A strong sea-inspired finish to Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's 99th Season

Adam Hickox & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Adam Hickox (conductor)

Ragnhild Hemsing (Hardanger fiddle)

Joanna MacGregor (piano/conductor)

 

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Nicky Sweeney (leader)

 

2.45pm, Sunday 7 April 2024

Brighton Dome

★★★★

 

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Four Sea Interludes from ‘Peter Grimes’

 

Geiir Tveitt (1908-1981): Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 252 for Hardanger fiddle, ‘Three Fjords’

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023): Still Life

                                                    Bibo non Aozora

                                                    Happy End

 

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): La Mer

 

Ragnhild Hemsing, Adam Hickox & the BPO
© Nick Boston

I’ve been fortunate to catch many of the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts over recent seasons, and it has been a pleasure to see them go from strength to strength, with imaginative and innovative programming, and some great performances along the way. The final concert of their 99^th season was no exception, and certainly sets them up well for an exciting centenary season to come.

 

Conductor Adam Hickox was at the helm, and his assured confidence and clear direction was key to bringing out the best from the BPO players. Their opening of the Four Sea Interludes from Britten’s opera, Peter Grimes, was full of atmosphere and evocative colour. From its pianissimo opening, Dawn had darkly ominous brass layered with the strange angular violins, and aside from one imprecise pickup, entries were secure. The horns’ bells rang out clear for Sunday Morning, with spiky seagull cries from the woodwind, against a slightly seasick dance from the violas and cellos. As the movement built, there were a couple of moments where the flutes’ birds didn’t quite knit fully into the overall orchestral texture, but Britten’s cumulative queasy effect was nevertheless achieved. Moonlight brings more unsettled atmosphere, and here the BPO’s dynamic range could have been more expansive in places, and there wasn’t total unanimity in note lengths from the strings, revealed by Britten’s use of silence and stop/start phrases. However, Storm had immediate drive and pace, with Hickox eliciting greater range in the brass surges, as well as controlling a tight transition into the briefly calmer central section. 

 

Next came a Violin Concerto, but with a difference. Ragnhild Hemsing performed Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt’s Violin Concerto No. 2 for Hardanger fiddle, Three Fjords. The Hardanger fiddle is a fascinating hybrid instrument, with four strings bowed as on a normal violin, but also with a second set of strings running under the fingerboard that resonate sympathetically, providing a drone-like quality to the sound produced. It goes back to the 17^th century, and is thought of as Norway’s national instrument. Tveitt, whose family came from Hardangerford, was a prolific composer, and today’s concerto was his second for the instrument. As well as the fiddle, folk melodies from the Hardanger region and the traditional Norwegian modal scales were central to much of his music. The three movements of the second Concerto all contain elements of dance rhythms as well as folk-like, pentatonic melodies and harmonies, somewhat dictated by the fixed tuning of those resonating understrings. Hemsing’s fiddle was miked – a necessity in a large venue when the quieter instrument is put against a full orchestra if the resonances were to be heard. The consequent sound in the concert hall was richly resonant, and there was often a sense of Hemsing leading the orchestral violins in particular into the dance, joined in Hardangerfjord by a bright snare drum. Sognefjord had darker moments, with the fiddle opening alone, followed by mournful brass and strings. Nordfjord provided a sparky finish, with jerkier rhythms and wild virtuosity from Hemsing, with swirling and sliding building to an exciting finish. We then got to briefly hear the fiddle on its own, with Hemsing treating us to an encore of two traditional tunes, a ‘listening tune’, with strongly resonating drones and swirling bird-like figures, followed by a ‘dancing tune’, with orchestra and audience alike stomping along to the lively rhythms. 

 

Joanna MacGregor & the BPO
© Nick Boston

Music Director Joanna MacGregor took to the stage to open the second half of the concert, performing three short pieces from Japanese composer and pianist, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 2013 album, Playing the Orchestra. Sakamoto, who sadly died just a year ago, composed, performed, produced, and worked with many musicians and artists, including Laurie Anderson and Youssou N’Dor, as well as acting and writing film scores, such as The Last Emperor and The Sheltering Sky. MacGregor performed and conducted from the piano in these atmospheric miniatures. First, Still Life, with MacGregor conducting the muted divided violins, shifting independently within the texture, joined by soft woodwind chords. MacGregor then sat at the piano, her playing initially inaudible but then emerging from the texture into the limelight. Bibo no Aozora (Beauty of a Blue Sky) had greater rhythmic interest, with the piano opening alone, joined by pulsing violins. The jazzy harmonies build into lush, romantic expression, subsiding to leave the piano alone once more. Finally, Happy Endcontrasted repeated woodwind notes with a singing, falling cello line, then a walking bass line from the bassoons. MacGregor’s confident octaves on the piano built to a dramatic conclusion and sudden surprise end. An enjoyable start to the second half – although not quite fitting into the overall ‘Sea songs’ theme, perhaps.

 

Hickox returned to the podium to conduct Debussy’s magnificent impressionist masterpiece, La Mer. In his brief discussion with MacGregor whilst the stage was rearranged, he referred to it as the greatest piece for orchestra, and talked of how Debussy used the strings in particular for rhythmic interest or orchestral colour, rather than simply for melodic lines. And indeed the muted violins shimmered in the opening movement, De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to noon on the sea), and the multiply divided strings produced complex textures, against which the woodwind and brass provided the ebb and flow of the waves. In Jeux de vagues (Play of the waves), Hickox brought out the sensuous playfulness, and leader Nicky Sweeney delivered a suitably skittish solo. With ringing high harps and moments of swaying waltz (Hickox swinging to the rhythms), this had a real sense of the spray, before disappearing away to a wisp at the end. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the wind and the sea) opened with ominous low strings, and the woodwind began a little tentatively here, but once the strident trumpet broke through, they rose to the challenge with the melodic line’s increasing rising intervals building relentlessly. And when the final tutti came, there was real power and a sense of stormy turmoil, with the insistent timpani driving to a spectacular conclusion. 

 

All in all, this was a suitably impressive finish to the BPO’s season, and I look forward to hearing where they go next for their 100^th season. 

Bath Festival Orchestra inspires the next generation at Cadogan Hall

Bach Festival Orchestra & Peter Manning
© Nick Boston

Ben Goldscheider (horn)

Robin Tritschler (tenor)

Bath Festival Orchestra

Peter Manning (conductor)

Pupils of Bobby Moore Academy, Newham, London

Cadogan Hall, London

7.30pm, Thursday 8 June, 2023

★★★★

Bobby Moore Academy, BFO
© Nick Boston

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, song cycle, Op.31

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): Concerto grosso in F major, Op.6 no.2

arr. Harry Baker: Secrecy Surrounds 

with poetry by Nuala, Tizyana, Sophia and Alicia 

arr. Harry Baker: Music inspired by Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No 2 

Michael Tippett (1905-1998): Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli 

Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for string orchestra, Op.10

Robin Tritschler & Ben Goldscheider
© Nick Boston

Britten Serenade:

'Goldscheider’s opening Prologue set the scene with commanding control and confident tone ... His athletic virtuosity in the demanding Hymn was matched ably by Tritschler’s nimble agility'. 

Corelli:

'The trio injected great energy in the faster sections, and there was good communication and enthusiasm from the whole team throughout'.

Bobby Moore Academy:

'Some strong, rhythmic pizzicato from strings, melodic wind playing and energetic brass, as well as lively percussion, all performed with impressive proficiency and drive. It was great to see such valuable work at the heart of the evening'.

Tippett:

'I have rarely heard a more insightful and tight reading of this work'.

Britten Variations:

'It was the Wiener Waltzer that stood out, with drunken swing, and balletic filigree from the violins on top'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

CD Reviews - April 2023

Pianist Sarah Cahill has reached the third and final volume of her series, ‘The Future is Female’. This volume is called ‘At Play’, and as with previous volumes, the very broad repertoire is set out in chronological order. The earliest work here is the Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 5 No. 3 (1811) from Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836), but then following a short but delightfully virtuosic Thème varié, Op. 98, full of drama and stylistic variety, from Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) composed in 1895, we’re straight into the mid-20th century and beyond. Going back to the Montgeroult, she was new to me when I reviewed Clare Hammond’s great disc of her Études in November last year, and this Sonata is full of the same richness of invention and subversion of convention. There is playful constant flow in the first movement, yet Montgeroult delivers a strangely unexpected end to the development section, and similarly, the lyrically meandering slow movement takes unexpected melodic turns to surprise the ear. Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, but remained in Warsaw during World War II, composing and organising secret concerts. Her Scherzo is playful and full of dancing, cascading scales, set against a neoclassical lumbering circus procession. From the late 20^th century come two works, firstly Chinese composer Chen Yi (b.1953), who emigrated to the US in 1986. Her Guessing from 1989 employs an impressive array of techniques, with thundering crashes, challenging rhythms, dark chords and clusters, and slow octave melodies, all coherently shaped here with playful energy from Cahill. Next to Azerbaijan, and Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s (b.1947) Music for Piano, with its mysterious modal melody and metallic rattling, produced by a glass-bead necklace stretched across the piano strings, evoking the sound of the tar, a traditional stringed instrument. The effect is fascinating, and she also uses the very low registers, beyond the glass beads, to provide ominous, even threatening contrast. Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) wrote Quintuplets Play Pen: Homage to Ruth Crawford for Cahill in 2001, and its mathematically constructed matrix combining a slow moving bass line with a skipping melodic line and almost chanting middle voice move from being childlike in simplicity to becoming increasingly complex. Hannah Kendall’s (b.1984) three movement On the Chequer’d Field Array’d evokes the three stages of a chess game, from the insistent motion of the initial striding out of pieces, through battling clashes and then more rhapsodic exploration of the extremes of the keyboard, to final subdued acceptance in the outcome. Cahill again brings a sense of coherence and atmosphere to both Oliveros and Kendall’s seemingly cerebral yet highly individual compositions. Iranian composer Aida Shirazi’s (b.1987) Albumblatt uses glassy string scrapes and ethereal harmonics created by touching the strings at the same time as depressing the keys. The resulting effects are captivating, with low rumbling strings and insistent rocking between notes and chords evoking storm clouds and turbulence – the work’s subtitle is A Winter Memory. Cahill closes with a warm, jazz-infused set of Piano Poems by Chicago-based composer Regina Harris Baiocchi (b.1956). From folksy simplicity in the opening ‘common things surprise us’ to off-kilter rhythms in ‘cockleburs in wooly hair’ and turbulence, even anger in ‘beatitudes’, the set ends with relaxed flickering and singing lines in ‘a candle burns time’. As with the previous volumes, Cahill impresses with her range of performances here, as well as in her choice of fascinating repertoire. The only disappointment is that this is the last of this three-volume project – a follow-up is definitely needed!

Various. 2023. The Future is Female. Vol. 3 At Play. Sarah Cahill. Compact Disc. First Hand Records. FHR133.

 

Violinist Lisa Archontidi-Tsaldaraki is joined by pianist Panayotis Archontides (one half of the Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble) for Rhapsody, their selection of 20^th Century violin masterpieces. Ravel’s popular Tzigane, Karol Szymanoski’s (1882-1937) Nocturne and Tarantella, Op. 28, and Britten’s early Suite, Op. 6 form the latter half of the disc. But it is the two works that come first that are the most revelatory here, both by Greek composers most likely lesser known to most in the UK. Yannis Constantinidis (1903-1984) left his homeland in 1922 and ending up in Berlin, but returned to Greece for good in 1931. He was a composer, pianist and conductor, and also composed in popular genres (film music, musical theatre, etc.) under the alias of Kostas Giannidis. In his Petite Suite sur des airs populaires grecs du Dodécanèse there is immediately a sense of longing and sweet nostalgia in the opening Air de Karpathos, and Archontidi-Tsaldaraki brings a rich tone to this cry for lost love. There are dancing, perky rhythms in the Chant Pastoral de Kalymnos, and a darker mood surrounds a contrasting faster central section in the Chant et Danse de Rhodes. The Danse de Leros has a light swing, then heartfelt longing returns in the Air d’Archangelos, with rich lower string work and sweet singing from Archontidi-Tsaldaraki. The final Chant Nuptial et Danse is gentle and lilting to begin with, but progresses into a wild dance with virtuosic double-stopping and high harmonics echoing the melody. Manolis Kalomiris (1883-1962) trained in Vienna, where Wagner was a key influence, then taught piano in Ukraine, where he discovered Russian nationalism, and on his return to Athens, he set out to establish an equivalent Greek National School of Music. His Sonata for Violin and Piano is a substantial work, with cyclical use of material throughout its three movements. The 5/8 metre opening movement is full of uneasy, agitated motion and pulsing rhythms, with surging waves from the piano, and sliding chromatic harmonies drive to an emphatic conclusion. The second movement’s 7/8 metre means that its lyrical melodies quickly take on a more playful nature, and despite its darker diminished intervals it has lively energy throughout, with gossamer high notes from the violin to finish. The Vivo finale relentlessly twists and turns, with galloping rhythms, and apart from a sweet lyrical episode from the violin over gentle piano arpeggios, the movement drives to the finish line. Archontidi-Tsaldaraki and Archontides give a strong performance here of this weighty yet richly inventive Sonata. Britten’s Suite provides a great contrast to both of these richly textured works. Immediately Archontidi-Tsaldaraki establishes this with the dramatic, angular and sustained solo violin opening. A pecking, lumbering March follows with challenging harmonics sounding almost like a breathy flute over the dancing piano part. The instruments take it in turns in the Moto Perpetuo third movement, with rapid motion over low, quiet piano pecks, and then pizzicato from the violin as the piano takes over. The Lullaby in contrast has slow sustained lines for the violin, searing at the climax, making tuning hard to centre in places, although Archontidi-Tsaldaraki maintains this well. Some delightfully watery playing from Archontides over the droning violin double-stops takes the movement towards its eery conclusion. Prokofiev’s influence is most evident in the stomping Waltz that ends the work, with drunken, spiky spiccato and surging double-stops, which could perhaps take a little more abandon, although Archontidi-Tsaldaraki delivers this virtuosic finale with confidence. She also shines in the dramatic, cadenza-like opening of the Ravel, with expressive hints of the rhythms to come, and the swirling wild race to the finish is impressive. Szymanowski’s Nocturne is suitably mysterious and dark, and the Tarantella’s crashing wild opening is followed by a virtuosic display full of drive and energy to finish. A strong debut disc from Archontidi-Tsaldaraki, encouraging more exploration of Constantinidis and Kalomiris.  

Various. 2023. Rhapsody. 20th Century Violin Masterpieces. Lisa Archontidi-Tsaldaraki, Panayotis Archontides. Compact Disc. Convivium Records. CR080.

Collaboration not conflict: dazzlingly virtuosic Dean from Gerhardt and the LPO

Alban Gerhardt (© Kaupo Kikkas)

Alban Gerhardt (cello)

Edward Gardner (conductor)

London Philharmonic Orchestra

7.30pm, Wednesday 27 April 2022

Royal Festival Hall, London

★★★★

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20

Brett Dean (b.1961): Cello Concerto (UK premiere)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Symphony No. 5 in D major

Edward Gardner (© Mark Allan)

Britten:

'Gardner’s conducting was suitably controlled and precise, yet he also brought out the dark emotions beneath the surface'.

Dean:

'Gardner’s beat was incredibly precise throughout ... and the LPO players have also embraced the work, so that it never felt like an arduous exercise in counting and rhythm'.

'A highly engaging concerto, performed with incredible precision and commitment by soloist and orchestra alike'.

Vaughan Williams:

'Gardner and the LPO gave us reassuring warmth ... and assured solos from across the orchestra'.

'Gardner expertly built towards the radiant climax ... with a masterfully controlled slowing down to the peaceful close'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

CD Review - Over the Rainbow

Just time before Christmas to add a late review of a lovely disc I received from Convivium Records. Over the Rainbow is a collection of songs and duets performed by brother and sister BBC2 Young Chorister finalists from 2019, Will James and Kate James. There's a great variety of repertoire here, from Britten's Corpus Christi Carol, sung with purity of tone by Kate, and a surprisingly haunting rendition of Sleep by Ivor Gurney, with Will adding edge in the lower registers of his treble voice, through to effective arrangements by George Arthur of the Robbie Williams classic, Angels, and the title track, Over the Rainbow. In the latter, the arrangement has the blended voices colliding beautifully, and there's poignancy in the added cello (from Sarah Butcher). Angels again effectively matches the two voices, creating a rippling duet over a lilting piano accompaniment - played as throughout the disc by Malcolm Archer. In these lighter numbers, Will and Kate might have relaxed their

impeccable chorister diction, but these are nevertheless enjoyable renditions. George Arthur's arrangements of Simple Gifts and Were you there? also make great use of weaving and twisting the two blended voices together, and in Were you there?, he makes great use of the overlapping, clashing parts, as well as using echoes as the voices tumble over each other, and the piano tolls out the bells in the final verse. Will brings a mournful tone, and a little more expression to Dowland's Flow, my tears, and Katehe Turtle Dove, in Vaughan Williams arrangement, has more depth of tone too, with a suitably folk simplicity. There's lots more here - sixteen tracks in all - and this is a 

highly impressive collection from two clearly talented young singers. Definitely worth checking out - perhaps a last minute Christmas present, if you get in quick!

Various. 2020. Over the Rainbow. Will James, Kate James, Sarah Butcher, Malcolm Archer. Compact Disc. Convivium Records CR059.

Impressive and inspiring Anglo-American cooperation - BBC Prom 6

Edward Gardner
© Chris Christodoulou

James Ehnes (violin)
Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School
Edward Gardner (conductor)

Monday 22 July, 7.30 pm

BBC Prom 6

Royal Albert Hall, London

★★★★


Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b.1977): Metacosmos (UK premiere)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Violin Concerto, Op. 15

Encore:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Andante, from Sonata in A minor for solo violin, BWV1003

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): The Rite of Spring

Encore:
Oliver Knussen (1952-2018): Flourish with Fireworks, Op. 22

Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Edward Gardner
& the Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music
and The Julliard School
© Chris Christodoulou

Thorvaldsdottir:
'A remarkable piece, showing such command of large orchestral forces ... unsettlingly moving'.

Britten:
'Ehnes held the Royal Albert Hall rapt ... he delivered the preceding Scherzo with flourish and a dancing step'.

Stravinsky:
'Gardner marshalled forces for the final onslaught and elicited a wild, terrifying final sacrificial dance from the massed orchestral forces'.

Knussen:
'The combined student forces demonstrated considerable virtuosic command to conclude an impressive night’s performance'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

O Magnum Mysterium - The Baroque Collective Singers with the Lewes Festival of Song

The Baroque Collective Singers

The Baroque Collective Singers are performing in a Christmas fundraiser concert to support the Lewes Festival of Song at St. Anne’s Church, Lewes on Friday December 14th at 8pm.

John Hancorn

Following their successful festival finale last July, The Baroque Collective Singers are once again conducted by their Director, John Hancorn.  They will be performing 'O Magnum Mysterium', a candlelit, radiant seasonal programme of familiar and unfamiliar music, with some beautiful carols for the audience to join in. The programme includes highly contrasting settings of O Magnum Mysterium by Victoria, Poulenc and Ola Gjeilo.  There will be music by contemporary composers such as James MacMillan, Judith Weir and Ed Hughes, as well as works by Holst, Britten and Tavener.  

Guest cellist Sebastian Comberti and pianist and festival director Nancy Cooley will be playing too.  Tickets are £15 (under 16s £7.50) with proceeds going towards a new piano for the festival. Mulled wine and refreshments by donation. Get tickets here.

Sebastian Comberti

Nancy Cooley

  

CD Reviews - September 2018

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton have recorded a wonderful selection of songs, covering 120 years of composers associated with the Royal College of Music, as teachers, students or both.  I heard them perform much of this repertoire in a lunchtime BBC Prom in August, and it was one of my concert highlights of the year so far (read my review here).  The title of the CD, ‘Come to Me in My Dreams’, comes from Frank Bridge’s (1879-1983) beautifully rhapsodic setting of Matthew Arnold’s text, with its bluesy piano opening, passionate swells and dramatic break on ‘truth’.  But the disc opens with a total gem, a touching miniature, ‘The Lost Nightingale’ by Muriel Herbert (1897-1984).  This is a stunning collection, by any standards, but what makes it exceptional is the strong sense of communication and commitment to the texts. From the tender sadness and dislocated syncopation of voice and piano in Ivor Gurney’s (1890-1937) ‘Thou didst delight my eyes’, to the tolling bells and beating heart of the repeated note in Arthur Somervell’s (1863-1937) ‘Into my heart an air that kills’, Connolly always delivers the texts with intensity and passion, without ever becoming mannered in delivery. Her soft, honeyed tone and delicate articulation of ‘drips, drips, drips’ in Stanford’s (1852-1924) ‘A soft day’ is particularly striking. In addition to Connolly’s phenomenal expressiveness and control, Middleton’s playing also deserves equal credit. His rippling watery accompaniment to Parry’s (1848-1918) ‘Weep you no more, sad fountains’ is a perfect example of the subtlety of his touch throughout. In addition to Benjamin Britten’s (1913-1976) set ‘A Charm of Lullabies’, we have ‘A Sweet Lullaby’ and ‘Somnus, the humble god’, two songs written for the set, but rejected by Britten, discovered by Connolly in the Britten-Pears Library, so world premiere recordings here. ‘A Sweet Lullaby’ combines a simple lilting rhythm with an undercurrent of unsettling harmonies, and the urgency of the darker undertone increases, such that the final wail leaves the ‘lullaby’ far from calm. ‘Somnus, the humble god’ is also dark, with its rumbling, rocking piano part and a final stanza likening sleep to death. Many songs here will be unfamiliar to many, but there are some real treasures here.  Cecil Armstrong Gibbs’ (1889-1960) ‘Sailing Homeward’ has a great dramatic arc in its two short minutes, and E. J. Moeran’s (1894-1940) ‘Twilight’ is full of achingly pastoral sadness and loss.  Rebecca Clarke’s (1886-1979) ‘The Cloths of Heaven’ is beautifully lyrical and Romantic, and Connolly’s smooth line is matched by soft textures from Middleton.  Michael Tippett’s (1905-1998) 'Songs for Ariel' are highly atmospheric, and Connolly relishes the drama and quirkiness of Tippett’s settings here. Mark-Anthony Turnage’s (b.1960) ‘Farewell’, written for Connolly, concludes the disc, with Turnage exploiting Connolly’s full range to convey the passion and directness of Stevie Smith’s text. Connolly sounds distraught, almost crazed, delivering the line ‘I loved you best’, contrasted with a beautifully relaxed, bell-like tone in the final ‘ding dongs’, against the high tinkling piano. A wonderful collection of English song, highly recommended.

Various. 2018. Come to Me in My Dreams. Dame Sarah Connolly, Joseph Middleton. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10944.

I first came across lutenist Jadran Duncumb on his recording last year with violinist Johannes Pramsohler.  He now has his first solo recording out, focusing on Silvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750), who also featured on that previous CD, and Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783).  Weiss was one of the most important composers of music for the lute, and was renowned for his technical ability on the instrument.  Hasse wrote a great deal of lute music for Weiss, who performed as a soloist with the Dresden orchestra, where Hasse was Kapellmeister.  Here, Duncumb performs two of Hasse’s Sonatas, although both of these have been transcribed from their original settings for harpsichord.  The Sonata in A major, dedicated to the daughter of Friedrich August II of Saxony, is a delightful two movement piece, and Duncumb has added back some of the detail in the sprightly Allegro that was removed in the original transcription. The Sonata in D minor by Weiss is an altogether more substantial work of Bach-like proportions, in six movements, and from its opening stately Allemande, through to the graceful Sarabande, and the fluid Allegro that ends the work, Duncumb makes this sound totally natural. In his notes, he argues that lutenist Weiss’ writing for the instrument comes alive in a way that Bach’s doesn’t quite, and in Duncumb’s hands this is certainly the case.  There is a lively energy and fluidity in his playing that never sounds difficult or awkward. He also includes a short but harmonically daring Prelude, and a joyous Passacaglia from Weiss to close the disc. Before that, another Sonata from Hasse, with some delightfully delicate Baroque sequences in its opening Allegro, and dancing Presto to finish. The recording is close and resonant, which does mean that one hears the occasional scraping of frets, but the ears soon get used to this, and the pay-off is a richness of tone that makes this a highly engaging debut solo recording from Duncumb. 

Various. 2018. Weiss & Hasse Lute Sonatas. Jadran Duncumb. Compact Disc. Audax Records. ADX 13713.

Barry Douglas (piano) combines Schubert’s (1797-1828) posthumous Piano Sonata D958 with the Six Moments Musicaux for the third volume of his collection of the composer’s works for solo piano.  He finishes off this volume with two of Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert songs.  The Piano Sonata in C minor, D958 is the first of Schubert’s final three sonatas, written in the final months of his life.  It clearly has its roots in Beethoven, particularly in its dramatic, emphatic opening, but Schubert’s voice quickly emerges, especially in the beautifully poignant Adagio. Douglas delivers the required power and weight in the opening movement, and generally his approach emphasises the dramatic. However, his Adagio has delicacy and sensitive expression, if not going for quite the sense of transcendence here that say, Uchida, achieves.  His finale is powerfully agile, however, culminating in a thunderously emphatic conclusion. The Moments Musicaux are a set of character pieces, varying in style and from the brief, dancing third to the more substantial angst-ridden sixth. There are folk touches here and there, but ultimately, these are intimate ‘moments’, and Douglas gives them individual voices, from the delicate poise of No. 1 to the thundering insistence of No. 5. He ends this volume with two of Liszt’s transcriptions for piano of Schubert songs.  ‘Sei mir gegrüßt’ preserves the beautiful melodic line, but Liszt’s deft variation shifts the melody from the top to the middle of the texture, and resists the temptation to be overly virtuosic. ‘Auf dem Wasser zu singen’ does something similar, but Liszt adds beautifully pianistic textures, adding a new dimension to the song’s watery theme.  Another strong volume in Douglas’ ongoing Schubert cycle.

Schubert, F. 2018. Works for Solo Piano, Volume 3. Barry Douglas. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10990.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, September 2018)

Blissful daydreams on a hot afternoon: lullabies and dreams from Connolly and Middleton - Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 4

© Jan Capinski

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)

Joseph Middleton (piano)

Monday 6 August, 2018

Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 4

Cadogan Hall, London

★★★★★





Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924): A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140 - 'A soft day'
Hubert Parry (1848-1918): English Lyrics, Set 4 - 'Weep you no more, sad fountains'
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): The House of Life - 'Love-Sight'
Ivor Gurney (1890-1937): Thou didst delight my eyes
Arthur Somervell (1863-1937): A Shropshire Lad - 'Into my heart an air that kills'
Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Come to me in my dreams
Herbert Howells (1892-1983): Goddess of Night
Frank Bridge: Journey's End
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): A Sweet Lullaby
Benjamin Britten: Somnus, the humble god
Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Twelve Humbert Wolfe Songs, Op. 48 - 'Journey's End'
Benjamin Britten: A Charm of Lullabies, Op. 41
Lisa Illean (b.1983): Sleeplessness ... Sails
Mark-Anthony Turnage (b.1960): Farewell

'Connolly and Middleton held the audience’s interest ... through a strong sense of communication and commitment to the texts'.

'Connolly, in her Proms recital debut, and Middleton delivered their programme with assurance and conviction throughout'.

'Connolly always delivered the text with intensity and passion, without ever becoming mannered in delivery'.

Middleton:
'His rippling watery accompaniment to Parry’s Weep you no more, sad fountains, and the beautifully placed delicacy of the opening to Vaughan Williams’ Love-Sight are just two small examples of the subtlety of his touch throughout'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.