What they say ...
Solem Quartet
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The Haydn D Major quartet was one of the significant waymarks on the journey as the string quartet came out of the closet, or out of the court chambers, and into the concert hall, and the Solem made light work of its brilliance and bravura.
The Solem addressed this Bartok with heartfelt brio and winningly understated virtuosity. |
Bartok makes cruel fingering and bowing demands on his first violin especially, but Amy Tress led an inspired reading that illuminated the folkloric and dance imperatives of the score.
The Solem Quartet’s performance was full of energy and extremely engaging both sonically and visibly, with the piece dramatised by a strong emphasis on Beethoven’s characteristically heavy accents and close attention paid to the dynamic subtleties found in the piece.
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the Beethoven Quartet no 12 in E flat major, which was played with dedication and aplomb. The changes of tempo and mood were skilfully handled, at times putting the audience on the edge of their seats.
The Solem Quartet’s performance was full of energy and extremely engaging both sonically and visibly, with the piece dramatised by a strong emphasis on Beethoven’s characteristically heavy accents and close attention paid to the dynamic subtleties found in the piece.
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the Beethoven Quartet no 12 in E flat major, which was played with dedication and aplomb. The changes of tempo and mood were skilfully handled, at times putting the audience on the edge of their seats.
Nicholas Mogg and Jâms Coleman
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Nicholas Mogg (baritone)The first was given by baritone Nicholas Mogg, who won this year’s Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform and it was easy to see why, as not only is the voice remarkably well focused but his presence is alive and he communicates warmly, introducing the songs with relaxed confidence.
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He brought a profound yearning to Fauré’s Vaisseaux, nous vous aurons aimes en pure perte and a sensitive integrity to Schubert’s An die Musik. I look forward to hearing him again soon - Oxford Leider Recital.
Rarely does Purcell’s vivid setting of Nahum Tate’s libretto find such convincing exponents as in Sky Ingram’s impassioned Dido, Nicholas Mogg’s clearly conflicted Aeneas…each sort out the intensity of meaning contained within Purcell’s notes as well as expertly delivering the notes themselves, including the most highly decorated passages. - Dido and Aeneas, Opera Now
Rarely does Purcell’s vivid setting of Nahum Tate’s libretto find such convincing exponents as in Sky Ingram’s impassioned Dido, Nicholas Mogg’s clearly conflicted Aeneas…each sort out the intensity of meaning contained within Purcell’s notes as well as expertly delivering the notes themselves, including the most highly decorated passages. - Dido and Aeneas, Opera Now
...it was bass Nicholas Mogg who impressed most, not only with the clarity of his voice but also some very powerful performances of the arias Why do the nations so furiously rage and The trumpet shall sound. - Handel Messiah, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
Jâms Coleman (piano)
Further highlights included a Lachrymae whose final 'Flow My Tears' was of a strikingly moving, stoic display and beauty, with Ridout's pianist Jâms Coleman very much part of that package. - The Strad, Festival 'Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad', Switzerland
The opening work was the 32 Variations in C minor, WoO 80. More like a set of études, this rarely heard work was extremely well performed, giving the pianist full scope to demonstrate his prodigious technique combined with a sensitivity and appreciation of Beethoven’s demands. - Lower Machen Festival, South Wales
Robert Plane (clarinet) with the Gould Piano Trio
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The Gould Trio’s recital of Op 1 No 3, and Op 11 with clarinettist Robert Plane, achieved a perfect balance of structural exactitude and lyricism.’ The Guardian February 2016
The Gould Piano TrioThe piano trio literature, distinctive among small genres, comes to us in two guises.
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Since the piano, violin and cello are the three most popular solo instruments, works for this combination invariably attract random groupings of big-name soloists who enjoy the camaraderie and lower-stress engagements.
The only comparison that comes to mind is the old Beaux Arts Trio; the combination of jeweler-like precision and a musical fire that ignites from the first bar . . .
Though three musical personalities come through, the melding of the minds (and fingers) is on a plane one rarely hears today . . .
Celebrity groups cannot equal the musical excitement generated by first-class players building up an interpretation through years of exacting study and performance, however memorable this or that solo passage may be. This was the most satisfying concert I’ve heard all season.
The only comparison that comes to mind is the old Beaux Arts Trio; the combination of jeweler-like precision and a musical fire that ignites from the first bar . . .
Though three musical personalities come through, the melding of the minds (and fingers) is on a plane one rarely hears today . . .
Celebrity groups cannot equal the musical excitement generated by first-class players building up an interpretation through years of exacting study and performance, however memorable this or that solo passage may be. This was the most satisfying concert I’ve heard all season.
Robert Plane (clarinet)
‘In this performance of works spanning a decade, it was the most recent pieces that were conveyed with greatest expressivity and huge emotional intensity. Speak Seven Seas for clarinet – played by Robert Plane, with Dukes on viola and Watkins on piano – had an apparently easy ebb and flow, but its dramatic tension was manipulated with the same unerring control. The Guardian February 2016, Huw Watkins Portrait Concert, Cardiff
Emmanuel Bach (Violin), Jenny Stern (Piano)
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Music societies around the UK have long been able to benefit from young musicians who have been sponsored by charitable organisations dedicated to the development of artists at the outset of their performing careers. This legacy has enabled concert promoters to devise concert seasons that include such award holders, thereby easing to some degree their financial constraints.
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One such organisation is the Countess on Munster Trust which for many years has funded further study and concert fees for young artists.
Whitstable Music Society was able to take advantage of this scheme for their last concert when it hosted the exciting young violinist Emmanuel Bach. He is a graduate from Oxford and The Royal College of Music and is rapidly showing himself to be a bright hope amongst British string players.
His talent, depth of musical perception and knowledge were well in evidence across a wide repertoire. Thus, in Bach’s exposed and challenging unaccompanied Sonata in A minor, BWV 1003, the textural clarity and sense of phrase structure revealed a mind fully aware of early music performing practice. The affecting delicacy of the slow movements were off set by the energy and rhythmic direction of the long fugue and final Allegro movements.
All the wide contrasts of mood and colour in Beethoven’s G major Sonata were clearly pointed. Here, Mr. Bach was more than ably accompanied by Jenny Stern, a pianist of extensive experience at this level. This work is very much a duo of equal partners and the shared understanding of the protagonists was palpable to all.
After the interval the audience was introduced to the Sonata No. 3 by an unknown composer from Russia named Lera Auerbach. This one movement piece had a variety of moods which were expertly dispatched with an obvious sense of involvement.
The more demanding Sonata (1917) by Claude Debussy, in which the composer makes conscious use of the great heritage of French compositions from the 17th and 18th centuries, received a colourful and cogent reading with, once again, a high level of ensemble and shared musical understand from both performers.
A delightful evening closed with Ysaye’s Caprice on a piano etude by Saint-Saens. The Belgian composer Ysaye was one of the foremost violin virtuosos of his time and his violin works, in particular his six unaccompanied sonatas are regarded as the ideal response to those by J.S. Bach. The delightful Caprice focusses on unbridled violin virtuosity and fun, the combination of which Emmanuel Bach cleared revelled, bringing a delightful evening to a rousing conclusion.
Whitstable Music Society was able to take advantage of this scheme for their last concert when it hosted the exciting young violinist Emmanuel Bach. He is a graduate from Oxford and The Royal College of Music and is rapidly showing himself to be a bright hope amongst British string players.
His talent, depth of musical perception and knowledge were well in evidence across a wide repertoire. Thus, in Bach’s exposed and challenging unaccompanied Sonata in A minor, BWV 1003, the textural clarity and sense of phrase structure revealed a mind fully aware of early music performing practice. The affecting delicacy of the slow movements were off set by the energy and rhythmic direction of the long fugue and final Allegro movements.
All the wide contrasts of mood and colour in Beethoven’s G major Sonata were clearly pointed. Here, Mr. Bach was more than ably accompanied by Jenny Stern, a pianist of extensive experience at this level. This work is very much a duo of equal partners and the shared understanding of the protagonists was palpable to all.
After the interval the audience was introduced to the Sonata No. 3 by an unknown composer from Russia named Lera Auerbach. This one movement piece had a variety of moods which were expertly dispatched with an obvious sense of involvement.
The more demanding Sonata (1917) by Claude Debussy, in which the composer makes conscious use of the great heritage of French compositions from the 17th and 18th centuries, received a colourful and cogent reading with, once again, a high level of ensemble and shared musical understand from both performers.
A delightful evening closed with Ysaye’s Caprice on a piano etude by Saint-Saens. The Belgian composer Ysaye was one of the foremost violin virtuosos of his time and his violin works, in particular his six unaccompanied sonatas are regarded as the ideal response to those by J.S. Bach. The delightful Caprice focusses on unbridled violin virtuosity and fun, the combination of which Emmanuel Bach cleared revelled, bringing a delightful evening to a rousing conclusion.
Neil Millensted
Piano Trio Shaham, Erez, Wallfisch
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It hardly seems possible; a visit of the world beating piano trio playing in Whitstable but it happened. It was the last concert of their international tour; and what a concert. Any previous concert by piano trios could easily be put aside.
The music had obviously been chosen to allow the musicians to get the best of expressions by all three instruments. Doing it they each had the thought of the others, the violin in particular was given space by both the cello and piano and the result something quite exceptional. |
It hardly seems possible; a visit of the world beating piano trio playing in Whitstable but it happened. It was the last concert of their international tour; and what a concert. Any previous concert by piano trios could easily be put aside. The music had obviously been chosen to allow the musicians to get the best of expressions by all three instruments. Doing it they each had the thought of the others, the violin in particular was given space by both the cello and piano and the result something quite exceptional.
The music too was chosen to all the three musicians to play at their best. The concert opened with the Trio, andante con moto by Grieg. He only wrote the slow movement. It was a good introduction. It was followed by Dvorak's Piano Trio Op. 90 (Dumky) with its various 6 movements. The concert ended with the well known Schubert's D898. The audience response was also something exceptional. They were on their feet after every work and in the end the applause went on and on. In response we got an encore, a movement from Beethoven's Archduke Trio.
What an end that was bringing again exceptional applause. Nothing like had ever been heard before. It will be heard again. Another has been booked in eighteen months time.
The music too was chosen to all the three musicians to play at their best. The concert opened with the Trio, andante con moto by Grieg. He only wrote the slow movement. It was a good introduction. It was followed by Dvorak's Piano Trio Op. 90 (Dumky) with its various 6 movements. The concert ended with the well known Schubert's D898. The audience response was also something exceptional. They were on their feet after every work and in the end the applause went on and on. In response we got an encore, a movement from Beethoven's Archduke Trio.
What an end that was bringing again exceptional applause. Nothing like had ever been heard before. It will be heard again. Another has been booked in eighteen months time.
John Wilkinson,
Whitstable Music Society
Whitstable Music Society
The Maxwell Quartet
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There was a particular sense of expectation about this month’s concert, as the Maxwell Quartet had originally been due to perform in January but had to postpone their Whitstable appearance due to the insertion of an extra international engagement in the Netherlands.
They were certainly worth waiting for: this proved to be an evening of chamber music at its very best, with string quartet playing of the highest order. |
The artists had all been close friends since childhood, making music together as they grew up together in Scotland, and this seemed to give them a special degree of rapport with each other. Not only was there was a homogeneity of age but also to some extent of appearance; all four were on the hirsute side, sporting four beards and a ponytail between them! Even their all-black dress code was given a quirky twist by the violist Elliott Perks who sported some brightly patterned socks that put one in mind of sailing boats. Meanwhile, much entertainment was to be had watching the expressive face and mobile eyebrows of 2nd violinist George Smith, and following the hyper-lively body language of cellist Duncan Strachan, whose balletic movement whilst seated not infrequently included lifting both feet off the ground at once!
The Maxwell Quartet’s programme included works from the late 18th century, latish 19th century and early 20th century, with a contrasting first half of Haydn (Op 76 no.2) and Ravel (Quartet in F major), followed after the interval by Tchaikovsky’s 1st Quartet. The performers brought out the full humour and quirkiness of the Haydn, imbuing it with both delicacy and sparkle, but the effortlessness of their ensemble was on best show in the Ravel, which unfolded with a wonderful degree of fluency and a sensuous, easygoing lyricism. Ravel’ s Quartet occupies a distinctive soundworld, making use (inter alia) of the octatonic scale, and this performance transported us into some truly magical realms.
The quartet’s rendition of the Tchaikovsky, though also most enjoyable, perhaps fell a touch short of the extremely high bar they had set themselves with the pre-interval repertoire. While the outer movements were convincingly rendered, the famous Andante cantabile really needed to sing more, and could have done with a stronger melodic line from 1st violinist Colin Scobie; for my money, the movement didn’t feel quite relaxed enough. The Scherzo & Trio were suitably vigorous with the sense of dance well captured, but would have perhaps benefited from greater dynamic light and shade.
We were treated to a delightful encore in the shape of some Scottish and Irish folk music (the violinists swapping positions with each other at this point). This was a brilliant way of rounding off the evening and sending the audience home with a spring in their step.
All told, it was a privilege to experience such a superb evening’s music-making, and the Maxwell Quartet’s evident enjoyment of their repertoire, and of each other’s company, proved infectious in the best possible sense! We wish this young quartet well as they continue to conquer the heights of the chamber music world.
The Maxwell Quartet’s programme included works from the late 18th century, latish 19th century and early 20th century, with a contrasting first half of Haydn (Op 76 no.2) and Ravel (Quartet in F major), followed after the interval by Tchaikovsky’s 1st Quartet. The performers brought out the full humour and quirkiness of the Haydn, imbuing it with both delicacy and sparkle, but the effortlessness of their ensemble was on best show in the Ravel, which unfolded with a wonderful degree of fluency and a sensuous, easygoing lyricism. Ravel’ s Quartet occupies a distinctive soundworld, making use (inter alia) of the octatonic scale, and this performance transported us into some truly magical realms.
The quartet’s rendition of the Tchaikovsky, though also most enjoyable, perhaps fell a touch short of the extremely high bar they had set themselves with the pre-interval repertoire. While the outer movements were convincingly rendered, the famous Andante cantabile really needed to sing more, and could have done with a stronger melodic line from 1st violinist Colin Scobie; for my money, the movement didn’t feel quite relaxed enough. The Scherzo & Trio were suitably vigorous with the sense of dance well captured, but would have perhaps benefited from greater dynamic light and shade.
We were treated to a delightful encore in the shape of some Scottish and Irish folk music (the violinists swapping positions with each other at this point). This was a brilliant way of rounding off the evening and sending the audience home with a spring in their step.
All told, it was a privilege to experience such a superb evening’s music-making, and the Maxwell Quartet’s evident enjoyment of their repertoire, and of each other’s company, proved infectious in the best possible sense! We wish this young quartet well as they continue to conquer the heights of the chamber music world.
Stuart Whatton
Artistic Director, Music on the Green
Artistic Director, Music on the Green
The Sacconi Quartet
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Often it is argued that London (e.g. Wigmore, Kings Place) is the only place to hear world class performance of chamber music. This idea was entirely contradicted when the Whitstable Music Society opened this years concert series with a recital given by the stellar Sacconi String Quartet together with one of the great English pianists Charles Owen.
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A full to capacity audience were enthralled by the programme from the outset, quite appropriately attracted by the prospect of one of Haydn's greatest quartets.
'The Emperor', one of the most sublime piano quintets in the repertoire by Dvorak, and the shock of the new in the piano quintet of English composer Johnathon Dove. They were not to be disappointed having been treated to ravishing playing by the Sacconis and the muscular pianism of Charles Owen.
Virtuosity was in abundance throughout. Haydn, taxing the players in this highly developed and sophisticated genre, calling for extremes of dynamic, precise passage work and sonorous melody whilst Dove demanded complex rhythmic passages to be played with energy and panache. The dialogue between the quartet players and with the pianist was both uncanny and exciting, each enjoying the others interplay, communicating effectively with each other and audience alike.
A rapturous reception at the conclusion of the Dove (the new kid on the block) was matched by the applause following the sensuously romantic Dvorak quintet. The music was sublime, so too the playing of the Sacconi Quartet and Charles Owen. A world class start to a season of concerts in the seaside town of Whitstable.
'The Emperor', one of the most sublime piano quintets in the repertoire by Dvorak, and the shock of the new in the piano quintet of English composer Johnathon Dove. They were not to be disappointed having been treated to ravishing playing by the Sacconis and the muscular pianism of Charles Owen.
Virtuosity was in abundance throughout. Haydn, taxing the players in this highly developed and sophisticated genre, calling for extremes of dynamic, precise passage work and sonorous melody whilst Dove demanded complex rhythmic passages to be played with energy and panache. The dialogue between the quartet players and with the pianist was both uncanny and exciting, each enjoying the others interplay, communicating effectively with each other and audience alike.
A rapturous reception at the conclusion of the Dove (the new kid on the block) was matched by the applause following the sensuously romantic Dvorak quintet. The music was sublime, so too the playing of the Sacconi Quartet and Charles Owen. A world class start to a season of concerts in the seaside town of Whitstable.
Musicus
