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. 

Variety & atmosphere in chamber works by Hugh Shrapnel, performed with energy & sensitivity by the Camarilla Ensemble

I’ve reviewed two discs previously of piano music by English composer Hugh Shrapnel (b.1947) (here & here), and have been impressed by his ability to capture diverse moods and atmospheres, often in very short pieces. So I was certainly interested to hear some of his music for other instruments, and was pleased to find the same variety of mood and style, combined with some strong idiomatic writing for wind and brass instruments. The Camarilla Ensemble is a wind quintet (Julian Sperry (flute/piccolo), Rachel Harwood-White (oboe), Nicholas Ellis (clarinet), Louise Watson (bassoon) & Jonathan Farey (horn)), and for this recording, they are augmented with the addition of Simon Wills on alto & tenor trombones, and Alison Rhind on piano. So here we have various duo pieces for a wind instrument plus piano, a trio, a quartet and the most extended work, a six movement Wind Quintet. All written in the last twenty or so years, the pieces were composed for a variety of individual performers or for festivals, particularly the London New Wind Festival. The disc opens with a light Sonatina for Horn and Piano, with a playful, music-hall feel to its opening Allegro, with relaxed, lyrical playing from the horn over bouncing piano rhythms. The central Adagio is more mysterious and introvert, with the piano offering high, quiet echoes to the horn’s yearning figures, before the Con Moto trots along to a fun finish. The next work, Objets Fixes for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn and Tenor Trombone, is a little more challenging, with its insistent, spiky rhythmic figures that persist throughout the first four of its five short movements. Often one or two instruments have fixed, almost mechanical repetitions, whilst the other instruments slide, even dance around. It is only in the final Grave that the forced rhythms fall away, and the work ends in a more reflective mood. Political inspiration comes in with Coalition Blues for Alto Trombone and Piano, a short piece written in response to the 2010 Coalition Government and a reaction against the effects of their austerity programme. A short ‘People’s Theme’ is varied and transformed, with dramatic, even angry effect in the piece’s brief three minutes. A Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano follows, with playful, twisting lines, all three instruments chasing each other, then coming together at times. The mood develops into darker, more nocturnal territory, with the flute and clarinet flying about almost moth-like over mysterious piano rippling, leading to a quiet, almost static ending. Belladonna for Flute and Piano opens with dark, dreamlike piano textures, before the Debussy-esque liquid flute joins, and the resulting duet is effectively atmospheric. In contrast the Sonata for Clarinet and Pianothat follows begins in a joyful mood, with a light opening clarinet melodic line, soon taken over by the piano, with echoes from the clarinet in return. A darker intensity develops, and the movement concludes in a less certain mood, to be followed by a Satie-esque, lugubrious slow movement, with ebbing and flowing climaxes. The piano’s relentless 3+2+3 rhythm drives the final movement, with angular lines from the clarinet making for a somewhat moody, edgy and even fraught climax. The final, and most substantial work, Hilly Fields for Wind Quintet, is much more overtly programmatic and conjures up a variety of scenes in areas of South East London where Shrapnel lives. There is a bustling, easy feel to Morning Run that opens the work, soon followed by relaxed nostalgia in Reverie, then Games presents a series of playful sports and games, with chasing rhythms, before Blythe Hill returns to a quieter, more atmospheric mood, although not totally idyllic, with dark moments and birds sounding somewhat anxious. Dusk follows, and there’s a lot going on here, surprisingly busy, with nocturnal creatures emerging. But Fayre to end the work is bustling and lively, bringing this evocative piece to a happy conclusion. Throughout all these works, Shrapnel once again demonstrates his ability to create a wide variety of atmospheres in miniature form, and the Camarilla Ensemble and friends’ playing communicates the lively and quirky rhythms with precision, as well as capturing those mood swings from piece to piece.  

Shrapnel, H. 2025. Chamber Works. Camarilla Ensemble. Compact Disc. Convivium Records CR097.

Ensemble MidtVest give strong performances of engaging chamber works & arrangements by Matthew Owain Jones

Matthew Owain Jones (b.1974) is a renowned violist, violinist and musical educator, as well as composer. He has also trained as an Alexander Technique and a Yoga teacher, with a strong emphasis on promoting wellbeing in musicians, prompted by his own career-threatening experience of RSI. As a performer, he has many significant viola recordings to his name, and is Head of Chamber Music and Professor of Viola at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His composing output has been relatively sparse, but includes a String Quartet and Wind Quintet, both of which have been recently recorded by the Danish chamber group, Ensemble MidtVest. The original version of the String Quartet No. 1 was compossed when Jones was just 19, and had four movements, but he later revised the work down to two movements, adding the title ‘Deletia’. In this recording, Jones himself takes the first violin part. The opening movement is wistful, full of expression, with a pastoral feel, and the lyrical, winding melodies sing out. The climax is more heartfelt, before a return to the quieter musical language for the quiet ending. The second movement has more of a bouncing, rhythmic pulse, although melodic lines dominate once again. As with the first movement, there is a build to a more passionate section, with a unison crying idea, and elements of minimalist repetition. Harmonics calms things down, and the conclusion is quiet and subdued. This is an attractive work, given a clear and warm performance here. The Wind Quintet is a more recent work, composed for the Ensemble MidtVest in 2016. Comprising single movement of nearly seventeen minutes, it has a confident, atmospheric feel, making good use of the different wind timbres. A distant horn call opens, before different instruments join, crossing each other with distinct entries. After the various lyrical lines have emerged, the clarinet heralds quicker movement, joined by the oboe, and perkier rhythms bubble along. There are many filmic passages here, including a lilting waltz-like andante section. Once again, the Ensemble MidtVest do Jones proud, with clear articulation and smooth, lyrical lines from all five instruments. The rest of the disc is given over to Jones’ arrangement of excerpts from Carl Nielsen’s (1865-1931) Aladdin, Op. 34. The complete score runs to some 80 minutes, composed for Adam Oehlenschläger’s 1805 five act play, and is scored for soloists, choir and orchestra. Nielsen also conducted performances of extracts, and a suite of seven parts was published in 1940. Here, Jones has arranged nine extracts, for string quartet plus wind quintet, and piano (with occasional additional tambourine and bells). Jones distils the atmosphere of Nielsen’s imaginative score well, with swirling energy in the dance movements, and deft articulation and effective use of col legno (the wood of bows hitting strings) and bouncy string spiccato to add texture, the addition of the piano also adding drive and weight. The precision of Ensemble MidtVest’s performance here brings vibrant life to this effective arrangement. A Beautiful Square in Isfahan is the most unusual and atmospheric of the excerpts here, with the eastern infused slow melody over a low drone against a hurdy-gurdy-like violin at cross rhythmic pulse, and weird horn and bassoon chords. Like a busy market square, there is lots going on, and Jones’ taut arrangement captures this well. The final Oriental Festival March is perhaps the most familiar music, with its lively and intense swagger. This is an interesting disc, contrasting Jones’ own engaging compositions with the lively Nielsen arrangements, all performed with energetic commitment by Ensemble MidtVest.

Various. 2024. Matthew Owain Jones: String Quartet No. 1 / Wind Quintet, Nielsen: Aladdin, Op. 34. Ensemble MidtVest. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR163.

 

Power as well as delicacy from Douglas in Volume 7 of his Schubert series

Pianist Barry Douglas’ seventh volume of Schubert’s Solo Piano Works came out in November, and this continues to be a highly noteworthy survey. He’s been taking his time – the first volume was released in 2014. This does allow us (and presumably Douglas) to focus more on the current volume’s works in isolation, rather than trying to assess the recordings en masse. Previous volumes have shown Douglas’ approach to be weightier than some, emphasising the forward-looking Romanticism in Schubert’s works, rather than lighter, Classical elements. But that’s a generalisation of course – Douglas can be delicate too, as in the gentle opening to the Sonata in E flat major, D568, and in that opening movement’s subsiding coda. But in between, there is bounce and pace, yet the throbbing chords in the development are never too weighty, everything kept in proportion. Similarly, the slow movement builds from its simple, plaintive opening, with weight and passion growing, yet never overly dramatic. Douglas gives a stop-start kick to the Minuet, with jaunty dotted rhythms in the Trio. That sense of dance is carried forward into the finale, where Schubert’s flow of ideas is at its most inventive, and Douglas certainly conveys that sense of effortless outpouring of material. In the Sonata in G major, D894, Douglas’ full-on approach comes more to the fore, with heft and dramatically crashing chords in the mammoth opening movement. Throughout this movement, there is a constant contrast between those fiery chords and a kind of lilting dance, and Douglas emphasises the extremes of this contrast. This element of contrast continues into the second movement, with a gently lyrical slow waltz followed by a weightier, dramatic second section, with more crashes from the extremes of the keyboard. There’s more drama in the Minuet, with forward drive from Douglas in the grace notes, yet the folksy Trio is given a much lighter touch. The chattering repeated notes of the finale demonstrate Douglas’ deft articulation, and his virtuosity keeps things dancing along with fluid, rippling runs and feisty pacing. Douglas ends the disc, as in other volumes thus far, with two transcriptions by Liszt of Schubert songs. Gretchen am Spinnrade has beautifully relentless spinning rhythms against the increasingly intense melodic line of the song, which Douglas brings out with striking lyricism, the intertwined elements of Liszt’s transcription adding to the song’s claustrophobic drama. In Wohin?, from Die schone Mullerin, the rippling ‘accompaniment’ is less frenzied, and the song can soar above more easily, even as Liszt’s virtuosic demands increase. Douglas’ command here is highly impressive, bringing to a close another strong volume in this collection. 

Schubert, F. 2024. Works for Solo Piano, Volume 7. Barry Douglas. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 20289.

Check out my reviews of previous Volumes: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 5 & Volume 6.