Highly individual Mozart from Buniatishvili

Khatia Buniatishvili
© Esther Haase

Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (director) 

7.30pm, Monday 9 December 2024

Barbican Hall, London

★★★

Khatia Buniatishvili
& the Academy of St Martin in the Fields
© Nick Boston

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Don Giovanni, K527, Overture 

                                                                  Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488

Encore:

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque, L75, No. 3, Clair de lune

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Overture in B minor, Op. 26, 'The Hebrides'

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony No. 104 in D major, H I:104

Encore:

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Belshazzar's Feast Suite, Op. 51, No. 2 Nocturne

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23:

'Buniatishvili’s Mozart was somewhat mystifying, and certainly very individual'. 

'The sound was not without beauty, with some very quiet playing too, but her soft-focussed over-pedalling in solos was completely at odds with the articulation produced when with the orchestra, almost like there were two different soloists at times'. 

Benjamin Marquise Gilmore
& the Academy of St Martin in the Fields
© Nick Boston

Mendelssohn:

'Barely needing direction, the ASMF performed with a chamber feel, maintaining the pulse instinctively'.

Haydn:

'Dynamic contrasts, energy flowing from Gilmore to the orchestra, and precise, confident solos from all sections injected lively spirit throughout'.

Sibelius:

'The star of the show here was definitely the haunting tone of (Michael) Cox, a delightful end to an evening of strong performances from the ASMF'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here. 

Deeply expressive, virtuosic cello sonatas from Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason
© James Hole

Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello)

Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano)

7.30pm, Tuesday 28 May 2024

Barbican Hall, London

★★★★

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1947): Cello Sonata No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 45

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102 No. 2

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924): Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65

Encore:

Chopin: Largo from Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65

Sheku & Isata Kanneh-Mason
© Nick Boston

Mendelssohn:

'It is a lightly joyful work, and Sheku and Isata played with nimble delicacy'.

Beethoven:

'From the funereal opening, with Isata’s low soft chords and Sheku’s long sustained line, right through to the final falling harmonies and low cello notes to end, they showed remarkable sensitivity in this typically profound late Beethovenian statement'.

Fauré:

'Sheku and Isata passed the melodic fragments back and forth, with some deft pedalling from Isata in the central movement in particular to avoid muddying the line among the rich textures'.

Chopin:

'... it was the sad, lyrical Largo that sat at the heart of this performance, Sheku and Isata at their expressive best, each seamlessly taking the baton of sustained melody from the other'.

Isata & Sheku Kanneh-Mason
© Nick Boston

'This was an impressive evening from two rapidly maturing performers, not afraid to bring chamber music to audiences more familiar with more standard virtuosic concerto displays'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Energetic Scottish Symphony lifts a weighty evening of the Schumanns and Mendelssohns

Natalia Ponomarchuk
© Alina Harmash

Alexander Melnikov (piano)

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Natalia Ponomarchuk (conductor)

 

7.30pm, Saturday 20 January 2024

Brighton Dome 

★★★

Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn (1805-1847): Overture in C major

Clara Schumann (1819-1896): Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Introduction and Allegro for piano and orchestra, Op. 134

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Symphonhy No. 3 in A minor (Scottish)

Fanny Hensel:

'The LPO's violins responded to the horn’s quiet opening with lyricism, although their pick-up following the introduction was a little imprecise'.

Clara Schumann:

'Melnikov was most at home in the lyrically rhapsodic slow movement, joined by guest principal cellist, Waynne Kwon, beautifully complementing Melnikov’s lyricism with warmth and depth'.

Robert Schumann:

'Melnikov’s chromatic scales swirled and the orchestra surged appropriately in response. He was assured in the delicate intricate passagework, but occasionally, in the more bombastic moments, attention to detail was surprisingly matter of fact, with more than a few imprecisions creeping in'.

Felix Mendelssohn:

'Here the LPO winds came into their own, with a flowing clarinet opening and fizzing articulation from them all, complemented well by the joyful string filigree passages'.

'Once at full pelt, Ponomarchuk elicited rich and expressive drama. The finale had immediate attack, and the fugal sections here were tight. Clarinet and bassoon gave a delightfully expressive duet, and then the transformed ‘Holyrood’ delivered stately grandeur, with glorious horns to finish'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Singing melodies and rapid-fire showmanship from Alexei Grynyuk in Brighton

Alexei Grynyuk
© Luke Nugent

Alexei Grynyuk (piano)

1pm, Thursday 19 May, 2022 

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★★

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Variations Sérieuses in D minor, Op. 54

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Four Impromptus, D899

Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Litanie, S562/1, piano transcr. from Schubert's Am Tage Aller Seelen, D343

Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 in E flat major 'Carnival in Pest', S244/9

Mendelssohn:

'From his opening prayerful statement of the theme onwards, he ensured the melody sang through at all times'.

Schubert:

'Grynyuk opened the C minor with a captivating pianissimo, and the dynamic contrasts here were arresting'.

Liszt/Schubert:

'Grynyuk’s warm tone made the lyrical melody sing out of the rich texture'.

Liszt:

'Grynyuk also took great delight in the jaunty rhythms and cheeky ornamentation as each melody was introduced – I’m sure there was a twinkle in his eye once or twice – before the fireworks took over each time'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

CD Reviews - May 2022

Following on from their two volumes of Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartets, the Doric String Quartet are now joined by Timothy Ridout (viola) for a disc of his String Quintets. Mendelssohn wrote just two of these, going with the viola added to string quartet combination, favoured by Mozart and Brahms, as opposed to adding a cello, which Boccherini and Schubert did. Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 1, composed when he was 17, came hot on the heels of the successful premiere of his glorious Octet. Ever the reviser, it was another five years before he published both. Its opening movement has a leisured warmth, with only brief hints of darker moods in its development, before it gently dances to a quiet ending. The Intermezzo, with its singing melodic idea is sensitive and elegiac. Intensity builds over warm lower strings, with the rhythmic pace of the throbbing repeated figure increasing. It never feels totally settled, despite its calm ending. We’re in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ territory in the Scherzo, with skittering fairy music led off by the first viola. The players here give this precision and clarity, yet avoid it becoming too dry, and there is some dramatic scraping from the cello, not holding back from a harshly biting timbre. Yet once again, the movement disappears into nothing. Whilst not quite reaching the heights of exuberance of the Octet, the finale is full of joyful energy, set up by its lively triplet upbeat. Alex Redington on first violin shines in the rippling runs, and sings over the rumbling lower instruments. Energy levels ramp up and up, leading to the joyous conclusion. The String Quintet No. 2 came some 18 or so years later, with much of the same sense of energy but perhaps less of the unfettered joyfulness of his youthful works. The opening movement has an athletic first violin part over a tremolo accompaniment. The whirling triplet rhythms mean there is always a sense of movement, and these drive on, becoming more insistent, building to a full-on emphatic conclusion. In the dancing, lilting staccato of the second movement, once again the players here avoid it becoming to picky, maintaining a sense of the melodic material and the dance in an masterclass of control. But it is the intense pathos of the slow movement – essentially a funeral march – that is most striking about this work. From a darkly pianissimo opening, cello scales rise and a slow relentless march emerges. There are drum-like battering effects, and heartfelt laments from the violins. A nostalgic A major melody provides some temporary relief, but it is short-lived, and the agitation of the march increases. Yet Mendelssohn can’t leave us totally in the dark, as the movement suddenly turns at the end to a triumphant D major, before subsiding into a gentle, calm end. The finale, perhaps a little incongruously after the deep intensity of the previous movement, bursts forth with a jolly, energetic theme. This theme provides most of the material here, and its contrapuntal development perhaps loses a little direction at times, but Mendelssohn eventually pulls everything to a suitably emphatic close. Throughout these fascinating and underperformed works, the Doric String Quartet and Ridout are alive to the Mendessohnian flashes of joy and energy, yet they are also alert to the finer detail. They know when to provide warmth, but also when to give edge to their sound too. Highly recommended.

Mendelssohn, F. The String Quintets. Doric String Quartet, Timothy Ridout. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 20218.

Arc I is the first of a series of three recordings by American pianist Orion Weiss. This first album features three works from the years 1911-1913. Weiss describes the trajectory of the series as like an inverted rainbow, and this first volume’s ‘steps here head downhill, beginning from hope and proceeding down to despair’. We’ll have to wait for the next disc to see things reach their lowest before renewal and rebirth are promised in the final volume. So here we begin with Enrique Granados’ (1867-1916) Goyescas, Op. 11, a Romantic masterpiece of invention. From the warmly expressive, watery cascades of the opening movement ‘Los reuiebros’ (Flattery), through to the macabre, stuttering dance of the final ‘Epilogo: Serenata del espectro’ (Epilogue: Serenade of the Ghost), this monumental and atmospheric suite is full of Granados’ extravagantly ornamented and improvisatory virtuosity. Weiss is commanding in the frenzied, passionate outbursts in ‘El Amor y la Muerte – Balada’ (Love and death – Ballade), but equally delicate in the nightingale’s song of the fifth movement. There’s a skip in his step in the moments of courting in the opening movement, and he ends the suite with ominous tolling bells before disappearing with a final mercurial wisp. Leoš Janáček’s (1854-1928) In the Mists follows – a shorter suite, and more introspective than the Granados. There are typical Janáček chromatic twists and turns in the melodies, and his motif of death, the falling minor third, features large. Weiss captures particularly well the claustrophobic, suppressed passion of the final movement, which breaks out with melismatic, singing outbursts and increasing intensity, before defeat in its dark sombre conclusion. Weiss ends with Alexander Scriabin’s (1871-1915) Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68, ‘Black Mass’. Full of ‘satanic’ tri-tones and chromaticism, begins hopeful but descends into darkness and despair, and Weiss makes the low rumblings and persistent trilling effects feel chillingly ominous. There is a real sense of the second, more hopeful melodic idea insistently writhing as if trying to escape, before being ultimately subsumed into a frightening march. This is an impressive display from Weiss, and sadly speaks to current anxieties and a sense of despair. Arc II promises to take us to the lowest point of grief and loss, but hopefully Arc II will bring us some hope for the future – much needed at present.

Various. 2022. Arc I - Granados, Janáček, Scriabin. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR127.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in Scene, May 2022) 

 

A joy to behold: Evgeny Kissin on a roll at the Salzburg Festival

Evgeny Kissin
© Salzburg Festival/Marco Borelli

Evgeny Kissin (piano)

Saturday 14 August 2021

Reviewed from online stream Saturday 28 August 2021

(available at Arte here)

Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg

★★★★★

Alban Berg (1885-1935): Piano Sonata No. 1

 

Tikhon Khrennikov (1913-2007): Dance, Op. 5 No. 3

                                                    Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 2

 

George Gershwin (1898-1937): Three Preludes

 

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1

                                                Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 29

                                                Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36

                                                Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51

                                                Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20

                                                Polonaise in A flat major, ‘Heroic’, Op. 53

 

Encores:

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): ‘Duetto’, Songs Without Words Op. 38 No. 6

Evgeny Kissin (b.1971): Dodecaphonic Tango, from Four Piano Pieces, Op. 1

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Suite bergamasque, L.75 No. 3, ‘Claire de lune’

Evgeny Kissin
© Salzburg Festival/Marco Borelli

'The beaming smiles when he takes a bow – and his multiple encores – let you know that, despite the concentration, he is having a great time, and we are part of that'.

'Over one and three quarter hours playing is a feat of memory at the very least, but to maintain momentum, energy and concentration, taking a rapt audience with him all the way is something extraordinary'

'It was the intensity of his playing that captivated; the whirlwind of dark energy and thrashing chords in the Scherzo no. 1and the ringing pedalling and virtuosic final section of the second Impromptu were breathtaking'.

'After all the dramatic intensity, he ended with a masterstroke, with the calm stillness of Debussy’s Clair de lune'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Light at the end of the tunnel from Elena Urioste and Aurora principals at Kings Place

Elena Urioste
© Nick Rutter

Elena Urioste (violin)

Aurora Orchestra - Principal Players

inc.

Sally Pryce (harp)

Ruth Gibson (viola)

Tom Service (presenter)

Streamed live online 7pm, Friday 26 February 2021

Kings Place, London

★★★★

Thea Musgrave (b.1928): Light at the End of the Tunnel

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Introduction and Allegro

Anna Meredith (b.1978): Music for Ravens

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) (arr. Iain Farrignton (b.1977)): The Lark Ascending

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Octet in E flat major, Op. 20

Sally Pryce
© Nick Rutter

Musgrave:

'Strikingly moving, and Aurora violist Ruth Gibson commanded the empty stage, a resonant cry of anguish contrasting with the glassy harmonics in this fleeting miniature'.

Ravel: 

'Harpist Sally Pryce was impressive in the extensive solo passages, the close microphones allowing her to contrast dramatic sweeps with extreme delicacy and pianissimo detail'.

Meredith:

'The Aurora players’ intensity and command of the complexity was impressive'.

Vaughan Williams:

'Urioste’s solo was sweet, effortless and relaxed, with breathy tone at the start of the solo passage in the lower registers, gradually warming up as the lark rises higher and higher, with a naturalistic rhythmic flexibility'.

Members of the Aurora Orchestra
© Nick Rutter

Mendelssohn:

'Their performance was full of exhilarating life and energy ... The finale was a masterclass in joyous performance, with constant communication and clear delight'.

Read my full review on Backtrack here.

CD Reviews - December 2020

I’ve been following the work of composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad (b.1980) for a number of years now, and it was a great delight to explore her latest disc of recordings of some of her chamber works, entitled ‘The Whole Earth Dances’. The title belongs to a work commissioned by The Schubert Ensemble, and in fact this recording was their last as a group before they disbanded in 2018. Inspired by the simple experiences of walking in her local park, but also by the importance of taking notice of nature in a time when it under such threat, it is a single expansive movement for the same musical forces as Schubert’s Trout Quintet (piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass). Full of long sustained string chords, with delicate piano commentary in places, the movement alternates between lively, spiky ‘thistles’ and gentler, unfurling ‘ferns’ (references to two Ted Hughes poems that also influenced here). And there is hope in the positively consonant, sudden C major ending. There’s so much on this disc, nine works in all, for varied chamber forces, and many different performers, it’s hard to do justice here to all of this. Cloud Movements for clarinet, violin and piano again makes use of slow-moving chords to evoke drifting clouds, but there’s also lyricism here, particularly in the central movement. Flanking that central movement are two dancing canons, the first in three parts, and the faster moving second in four parts, increasing the rhythmic complexity, creating unsettling cross-rhythms as the clouds pass and partially obscure one another. Two works for cello and piano follow. Songs and Dances is full of passion and lyricism for the cello in particular, but also there are strangely moth-like high, glassy flutterings, and a surprising folk-like dancing melody in the central movement. There are brief moments of peace, but the final lament is dominated by heartfelt anguish, and ends in nothingness. This leads beautifully into The Prophecy, where that sense of anguish is taken to a new level. Frances-Hoad was influenced here by quotes from people experience schizophrenia, and there is definitely a sense of mental struggle here. Again, the piece begins out of nothing, almost inaudible initially, and the strange slides from the cello build to a terrifying world, full of quotes of the Dies Irae chant. The cello emerges at one point with a higher, more lyrical melody, but the insistent piano doesn’t give up, with the Dies Irae almost screaming through at one point. This is an incredibly virtuosic piece for both players, and Rebecca Gilliver (cello) and Sophia Rahman (piano) give an outstanding performance. Towards the end, the cello cries out with a strange vibrating screech, and then a kind of unsettling calm is reached at the end, with occasional stabs from the piano punctuation an exhausted cello solo.Then for something completely different - Game On, a work for piano and Commodore 64 computer. In this, Frances-Hoad takes sounds from a 1987 puzzle game, X0R, and uses these to create a fascinating soundworld, exploring game theory, robots taking over the world, and ultimately, destruction of humanity - so not a cheery piece! In the first movement, Nash, we’re in the world of game theory, and a sense of uneasy equilibrium, where the piano matches and works around the incessant computer sounds, with nobody really getting anywhere as a result. In Robots will Rule the World, we enter the soundworld of Dr Who (the BBC Radiophonic Workshop), the theremin and ondes martenots, with weird lasers and ‘vaporising’ sounds - what starts out as maybe a conversation between piano and computer definitely becomes a battle - and the title gives the clue as to who wins. In the final Lament, the minimalist repeating patterns of the computer contrast with the melody that emerges on the piano, and then gradually the computer patterns stutter, jam and stick - like an irregular heartbeat, or ultimately the sound of flatlining - so who’s died, the robots or us? There is a chilling sense of panic here, despite the slightly comic origins of a 1980s gaming computer. 

Three more works round off the collection. First, a lop-sided, quirkily accented Mazurka for violin and piano. Then comes Medea for solo flute, a dramatic monologue of long sustained notes and pauses, interrupted by moments of impassioned activity full of flutters and trills, evoking Medea’s battle between emotion and decision. Finally, a work for string quartet, My Day in Hell, inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. The complex organisation of numbers of circles and groups in that work dominates Frances-Hoad’s calculations of structure, rhythm and even melody, and the angular melodic material, downward slides and richly dissonant chords definitely create a sense of being trapped in circles within circles. I’m always struck in Frances-Hoad’s music by how, despite some common devices, such as the contrast between slow, long chords and spikier rhythmic movement, with great use of pregnant pauses, the atmospheres evoked are incredibly varied and individual to each piece. I’ve focussed on the music itself here, but all the performers deserve praise here - there is some challenging music, and all the players do great justice to Frances-Hoad’s fascinating and often virtuosic demands.

Frances-Hoad, Cheryl. 2020. The Whole Earth Dances. Various. Compact Disc. Champs Hill Records CHRCD152.

Joël Marosi (cello) and Esther Walker (piano) have brought together on one disc all the works for cello and piano composed by brother and sister, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847). This amounts to two Sonatas, a set of Variations Concertante, and a couple of miniatures from Felix, and two single movement works from Fanny. Many of the pieces were written with their cellist younger brother, Paul. Felix’s first Sonata has a real youthful urgency in the opening movement, with slight yearning in the second subject. Walker manages to produce a bright tone despite the driving repeated chords and thick textures of the piano part, and Marosi brings out that yearning as well as a virtuosic display to finish. He really gets the chance to sing out in the second movement’s lyrical central section, and the sense of rapid drive returns in the finale, with more turbulent sections, and a dramatic climax with flourishes particularly for the piano. Both players here produce the requisite drama, but also manage the piece’s quiet ending, with delicate lyricism from the cello over a gently rippling piano. The Song without Words that follows is warm and lyrical, with a delicate piano part, and Marosi delivers this with a heartfelt simplicity, and an understated sense of urgency in the central section. The single movement Assai tranquillo, possibly incomplete, has a pleasing melody passed from cello to piano, with the cello then weaving in and out of the piano’s presentation of the tune. The Variations concertantes draw on a humble, hymn-like tune, and encompass eight variations, sharing out the virtuosic moments between instruments reasonably equally, if anything favouring the pianist. The two players here exploit their moments well, and bring out effectively the more dramatic moments, such as in the seventh’s declamatory cadenza-like statement, although there could be a little more tempo differentiation between the faster

variations. Turning to sister Fanny, we then have a Fantasia, with a beautifully romantic melody presented fist on the piano, with the cello emerging from a low accompaniment to take over the melody. There is plenty of opportunity for Marosi to sing here, particularly in the slower arioso section. The quiet ending might suggest this is somewhat slight, but the melodic invention and use of repeated chords in the accompaniment are very pleasing. Similarly, in her Capriccio, lyrical melodies are passed between the instruments, with the piano leading off on a faster central section, with emphatic fanfare-like statements from the cello. Once again, the movement winds down to a quiet finish. We return to Felix for the remainder of the recording, with his Sonata No. 2. The two players bound into the opening movement, with its striding cello theme and joyful energy and drive throughout. The piano introduces the second movement’s hesitant melody, repeated pizzicato by the cello, with delicately ringing grace notes from Marosi here. The piano is in charge of the slow movement to begin with, with an arpeggiated chorale, given rich tone here by Walker. The cello joins with a lyrical melody on top, and gradually takes over direction of proceedings, with the piano receding into the background, before stealing back the lyrical melody at the end. The piano launches the finale, with an immediately racing, virtuosic delivery. The cello occasionally takes over the virtuosic runs, but the piano is in charge here. Walker and Marosi never let up with the driving rhythmic energy, right to the dramatic explosive climax, before the dynamics drop down leaving quiet, rippling exchanges to end the piece.

Mendelssohn, F. & F. 2020. Complete Works for Cello and Piano. Joël Marosi, Esther Walker. Compact Disc. First Hand Records. FHR81.

In Louis Lortie’s sixth volume of Chopin works, we have the Hommage à Mozart Op. 2, the two Op. 40 Polonaises and the Fantasie Op. 49, interspersed with sixteen of the Mazurkas. Lortie’s Mazurkas are full of character, with great attention to articulation and dynamics. From the Op. 6 set, he gives the first a wonderful halting lilt, and its falling chromatic progressions have a silky darkness. The folk-like drones and eastern-infused melodic inflections in the second are seductively accentuated by Lortie’s rubato. The third and fourth are brief gems, the former with its light droning and lively theme, and the latter with its fleeting off-kilter accents, all of which Lortie brings out well. A second set of four, Op. 24 follow, with a lyrical, more waltz-like affair to begin with, contrasting beautifully with the stomping off-beat rhythms of the second. The third has pauses in almost every phrase, and Lortie shapes and times these with delicate poise, as he does the chromatic clashes and dramatic swirls of the last of the set. The Hommage à Mozart opens with a lengthy rhapsodic introduction, with hints of Mozart’s theme, ‘Là ci darem la mano’, and Lortie delivers this with suitable grandeur and virtuosic command. The theme is then finally presented more straightforwardly, followed by a brilliant set of variations, with increasingly extreme demands on the pianist’s virtuosity. Lortie dashes this off with impressive ease, and then exploits the dark drama of the operatic Adagio variation to the full, with an electric Alla Polacca to finish. Back to Mazurkas next, and the

Louis Lortie
© Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Op. 67 set. The simple dance of the first is followed by the touching, nostalgic second – again Lortie demonstrating wonderfully his ability to achieve such contrasting moods with subtle dynamic inflections and halting rubato. That nostalgic mood continues in the third, a gently swirling dance, and the darkly expressive fourth. The two Polonaises, Op. 40, especially the first, the ‘Military’, are by nature emphatic and weighty, but this can be easily overdone in the first, rendering it a shouty affairs. Here, Lortie certainly provides weight, but with precise articulation and full use of the range of dynamics he avoids the bombast. The second is full of brooding darkness, and Lortie brings this out, as well as the wistful melancholy of the lyrical central section. A final set of Mazurkas, the Op. 41 with the first drawing invention from just a few notes, and the second evoking strumming guitars in its opening chords. The third is simple and graceful, whereas the final Mazurka of the set is the most substantial and dramatic. Once again, Lortie captures the extraordinary variety of moods like a chameleon. The Op. 49 Fantasie concludes the disc, with its funereal march launching an explosion of improvisatory explorations. Lortie is definitely let loose here, although despite the extremes of virtuosity, that sense of subtle changing moods is never lost.

Chopin, F. 2020. Louis Lortie plays Chopin, Volume 6. Compact Disc. Chandos Records. CHAN 20117.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, December 2020)

Spirited Mendelssohn without frills from the English Chamber Orchestra

© English Chamber Orchestra

  

  Members of the English Chamber 

  Orchestra

  Stephanie Gonley (violin)

  David Juritz (violin)

  Michael Gurevich (violin)

  Katerina Nazarova (violin)

  Roger Chase (viola)

  Lydia Lowndes-Northcott (viola)

  Lionel Handy (cello)

  Jonathan Ayling (cello)

Sunday 27 September, 4pm

Beckenham Place Mansion, London

(reviewed from online stream)

★★★

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887): String Sextet in D minor

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Octet in E flat major, Op. 20

'A spirited performance of Mendelssohn’s joyous Octet, with an appetiser of Borodin’s incomplete String Sextet'.

Borodin:

'A warm performance'.

Mendelssohn:

'Mendelssohn's proto-Midsummer Night's Dream Scherzo had a light touch, taken at an energetic lick'.

'The group’s enthusiasm was evident, building to the movement’s glorious climax and a joyous flourish to finish'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.