, and from the start, rich, rhythmic textures quickly built up, with rocking pianos joined by strings then woodwind and the percussion, the antiphonal effect of the two ‘choirs’ being used to great effect. The rhythmic energy swirled as the rhythms phased, coming together and pulling apart in waves. Currie kept a tight rein on proceedings, and ensemble was tight for the sudden big tutti accented chords. Only once did it feel the rhythms were in danger of falling out of line, but more big chords reestablished the sense of control, and Currie kept the energy at a high level throughout, bringing the evening’s first half to a strong conclusion.  

 

Colin Currie and members of the
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

And then to the most substantial work of the evening, Reich’s collaboration with artist Gerhard Richter and director Corinna Belz, Moving Picture (936-3). Reich’s music accompanies Richter’s abstract film, which starts with rippling parallel coloured lines filling the screen. Gradually, bands emerge and then open and expand, creating increasingly complex images in a kaleidoscope fashion, and by the central section, the effect is rather like a Rorschach test, as one can start to see faces, dancers, pagodas, dragons, angels, etc – perhaps best not to overanalyse here in case I reveal too much about myself… The process is then reversed, ultimately returning to the single rippling lines which opened proceedings. Reich’s music takes a similar trajectory, starting out by doubling the rhythmic patterns as the lines on the screen increase in complexity. Over the work’s forty minutes, however, the structure of the music is somewhat overshadowed by the hypnotic nature of the visuals, relegating the music to more of an accompaniment role, perhaps, but Currie shaped the progress of the score, with variation in dynamics and emphasis of strident clashes and suspensions as the piece reached its climax. Whilst musically not as exciting as Runner, the overall effect of the music and film was nonetheless highly effective, and the whole performance brought the evening to a suitably impressive end. 

 

Once again, Joanna MacGregor and all involved deserve to be congratulated for pushing expectations of what Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra has to offer to a new level. With just Messaien’s mighty Turangilîla Symphony to go to conclude their 100^th season (details here), it will be exciting to see where MacGregor takes them into their next century. 

BREMF Consort of Voices - Palestrina 500: Music from Italy and the Sistine Chapel

 

Join BREMF Consort of Voices to celebrate the 500 anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina in 1525, whose graceful polyphony was written to be performed in the Sistine chapel and whose influence quickly spread throughout Europe. They will also be performing motets by some of his contemporaries including Allegri, Victoria, Gabrieli, and Marenzio.

BREMF Consort of Voices
James Elias director

This concert is part of the Europe-wide celebration of Early Music Day 2025.

Tickets here.

BREMF Consort of Voices, performing at BREMF 2024
© Robert Piwko

Classy Brahms ends a fine visit from Yutaka Sado and the Tonkünstler-Orchester

Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich
© Martina Siebenhandl

Yeol Eum Son (piano)

Tonkünstler-Orchester

Yutaka Sado (conductor)

7.30pm, Thursday 13 March 2025

Cadogan Hall, London

★★★★

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 21 in C major, K467

Encore:

Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925): Huit Morceaux Caractéristiques, Op. 36 No. 6, Étincelles

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

Encore:

Johannes Brahms: Ungarische Tänze, WoO 1, No. 5 in F sharp minor, orch. Albert Parlow (1824-1888) (in G minor)

Yutaka Sado & the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich
© Nick Boston

'They gave a largely first-class performance, their Brahms bringing the house down'.

Sibelius:

'Sado set the scene with a steady crescendo, bright woodwinds contrasting the rich string sound that quickly enveloped them'.

Mozart:

'South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son's Mozart was full of delicacy and elegance'.

Yeol Eum Son
© Nick Boston

Brahms:

'In a performance of effortless familiarity, Sado made sure that it never felt workaday'.

'There was no holding back here, the final brass fanfare over emphatic string chords bringing a powerful performance to an end'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Gardner and the LPO scale Alpine heights with majestic ease

Edward Gardner conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra
© Mark Allan

Steven Osborne (piano)

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Edward Gardner (conductor)

7.30pm, Friday 21 February, 2025

Royal Festival Hall, London

★★★★

León, Tania (b.1943): Pasajes

Grieg, Edvard (1843-1907): Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

Encore:

arr. Osborne, Steven (b.1971): Londonderry Air

Strauss, Richard (1864-1949): Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64

León:

'Gardner and the LPO gave a precise and energetic performance, with convincing confidence in its challenging rhythms'.

Steven Osborne, Edward Gardner & the LPO
© Nick Boston

Grieg:

'...we were certainly in safe hands, with Osborne delivering an effortlessly commanding performance of the Grieg'.

Strauss:

'From the atmospheric opening, the falling minor string scale prefiguring the glorious major sunrise theme, Gardner had the LPO on a tight leash'.

'Gardner kept a steely control, within which the players could really let rip. And let rip they did'.

'This was a majestic performance, and a glorious conclusion to another fine outing from the LPO, Gardner continuing to impressively raise their game'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Edward Gardner & the LPO
© Nick Boston

Overtures & Dances - Impressive variety and virtuosity from the Mēla Guitar Quartet

The Mēla Guitar Quartet formed in 2015, graduates of the Guildhall School of Music & the Royal Academy of Music, and have established a reputation for interesting programming, combining clever arrangements (often their own) of works for other instruments, as well as commissioning new works. Following a change of line-up in 2023 (now comprising Matthew Robinson, George Tarlton, Michael Butten & Zahrah Hutton), they have now recorded a joyful album, entitled Overtures & Dances, including ingenious arrangements (by Tarlton) of two staples of the orchestral overture repertoire, Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila (which opens the disc) and Humperdinck’s Overture to Hänsel und Gretel. The Glinka sets off at a wild pace, with no concessions made when it comes to the racing string scales, the guitars adopting a kind of mind-boggling hocketing technique, alternating semi-quavers between instruments, which quite frankly, sounds even more demanding! As well as all of the rapid virtuosity, they bring out the lyrical melodies, make use of harmonics for lighter textures, as well as drumming effects, and build to an impressive climax of orchestral dimensions. The Humperdinck opens with a more gentle, fairytale atmosphere, but once again, it is those impressive running scales that build up the drama. The guitars bring a music-box feel to the sound world, adding to the sense of fairytale, and the more rustic dance in the latter sections provides spirited dynamic to the more peaceful, delicate conclusion.

Tarlton also arranged the Deux Arabesques for piano by Debussy that appear here. The first gives the cascades of the piano a harp-like flow, and they achieve effective dynamic contrasts here too, as well as an impressive lyrical line. A slight change to the melodic line towards the end of the central section aside, this is otherwise a very effective arrangement, and the use of harmonics in the final cascade is a nice touch. The second Arabesque is playful and dances along, achieving a smoothness that is actually hard to achieve on the piano. The pace is steady and rhythmic, and once again, harmonics provide percussive contrast. Staying with French repertoire, Saint-Saëns’ Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah is up next, in an arrangement by former member of the quartet, Daniel Bovey. Following a dramatic opening, the dance gets going, with similar energy to the Glinka. The eastern-infused melodic line is effective in octaves, and there is drumming along the way to add to the drama. The mood is then calmed for Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose), arranged by Robinson, opening with Sleeping Beauty’s sparse Pavane. Petit Poucet ('Tom Thumb') follows, with relentless repeating scales and a wandering intensity. In Laideronnette, the strumming guitars are harp-like, with also more than a hint of the gamelan. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête ('The Conversations of Beauty and the Beast' features a glorious glissando across all four instruments, and a de-tuned low E string to replace the contrabassoon of the orchestral scoring. The suite ends with Le Jardin Feerique ('The Fairy Garden', with gentle poise and courtly strumming building to a joyous conclusion, once again conjuring up a band of harps. Moving away from the French repertoire, we then have the Polka italienne by Rachmaninov, with harmonics now giving us dulcimer vibes. Initially the dance has halting rhythms, but then it starts to run away with itself, building to virtuosic craziness, before dying away into a darkly lugubrious finish. In contrast, Holst’s A Fugal Overture has bluesy lines, with complex rhythms and textures and a driving pace, before the mechanical, angular fugue takes hold. The third of Elgar’s 3 Characteristic Pieces, Contrasts: The Gavotte - AD 1700 & 1900 receives an arrangement by Hutton here, the delicate, courtly dance gradually transformed into something more playful and complex, with effective use of harmonics to thin the texture.

The disc ends with a highlight for me, former member Daniel Bovey’s arrangement of Joe Hisaishi’s (b.1950) My Neighbour Totoro Suite. The music is from a Japanese animated film from 1988, about two sisters who move to an old house in the countryside and meet the forest spirit, Totoro. The music is great fun, with an opening playful romp, and tapping rhythms. There’s a joyful, magical feel here, as well as moments of wistful atmosphere, building with a kind of ragtime, jazz energy, providing a great conclusion to this highly enjoyable collection. For a whole album of just four guitars playing, there is great variety of mood and texture here, as well as highly virtuosic display in those fast overtures. 

Various. 2025. Overtures & Dances. Mēla Guitar Quartet. Compact Disc and Download. trptk TTK 0145.

ENO gives Thea Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots a worthy performance

Heidi Stober (Mary)
© Ellie Kurttz

English National Opera

Joana Carneiro (Conductor)

Stewart Laing (Director & designer)

Mady Berry (Associate costume designer)

D. M. Wood (Lighting designer)

Alex McCabe (Choreographer)

Martin Fitzpatrick (Assistant conductor)

Matthew Quinn (Chorus director)

Clio Gould (Leader)

Murray Hipkin (Musical preparation)

Alex Otterburn (James) & Heidi Stober (Mary)
© Ellie Kurttz

Heidi Stober (Queen Mary)

Alex Otterburn (James Stewart, Earl of Moray)

Rupert Charlesworth (Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley)

John Findon (James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell)

Barnaby Rea (David Riccio)

Darren Jeffery (Cardinal Beaton)

Alastair Miles (Lord Gordon)

Ronald Samm (Earl of Ruthven)

Jolyon Loy (Earl of Morton)

Jenny Stafford (Mary Seton)

Monica McGhee (Mary Beaton)

Felicity Buckland (Mary Livingston)

Siân Griffiths (Mary Fleming)

7pm, Saturday 15 February 2025

London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London

★★★★

Thea Musgrave (b.1928): Mary, Queen of Scots

(Libretto by the composer, based on work by Amalia Elguera)

Mary, Queen of Scots, cast
© Ellie Kurttz

'With relatively minimal resources, director Stewart Laing and the team delivered a powerful production of Thea Musgrave's complex and highly dramatic work'.

'It was an added bonus that the 96-year-old composer was present, taking a deserved standing ovation from her front row seat'.

'It was Heidi Stober’s Mary that stole the show here. Her vocal power, particularly at the top of her range, was highly impressive, as was her ability to steer a path through the dramatic manipulations her character faced'. 

'Musgrave’s music drives the action with constant tension, but also with remarkable flashes of orchestral colour, often in the woodwinds, but also lyrical use of viola and cello solos'.

'Conductor Joana Carneiro steered the musicians (uncredited in the programme, as were the full chorus) through the challenges of the score with precision and energy'.

Thea Musgrave
© Nick Boston

Read my full review on Bachtrack here. 

This review was updated on 19th February after it was pointed out that this performance was not – as claimed by ENO in its programme book – the English premiere.