Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Brighton-based tenor Ian Farrell is back with another album, this time focussing on the world of musical theatre. It’s Simply Showtime features ten tracks, some well-known and a few lesser-known gems, with a common strand of hope and the search for self-belief running through the collection.
It was back in 2020 just before things went crazy that Ian released Ten for Ten, celebrating 10 years of being sober. A global pandemic didn’t stop him, with il Significato di te showcasing classical repertoire following in 2021.
This new album is his most accomplished to date, demonstrating the strength and range of his voice in the musical theatre repertoire, showing strong technical command in some tricky songs here. But it also feels the most intimate album to date – despite some big numbers, Ian’s approach is definitely to draw us into the world of the songs, rather than bombard us with glitzy showtime alone, despite the album’s title.
Ian Farrell
So for example, Somewhere (from West Side Story) is not belted out as it often is, and this is a more contemplative reading, building gradually to the final climax, with stronger understanding of the song’s shape. Ian also talked to me about the broader meaning of the song, and that it can be interpreted as being about anybody who is struggling to find their place in the world, particularly relevant for all of us in the LGBTQ+ world today.
This is echoed in the dark longing of She’s a Woman from Kiss of the Spider Woman, the longing quest for love in Ian’s voice in Where is Love (from Oliver!), and more searching for a place in life in the deceptively perky Corner of the Sky (from Pippin), with a spectacular closing high note from Ian.
Bring Him Home from Les Misérables opens the disc, and Ian’s reading of this classic has incredible tenderness, with some beautifully floated high registers, especially on the final extended note. Again, this can often be delivered as a straightforward belter, but it is all the more effective when controlled like this. Again, it is with touching tenderness that he takes us on the journey of the classic Send in the Clowns, full of introspection and reflection on disappointments of the past.
Ian draws on Billy Porter‘s wonderful rendition of On The Steet Where You Live (from My Fair Lady) for inspiration, yet he gives the familiar lines his own individuality and control, as well as a glorious melismatic climax. Tomorrow (from Annie) is generally not one of my favourite songs, often too saccharine and rather trite, but here Ian gives it a slow, introspective ‘lounge’ feel, which works very well, giving the song more nuance.
But the two numbers that stand out for me are Let me Fall, from Cirque du Soleil‘s show, Quidam, subsequently covered by Josh Groban, and the track that ends the album, You Will Be Found, from the musical Dear Evan Hansen. The former is all about taking risks and being allowed to fall, and taking chances – clearly carrying a double-meaning for Cirque du Soleil‘s highwire acts, but also life in general, and something that clearly has echoes for Ian.
And it is in this song I hear his fullest expression, with power at the top of his range, and defiant strength throughout. That same depth of emotion is expressed in You Will Be Found, with its message of hope, again following on from that sense of searching expressed in Somewhere.
Ian Farrell
It should also be mentioned that Ian is accompanied throughout by Joss Peach (josspeach.com), with some great piano and instrumental arrangements perfectly echoing Ian’s intimate approach.
The album is available to download for free from his website (although financial contributions are welcome), and CDs are available on request. Ian’s plans for 2023 include getting out there and performing live, hopefully appearing soon in Brighton and London – so watch this space for dates, and check out his social media links for more info.
In the second volume of pianist Orion Weiss’s series, Arc II, the focus is on times of war and grief, with works by Ravel, Brahms and Shostakovich. Ravel’s (1875-1937) Le Tombeau de Couperin was composed between 1914 and 1917, and each movement is dedicated to friends who died in the war.
Here, Weiss’s articulation is always crystal clear, never allowing the impressionistic soundscapes to obscure the detail. Brahms’ (1833-1897) Variations on a Theme by R. Schumann, Op. 9 take us back to 1854, and again a memorial to a friend, although Robert was still alive at this point, now in the sanatorium where he would subsequently die.
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Across the 16 variations, there is a wide range of styles and emotions, but there is an ever present longing and lyricism, to which Weiss is constantly alert. Shostakovich’s (1906-1975) Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 61 moves us forward to 1943, and it is dedicated to his friend and teacher, Leonid Nikolayev, who died in the mass evacuation from Leningrad.
Weiss brings out the sense of unease in the moments of seeming calm, as well giving full power to the violent climaxes. After such exhausting tension, Weiss finishes with two of Brahms’ Chorale Preludes. This is a powerfully emotive programme, performed with sensitivity and passion, and I look forward to the final volume that promises times of joy.
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The Mariani Klavierquartett return with the second release in their cycle pairing Brahms’ Piano Quartets with those of Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916). In the first pairing, Gernsheim’s quartet stood alongside his friend’s admirably. Here, perhaps Gernsheim suffers a little next to Brahms’ mammoth A major Piano Quartet, Op. 26, weighing in at nearly 50 minutes.
The opening movement is of epic proportions, yet the Marianis ensure there is a lightness of touch where needed, and Gerhard Vielhaber on piano never overly dominates the texture, which is also testament to the excellently balanced recording here. They give the Finale energetic drive, yet pull back expertly for the lighter moments, and the slowing train is beautifully judged before the final race to the end.
Gernsheim’s Piano Quartet, Op. 47 is much lighter in mood, and the Marianis bring out the hints of ballroom swing in the opening movement, and galloping energy in the second movement is contrasted with warm lyricism. Another illuminating release, and I look forward to the final volume.
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In the sixth volume of his survey, pianist Barry Douglas tackles the second set of Impromptus and the Piano Sonata in A minor, D845 by Schubert (1797-1828). In the Sonata, Douglas takes a weighty approach, emphasising the drama. His tempi throughout tend towards the slow side, yet there is a spring in his step for the third movement scherzo, and the finale has suitable wildness in places.
For the Impromptus, the first has smoothly flowing hand crossing and bell-like tone at the top, but the second is taken at a very slow tempo indeed, which means that the central bubbling triplets lose their urgency. The Rosamunde-esque dance of the third has poise and delicacy, but again could benefit from a little more flowing tempo.
The fourth has incredibly virtuosic running scales, taken at a suitably furious lick, making me wish there had been more of this fire elsewhere. After the exuberance of this comes Liszt’s gloriously rich transcription of Schubert’s Ave Maria to finish, and Douglas gives this great warmth and expression, as well as effortless virtuosity. Overall, a mixed contribution to his otherwise exemplary Schubert survey so far.
CONCERTS
Alex Kidgell
The East Sussex Bach Choir, with the Baroque Collective, conducted by John Hancorn perform Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, with soloists Alex Kidgell, Rebecca Leggett, Mark Dobell & Robert Davies (7pm on Saturday, January 7 at Lewes Town Hall). Tickets HERE
Maria Marchant
The Worthing Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Gibbons, have two concerts this month. First, their New Year Concert with the usual Viennese favourites (2.45pm on Sunday, January 8), and then they are joined by pianist Maria Marchant for music by Gershwin, Borodin and Arnold (7.30pm on Friday, January 27 at Assembly Hall, Worthing). Tickets HERE
Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karen Kamensek for Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, along with music by De Falla, David Bruce and Bizet (3pm on Sunday, January 15 at Congress Theatre, Eastbourne). Tickets HERE
Joanna MacGregor
The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sian Edwards, perform music by Philip Glass, Rautavaara, Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) and John Luther Adams with Joanna MacGregor on piano/keyboards, and visual projections by Kathy Hinde (7.30pm on Saturday, January 21 at Brighton Dome). Tickets HERE
Cellist Philip Higham plays Domenico Gabrielli, Bach, dall’Abaco, Berio and Reger (11am on Sunday, January 22 at ACCA, Brighton). Tickets HERE
Johannes Pramsohler (violin) and Ensemble Diderot are back with an intriguing collection of so-called Travel Concertos– virtuoso works that may have been designed to be taken ‘on tour’ as opportunities to show off their instrumental and compositional talents. They begin with a blistering performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, as well as three violin concertos, two from Johann Georg Pisendel (1688-1755) and one from Johann Jakob Kress (1685-1728), allowing Pramsohler to shine as ever here.
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There is also a wonderful Concerto by Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729), with solo lines for violin, flute, oboe, theorbo and cello. Finally, there is a Concerto by Carlo Paolo Durant (1712-1769), for harpsichord, lute, cello and strings. All in all, some delightful and striking works on offer here, four out of the six being premiere recordings, and all performed with such virtuosic expertise and sensitivity, making this a joy to listen to again and again.
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Organist Tom Wilkinson has recorded the six Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530by J. S. Bach on the organ of the Reid Concert Hall at the University of Edinburgh. It is not unusual for there to be three ‘voices’ in organ music – the right hand, the left hand and the feet on the pedals – but the degree to which Bach made these three voices independent and used them almost as separate instruments is very different, even from the rest of his own organ compositions.
The organ used here has a beautifully soft sound, and Wilkinson selects carefully the stops used for each movement (these are all listed in the notes for organ specialists) to give variety of timbre. A very pleasing disc, and for a non-organ fan, Wilkinson’s effortless and even articulation of the complex three-part lines really brings out Bach’s daring use of the Trio Sonata form.
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The Tippett Quartet have added to the 150th celebrations of Vaughan Williams’ (1872-1958) birth with a strong recording of his two String Quartets, alongside Gustav Holst’s (1874-1934) Phantasy on British Folk Songs, Op. 36. The influence of Ravel can certainly be heard in the opening movement of Vaughan Williams’ String Quartet No. 1, and the Tippett Quartet deliver a suitably rich sound here.
TheString Quartet No. 2 was was dedicated to violist Jean Stewart, and the viola features heavily throughout. Lydia Lowndes-Northcott on viola here sets the tone for an expressive reading of the work. Holst’s Phantasy begins with a viola solo too, with ethereal violins joining in pentatonic mode, before the first violin leads off with a sprightlier version over meandering accompaniment. The Tippett Quartet’s performances here are exemplary, but it is the String Quartet No. 1 that sets this recording alight with energy and variety of expression.
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In a disc of songs by two lesser known contemporaneous English composers, Eric Thiman (1900-1975) and Michael Head (1900-1976), Emily Gray (mezzo-soprano) and Nicole Johnson (piano) do a great service in bringing their songs to our attention. Gray’s command of the range required here is impressive, and her pure light tone can be contrasted with power at the extremes of the register when required.
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Moving into unashamed Christmas territory, the Celestia Singers and Celestia Brass, conducted by David Ogden, with Rebecca Taylor on piano, have recorded Christmas Tidings, an album of choral pieces by Brian Knowles (b.1946). The more contemplative works here work better for me, such as the gentle setting of I Sing Of A Maiden, and Twelfth Night. The jollier numbers move more into John Rutter territory – so it depends whether you are a fan of that Christmas style or not. The performances here cannot be faulted, and the recorded sound is clear and warm throughout.
CONCERTS
Quatuor Arod. Credit: Marco Borggreve
The Quatuor Arod play Debussy, Mendelssohn and a work they commissioned by Benjamin Attahir (11am on Sunday, December 11 at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton). Tickets HERE
Leia Zhu
Kareem Hassan conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Smetana, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, with Leia Zhu (violin) (3pm on Sunday, December 11 at Congress Theatre, Eastbourne). Tickets HERE
Brighton Early Music Festival is back for a mini Christmas choral festival. The BREMF Consort of Voices, conducted by Deborah Roberts, sing music by Byrd, Sheppard and Tallis, including Tallis’ Christmas mass Puer natus est nobis(7.30pm on Friday, December 16 at St Martin’s Church, Brighton).
Then the BREMF Singers and BREMF Players, conducted by John Hancorn, perform a programme of French baroque music for the season, including Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit pour Noël, with soloists including Angela Hicks, Kieran White & Rory Carver (7.30pm on Saturday, December 17 at St Martin’s Church). Tickets HERE
Baroque Collective Singers
The Baroque Collective Singers perform Bach’s Singet dem Herrn, and music by Buxtehude, Praetorius, Britten and more (7.30pm on Wednesday, December 21 at St Michael’s Church, Lewes). Tickets HERE
Ailish Tynan
The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Bell, are joined by soprano Ailish Tynan for their New Year’s Eve Viennese Gala (2.45pm on Saturday, December 31 at Brighton Dome). Tickets HERE
American pianist Sarah Cahill returns with the second volume of her survey of keyboard music composed by women,The Future is Female. As with the first volume, the choice is eclectic, ranging from the late 17thcentury to the present day, and the loose theme this time is The Dance.
She opens with the delightful Suite No. 1 from Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s (1665-1729) Pièces de clavecin. Clara Schumann (1819-1896) is next, and her Variations of a theme of Robert Schumann, Op. 20. Cahill captures the atmosphere of this deeply personal composition with understated affection.
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We leap forward to 1957 for Germaine Tailleferre’s (1892-1983) Partita, with its wandering melodic lines and jazzy harmonies, and a playfully balletic dance to end. Later, theSt Petersburg Waltz by Meredith Monk (b.1942) swirls around repeated chords with Eastern European inflections, and Gabriela Ortiz’s (b.1964) Preludio y Estudio No. 3 is full of insistent driving rhythms.
The disc ends with a dramatically expressive piece, She Dances Naked Under Palm Trees, by Theresa Wong (b.1976), with haunting use of the pedal to create ringing notes, and a deeply unsettling 13-beat metre. As with the first disc, with such a fascinating and well-chosen selection of diverse works, it is easy to forget the pianist here, and once again Cahill demonstrates an impressive command of such a wide variety of styles, so as well as being a great testament to the women composers here, high praise is deserved for these performances too.
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999) was an English composer, oboist, pianist and conductor, studying the oboe at the Royal College of Music with Léon Goossens, and composition with Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams. Her youthful Oboe Concerto, Op. 20, expertly performed here by Juliana Koch, along with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rumon Gamba, is full of lively writing for the oboe, along with lyricism in the slow movement, folksy dancing melodies in its finale. But its strengths also lie in the delicacy of the scoring, with just muted strings in the central Andante, and mysterious string textures in the opening movement.
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There are two short orchestral works here too, firstly an Overture to a never completed opera, Chanticleer, Op. 28, and a dark elegy on war, Death on the Pale Horse, Op. 25(written in 1943), drawing inspiration from Blake’s painting of the same name.
The rest of the disc is given over to Gipps’ Symphony No. 3, Op. 57. The shifting tonalities of the opening movement, with rich string writing, builds to exhilarating, surging climaxes, and the Theme and Variations second movement is warm and lush, with highly imaginative use of percussion.
Again, unusual orchestral colour is on display in the Scherzo, with an ostinato (repeated figure) for harp and glockenspiel, against skittish string writing.
The finale is jaunty, with some striking moments for the brass – she certainly knows how to make the most of all parts of orchestral textures, and Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic exploit this to the full.
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Pianist Clare Hammond’s new disc of Études by Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836) is a complete revelation. Eight years younger than Mozart, Montgeroult, from a noble background, led a dramatic life involving a secret diplomatic mission, kidnap and imprisonment. Despite this, she was made professor of piano at Paris Conservatoire de Musique, and published nine sonatas, three fantasies, and herCours complet containing 114 études and over 900 exercises, as well as various other pieces.
Hammond has absorbed her soundworld and performs these gems with nuance, warmth and virtuosic fluidity throughout. Given that there are 29 études from the 114 here, there is surely scope for a follow-up, which would be greatly welcomed.
CONCERTS
Randall Goosby. Credit: Kaupo Kikkas
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, perform Brahms‘ Hungarian Dancesand Symphony No. 3, and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with Randall Goosby (violin) (7.30pm on Saturday, November 5 at Brighton Dome).
Carolyn Sampson. Credit: Marco Borggreve
The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth, perform Haydn and Mahler, and are joined by Carolyn Sampson (soprano) for a selection of Mozart Concert Arias(2.45pm on Sunday, November 27 at Brighton Dome).
The Paddington Trio play Judith Weir,Beethoven, Pärt and Shostakovich (11am on Sunday, November 20 at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts). Tickets HERE
Eirlys Myfanwy Davies
The Worthing Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Gibbons, perform Alwyn, Coates, Bair, Vaughan Williams and Elgar’s Sea Pictures, with Eirlys Myfanwy Davies (mezzo soprano) (2.45pm on Sunday, November 13 atAssembly Hall, Worthing). Tickets HERE
There have been a crop of recordings coming out of musicians’ exploits during lockdown, and violinist Sara Trickey is a strong addition to the field. Trickey posted weekly videos of solo violin music via YouTube, and as well as bringing her performances to new audiences, she enjoyed the communication from listeners too.
As the world returns to some sort of normality of performance, that intimacy of connection is something many performers are now missing. Trickey has recorded a range of repertoire here from those weekly videos, the majority being contemporary works, with several world première recordings and a number of compositions specifically written for her.
Music by Albéniz, Telemann and Prokofiev is joined by works by Norwegian composer Bjarne Brustad (1895-1978), Sally Beamish (b.1956), James Francis Brown (b.1969) and Errollyn Wallen (b.1958). David Matthew’s (b.1943) lyrical Prelude no. 12, Lyell Creswell’s (1944-2022) moving Lento contrast with Aleksey Igudesman’s (b.1973) energetically insistent Applemania – a fitting celebration perhaps of an end to lockdown. Overall, this is a fascinating survey of varied solo violin repertoire, and speaks of intense commitment and a desire to communicate, as well as clear virtuosic command from Trickey.
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Pianist Louis Lortie has reached Volume 7of his Chopin survey, and this volume contains a good spread of the Mazurkas, perhaps the quirkiest genre of Chopin’s (1810-1849) output. Four sets are joined by the delightful Rondo à la Mazur, Op. 5, the bouncing Boléro, Op. 19, a virtuosic playful Rondo, Op. 16 and a swirling Tarantelle, Op. 43. The Héroïque Polonaise, Op. 53carries suitable weight, but Lortie avoids overegging the pudding, maintaining a sense of dance amidst the heft. Another great volume in this strong survey.
PREVIEWS
The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) open their season with a strong American programme, conducted by Sian Edwards, beginning with Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and his Appalachian Spring Suite.
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The programme also includes Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with Joanna MacGregor (piano) (2.45pm, Sunday, October 2, Brighton Dome). Check out more on the BPO’s new season here.
Karina CanEllakis (credit: Eduardus Lee)
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karina Canellakis, perform Beethoven’sEroica Symphony, and Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, with Augustin Hadelich (violin) (7.30pm, Saturday, October 22, Brighton Dome). Tickets HERE
Ana de la Vega. (Pic credit: Andy Baker)
The London Philharmonic Orchestra also visit Eastbourne to play Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 1, with Ana de la Vega (flute), all conducted by Gábor Káli (3pm, Sunday, October 20, Congress Theatre).
The Quatuor Agate
The Quatuor Agate play Boccherini,Bartók & Brahms (11am, Sunday, October, 16, ACCA). Tickets HERE
Olivia Fraser
The Worthing Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Gibbons, perform Grieg, Vaughan Williams, Strauss and Alwyn’s Autumn Legend, with Olivia Fraser (cor anglais) (2.45pm, Sunday, October 2, Assembly Hall, Worthing). Tickets HERE
Ensemble Hesperi
Brighton Early Music Festival returns in October, with Music for St Michael from BREMF Consort of Music, including music by Josquin, Palestrina, Taverner and , October 2 (7.30pm, Saturday, October 2, St Martin’s Church, Brighton). Then later in the month you can hear Ensemble Hesperi performing Musing from the 18th Century Highlands (8pm, Wednesday, October 19, St Martin’s Church, Brighton).
Michele Pasotti and Alena Dantcheva
There’s a Masterclass for Young Singerswith Michele Pasotti and Alena Dantcheva from La Fonte Musica (8pm, Thursday, October 20, St George’s Church, Brighton), and the two masters perform music by Sigismondo d’India the next night (8pm, Friday, October 21, St George’s Church, Brighton). This year’s BREMF Live! ensembles showcase their stuff in the afternoon (3pm, Saturday, October 22, St George’s Church, Brighton) and at a club night show (9pm, The Rose Hill).
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Spiritato and the Marian Consort perform cantatas by Pachelbel, Knüpfer, Buxtehude and J C & J S Bach (7.30pm, Saturday, October 22, St Martin’s, St Martin’s Church, Brighton), and the festival closes with exquisite French music inLes Lullistes contre les Ramoneurs!from Ensemble Molière (7.30pm, Sunday, October 23, St Martin’s Church, Brighton)
A highlight of the 2019 Brighton Early Music Festival was Voice’s Hildegard Transfigured, with music by and inspired by St Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). The three singers (Emily Burn, Clemmie Franks & Victoria Couper) have been singing together since they were at school, and it shows – the effortless blend, despite their distinctive individual voices, and the precision of their combined ornamentation and sense of line is highly impressive, whether in the long, mellifluous lines of Hildegard’s souring antiphons, or in the virtuosic rhythmic demands of the contemporary companion works on this disc.
The suite that gives the disc its name, Hildegard Portraits, by Laura Moody (b.1978), consists of seven short movements that set texts from Hildegard’s letters, rather than from her devotional writings. In Humility, Emily Burn’s pure tone ‘flies on the wind’, in contrast to the more earthbound spoken text in which Hildegard describes herself as ‘a poor little woman’.
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Sermon is frankly quite scary, as the fervent tirade to the clerics of Cologne is delivered in gabbled fury, and the finale of the set, The Living Light, is a masterpiece of virtuosity, with its repetition, complex rhythms and hypnotic clashes. Elsewhere, each singer gets their own solo take on Hildegard, with Emily Burns ringing out above the soft drone in O virtus sapiente, Clemmie Franks’ rich, fuller tone giving warmth to O orzchis ecclesia, and Victoria Couper’s variety of bright tone and delicate ornamentation particularly effective inO mirum admirandum. In Tim Lea Young’s (b.1975) Three Wings: pt 1, written for the trio, the three watery lines weave and shift, with the vocal range spread wide across the voices.
Stevie Wishart has had a huge influence on these singers, so it is fitting that several works by her, some specifically arranged by Voice, appear here. The almost electronic, hocketed (where individual notes in a figure or line are split between voices) rhythms, combined with a soaring slow line in Aseruz trium vocum, and the multi-tracked spatial effects explored in O choruscans lux, as well as Wishart’s arrangements of some of Hildegard’s pieces, serve to show her influence, but also the range and virtuosity of this young ensemble. And they even get to explore folk and jazz timbres in Emily Levy‘s (b.1980) How sweetly you burn, with its opening plaintive callings, slides and bluesy turns, and the fade away on the text ‘never fade’.
Quite frankly, this is an astonishing display, both in terms of strong interpretations of Hildegard’s evocative music, and as a demonstration of virtuosic vocal talent in the contemporary works – highly recommended!
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And singer Victoria Couper crops up on another great new release, this time from Musica Secreta, directed by Laurie Stras. As a close supporter of the ensemble, I have to declare an interest in promoting this here, but it so worth the recommendation. Mother Sister Daughter explores music drawn predominantly from two Italian convents, Santa Lucia in Verona and San Matteo in Arcetri, uncovered by Stras in her research. And it was particularly her discovery of records in the latter, also the home of Suor Maria Celeste Galilei, Galileo’s daughter, that gave rise to much of the previously undiscovered music here.
The six female voices here are joined by Claire Williams (organ), Alison Kinder (bass viol) and Kirsty Whatley (harp). The music is rich and varied, and the performances are tender yet commanding. Two gloriously high-voiced sets of Vespers of St Clare, and one of Vespers of St Lucy are joined by works by Leonora d’Este, as well as Brumel and Mouton. The disc ends with The Veiled Sisters, a new composition for the group by Joanna Marsh (b.1970), which juxtaposes two texts, one modern and one 17th century.
The texts contrast a woman looking outwards into the light with the journey of a young woman into life in a convent, and the texts are sung concurrently, with high ringing voices contrasting the sombre lower lines, joined by the organ. The more modern choral dissonances exist within a sound world that still sits well with the rest of the disc’s repertoire, and it provides a striking end to the collection.
CONCERTS
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
The Worthing Symphony Orchestra perform Rossini, Dvorak‘s New World’ Symphony, and Rachmaninov‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (piano) (2.45pm, Sunday, September 4 at Assembly Hall, Worthing). For tickets, CLICK HERE
Brighton Early Music Festival returns in October, but they kick things off at the end of this month with a preview screening of their film of Francesca Caccini’s colourful and witty opera La liberazione di Ruggiero, filmed in the style of early film pioneer Georges Méliès. (8pm, Thursday, September 29, St George’s Church, Brighton). For tickets, CLICK HEREhttp://bremf.org.uk
Baroque Collective Singers
The Baroque Collective Singers, directed by John Hancorn, present the world premiere of Out Of My Head by Orlando Gough in outdoor venues around Lewes, in a series of flashmob-syle 20 minute performances – check their website for final details (Saturday, September 17, from 2pm). For tickets, CLICK HERE
Baritone Roderick Williams has joined with the Coull Quartet for a wonderful new recording of works for voice and string quartet. Surprisingly, despite the centrality of the string quartet in the chamber repertoire, works that put this together with voice are relatively rare.
At the centre of this disc is one of the most significant works, Samuel Barber‘s (1910-1981) Dover Beach. Here it receives a gloriously atmospheric performance, from the mysterious opening from the strings through to its dark, almost desperate climax. Williams relishes in the word-painting, highlighting the expression on words like tremulous, slow and sadness.
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Williams has then arranged two other of Barber’s songs here for string quartet accompaniment. This adds sensitive textures to Sleep Now, with a tender lullaby lilt in the strings, and disturbing interjections in the wintry central verse, with rumbles of unease remaining from the strings before the final peaceful cadence.
Sure on this Shining Night, which lends its title to the disc, is full of soft and tender wonder, with gently pulsing strings, and a delicate violin countermelody winding its way around Williams’ warm toned vocal line.
Following the Barber is Tree Carols, a set of five songs by Sally Beamish (b. 1956). The poetry (by Fiona Sampson) is full of dark imagery, colour and emotion, with dark simplicity expressing loss in The trees are troubled, and high, bright lines evoking starlight and ‘tree heaven’ in The tree is a changing sky.
Writing specifically for Williams, Beamish exploits the ease and bright tone of his higher registers, and the bloom of his high lines in The Miracle Tree which opens the set is contrasted wonderfully with the shimmering strings to create a sense of wonder.
At the start of the disc, Williams is joined by soprano Sophie Bevan and tenor James Gilchrist for a collection of songs by Peter Warlock (1894-1930). Warlock is probably best known for his Capriol Suite, The Curlew song cycle, or perhaps some of his boisterous drinking songs, but he wrote over 120 songs, as well as numerous choral pieces and works for voice and chamber ensembles.
There are a couple of duets here. Corpus Christisees a soft-toned Williams paired with mellow warmth from Bevan, against darkly sliding harmonies from the Coull Quartet, and in Sorrow’s Lullaby, Bevan is joined by Gilchrist, the two voices weaving with a violin line, strings muted throughout.
Elsewhere, Gilchrist brings a light bounce to Chopcherry and The Fairest May, and he floats lightly above the dancing strings in My lady is a pretty one. Bevan shows clarity and impressive control in the melodic leaps to high notes in A Sad Song, and sweet simplicity in My little sweet darling.
Williams is gently lyrical in Mourn no moe and suitably plaintive in Take, O take those lips away.
The disc ends with three more arrangements from Williams, this time of songs by Frederick Delius (1862-1934). In I-Brasil, the mystery of the mythical island is captured in the falling snap rhythmic figure, and Williams is suitably wistful in the sorrowful calls.
The open fifths at the start of Twilight Fanciess it particularly well with the strings here, sounding almost like horn calls, and Williams is atmospherically expressive above the rich string textures.
The accompaniment for the final song,Young Venevil, is playful and imaginative with bird-like violins, and Williams places the melody delicately above, with some effortlessly light top Gs. This is a fascinating disc, offering some delightful repertoire with top notch performance from singers and players alike.
Convivium Records CR074
In this short disc, Italian pianist Alberto Nones performs the three works by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) with Fantaisie in the title. Nones’ approach here is to somewhat strip away the virtuosic fireworks to reveal the precise detail that sometimes gets lost in more overtly showy performances. This is very evident in the fluid Fantasie-Impromptu, Op. 66.
The outer sections certainly flow here, apart from occasional halts in the momentum, and there is no compromise of tempo. The central section, however, could flow more, as there is extensive pulling about of the tempo here. But every detail can be heard, and the final section, whilst not as fiery as some other performances, is certainly impressive.
In Fantasie, Op. 49, Nones’ approach is perhaps more successful, with its gentle opening to the drama that unfolds in a somewhat matter of fact way. Nones gives weight where needed, but the chorale like sections have a gentle simplicity. Nones gives the Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61, a more stately, expectant opening, bridging well the transition from the recit-like statements into the flowing dance that finally gets going.
There is a lightness here that allows the dancing melody to sing out, and the build to the virtuosic conclusion is not rushed or obscured by excessive weight.
So whilst these might not be definitive recordings of these work, there is much to be savoured here in Nones’ refreshingly unfussy playing, revealing fresh insights into familiar works.
Convivium Records CR066
Somewhat slightly different territory for me now – another pianist recording with Convivium, but this time the Italian jazz pianist Matteo Bisbano Memmo.
Clearly a highly virtuosic pianist, he demonstrates this with some astonishing playing in the first half of the disc, a selection of standards, with a number of arrangements from the extraordinary Art Tatum. Here, Bisbano shows no fear, with rippling fluidity and startling virtuosity in Charlie Mingus‘ Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love, and the wild, fiendishly racing Tiger Rag.
There is some lightness of touch in Alfonsina Y El Mar, and softness in the rich chords of Yesterdays, but mostly the requirements of the extreme virtuosity does lead to a somewhat harshly percussive sound in places.
However, in the second half of the disc, Bisbano moves to a selection of his own compositions, and the mood is completely different. The virtuosity is still evident, in the driving energy of the extended composition, Metalknife, for example, but there is also more dynamic variety in the lively, urban Smokey Stogie, and enigmatic, more lyrical writing in Rose, for example.
He uses the open piano strings effectively at the mysterious start of Metalknife, and the atmospheric, slow-moving harmonies in Stardust Light are highly effective.
And what to finish with? Well, a cover of Metallica’s Master of Puppets, of course. He captures the relentless drive and percussive hammering here, once again with highly virtuosic playing, but there are also moments of sudden delicacy in the brief lyrical interludes.
Overall, this is an impressive display of virtuosic talent, but for me, it is in his more expressively varied own compositions that Bisbano’s pianistic voice shines.
You may have caught Cesca Eaton’s film Cuckmere: A Portrait back in the 2018 Brighton Festival, shown with a live score by Lewes-based composer Ed Hughes (B.1968) – I reviewed the recording of his score here back in April 2020. The local landscape continues to be an inspiration for his music, and his latest recording is titled Music for the South Downs. Once again there is a film connection – in 2021, Hughes was commissioned by the South Downs National Park Authority to provide a score for a film by Sam Moore celebrating the National Park’s 10th anniversary. This music formed the first movement of his Nonet, here in full, and you can view the film via Hughes’ website.
Métier Records msv28623
The Nonet is in three movements, for strings, flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet and piano, performed here by the New Music Players. The opening movement is obviously filmic, with a pastoral flow, gently pulsing brass and rippling violins creating a sense of calm motion.
There is a slight sense of ease in the second movement, despite its Tranquil marking, with its use of repeated notes like slightly agitated birdsong, and the atmosphere darkens as the movement progresses. Flowing motion returns in the final movement, with minimalist repletion of figures burbling below slow moving lines, and pulsing chords in the piano part.
This combination of steady momentum and lyrical atmosphere runs through the other works here too, with more immediate energy and swirling repletion in the opening movement of Flint, for example – requiring deft precision from the New Music Players. The Sussex landscape is here again, as well as a connection to a Sussex folk song transcribed by George Butterworth in 1912, which inspired the central slow movement. Its tonal lyricism is interrupted with occasional jarring interjections by the violin, disturbing the otherwise gentle calm. Unease is more prevalent in the final movement, with tonal themes trying to burst through the increasingly chromatic turbulence.
The two studies, Lunar I & Lunar II, were inspired by Isamu Noguchi’s sculptures, exhibited at the Barbican in 2021. There is a lilt to the first study, with lyrical lines weaving around darker harmonies, and the lilting triple time of the second study is put against insistent arpeggios, and swirling, rising flute lines, finally subdued for its quiet ending. Chroma is a single movement work for just strings, and Hughes makes great use of sudden dynamic changes to shift the energy here, from unsettled, quiet rumblings to insistent repeated rocking between chords, with a perpetual motion running beneath in the violins.
The final work here, The Woods So Wild, is for piano quartet, and is performed by the Primrose Piano Quartet. The title comes from a Tudor song Will Yow Walke the Woods soe Wylde, which also inspired Byrd and Gibbons to write variations, as well as Dowland, who quotes the tune in his Can She Excuse My Wrongs?.
Hughes’ piece explores the consolation provided by the landscape around us, and he began writing it during lockdown. There is a definite sense of consolation in the rippling piano part of the opening movement, with gentle string lines above. Hughes makes use of rich low piano textures in the middle movement, and the final movement has a rolling triple time, with tricky cross-rhythms and pulsing energy. There are strong performances throughout here, and Hughes’ music is always stimulating and full of contrast. Despite being largely landscape-inspired, he never gets stuck in creating a single pastoral atmosphere – there is a constant sense of life, movement and vibrant change here.
First Hand Records FHR120
And now for two Shostakovich Symphonies from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), conducted by Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez. Dmitri Shostakovich’s (1906-1975) Symphony No. 6, following the success of the fifth, promised originally a large-scale setting of a poem about Lenin, but in the event the symphony that he produced was purely instrumental.
The structure is also unusual, with a weighty opening slow movement taking up more than half of its duration, followed by two relatively short, faster movements. The moods are also highly contrasting. The Largo has a searing opening with brooding strings, and a keening flute, and instantly here the BBC NOW strings present an intense sound, achieving a sense of sadness without tipping over into a harshness of tone.
Lloyd-Gonzalez expertly steers the orchestra through this momentous movement, and the climax is full of heartfelt intensity. The contrast with the second movement couldn’t be stronger, with a tumbling clarinet leading into capering strings, with shrill woodwind outbursts, and here it is the BBC NOW woodwind players turn to shine, with adept playing throughout, particularly from the bassoons.
The finale sets off at a gallop, and dances along, leading to a bright, humorously crashing finish. Written in 1945, again, Shostakovich had trailed a different narrative for Symphony No. 9, that this would be a celebration of Soviet victory over the Nazis. But what transpired was altogether more complex, its neo-classical humour certainly not overtly heroic.
It opens in playful mood, with bustling strings against a sardonic piccolo theme, and punchy brass. Lloyd-Gonzalez keeps the insistent repetition motoring along to the end, and this is followed by a much more plaintive mood in the second movement, with a tentatively mournful clarinet solo followed by gently throbbing strings, and a lumbering rhythm. A typically Shostakovich gallop follows, with bright woodwind and precise articulation from the strings here. Not for the first time in this recording, the bassoon impresses, with a touching solo from Joshua Wilson. The finale has a building sense of energy, and the BBC NOW strings avoid their picky textures becoming too short. Lloyd-Gonzalez drives the momentum to the emphatic full orchestral climax, and a fiendishly galloping coda brings things to a lively end. These are strong performances of these two tricky symphonies, and I look forward to seeing more from Lloyd-Gonzalez.
CONCERTS
John Hancorn and Julia Bishop
Lewes Baroquefest is back – 20-23 July at St Michael’s Church, Lewes. The festival, directed by John Hancorn and Julia Bishop, opens with A Baroque Bouquetfrom Trio ZAC, with music by Purcell, Locke, Handel and Bach (6.30pm, Wednesday, 20 July). The Baroque Collective Singers are then joined by soprano Alexandra Kidgell for Purcell Anthems and Songs(9pm, Wednesday, 20 July).
Then there’s an evening of baroque chamber music including music by Cavalli, Corelli and Vivaldi from Alison Bury & Julia Bishop (violins), Catherine Rimer (cello) & Claire Williams (harpsichord) (6.30pm, Thursday, 21 July). They are followed by Baroque Alchemyfrom Piers Adams (recorders) and Lyndy Mayle (keyboard) (9pm, Thursday, 21 July).
Incantati
Baroque ensemble incantati present A Garland of Arias and Sinfoniasfrom Bach, along with arrangements of traditional Ukrainian and Romanian music (6.30pm, Friday, 22 July) – check out my review last month of their new Bach recording. More Bach follows, with two of his Cello Suites performed by Sebastian Comberti (cello) (9pm, Friday, 21 July).
And the festival ends with the Baroque Collective Singers returning, joined by The Baroque Collective, for a performance including Handel’s Four Coronation Anthems, alongside more Handel and Pachelbel’s Canon (7pm, Saturday, 23 July). For more info, CLICK HERE
Mark Andrew James
The Sussex Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mark Andrew James, presents A Celebration of Tchaikovsky, with excerpts from Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, the Piano Concerto Nol 1, the Violin Concerto and the Symphonies, with Tchaikovsky (Jamie Martin) being interviewed by Sally Taylor, and soloists including PavlosCarvalho (cello) and Simon Ballard (piano) (3pm, Sunday, 10 July at Brighton Dome). For more info, CLICK HERE
Chamber choir Brighton16 perform music by Brahms, Strauss, Schoenberg, Ethel Smyth and more in Towards Expressionism (7pm, Saturday, 9 July at St Michael & All Angels Church, Brighton – free admission). For more info, CLICK HERE
In 2018, conductor John Wilson relaunched the Sinfonia of London, a session orchestra with a long history, particularly in recording film music, and for their second recording with Chandos, they focus on German and Austrian composers, post World War II. Richard Strauss (1864-1949) composed hisMetamorphosen, for 23 solo strings in 1945, and it is a heartfelt elegy and a musical realisation in many ways of the horrors that had been experienced in the preceding war.
Chandos CHSA5292
The Sinfonia of London strings here produce a deeply resonant and rich sound, and Chandos deserve credit for achieving precision in the balance, especially when all 23 lines are active. No detail is obscured, and Wilson steers the dynamic swells expertly too. In Strauss there are many climactic moments, and it can lose direction, but here there is a definite trajectory to the warmer major passionate centre, before the opening tragic lamenting material returns following a sudden violent stop. Yet despite the title, there is no metamorphosis into a positive new world – Strauss marks the end In Memoriam, and the subside into quiet darkness is achingly sad.
Sinfonia of London
The short Intermezzo for String Orchestra, Op. 8by Franz Schreker (1878-1934) is an interesting work, with an opening reminiscent of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (written at around the same time), but moments of sweet, pastoral string writing too, and perhaps less overall bite. It is given a richly sensitive reading here, with Wilson’s attention to dynamic contrasts providing shape to its overt romanticism.
The second half of the disc is given over to the Symphonische Serenade, op. 39 by Erich Korngold (1897-1957). This was composed just before Korngold returned to Austria from the US, during which time he had carved out a successful career in Hollywood, pretty much establishing the Hollywood movie soundworld of the time. Its opening movement shows an immediate shift from the more obvious ‘Hollywood’ sound, with some strident harmonies and tensely dramatic writing.
John Wilson conductor
The second movement Intermezzo has virtuosic pizzicato writing, and here the Sinfonia of London players excel, with tight ensemble and rhythmic energy, making the strange brief interjections of glassy bridge bowing and swoops stand out even more. The Lento religioso is heartfelt, but with a Mahlerian profundity that is arresting, and Wilson and the players give this sumptuous weight without any wallowing, and the repeated notes throb with insistent intensity. The violent outburst which interrupts the solace of the central solo passage is positively shocking here, and Wilson certainly extracts maximum drama from the score.
The Finale sets off at a cracking pace, and is full of urgent energy. Wilson and the Sinfonia of London are highly impressive throughout these performances, bringing energy, precision and a glorious string sound to this rich repertoire.
First Hand Records FHR122
Now for Bach with a difference. The ensemble incantati, which consists of Emma Murphy (recorders), Rachel Stott (viola d’amore) and Asako Morikawa (viola da gamba), have collected together a selection of J. S Bach’s (1685-1750) keyboard works to perform in various combinations of instruments. Pianists will be familiar with the Two-Part Inventions and Sinfonias – basically pieces with two and three separate lines, with an educational intent, to develop playing the independent lines together.
Asako Morikawa
The same applies to his Trio Sonatas, or Organ Trios as they were actually written, which involve three parts – essentially two hands and the feet. In playing these with two or three separate instruments, immediately the individual lines come into their own, and no fluidity is lost through trying to negotiate playing them together on a keyboard. But it is in the different timbres of the instruments that add something new here. And that’s where the flexibility of Murphy’s different recorders and voice flutes is a bonus – so sometimes a warm tenor recorder is matched with the sonorous viola da gamba, or a brighter soprano recorder is paired with the slightly more brittle sound of the viola d’amore.
Emma Murphy
They are also careful here in their selection, with the darker, more sombre pieces (eg. the Sinfonia No. 4, or the mournfully sighing No. 9) contrasted with the bright, lighter examples (Inventions Nos. 1and 2, for example). There are also beautiful renditions of Bach’s chorale tune arrangements, such as the prayerfully liltingAllein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, and the joyful, dancing Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend.
They end their disc with the Trio Sonata No. 3, with more virtuosic lines for the alto recorder in its first movement, a lightly singing central movement, and a bright (if slightly stately for ‘vivace’) finale. This is then followed by a wonderfully graceful reading of the Aria from the Goldberg Variations, with the viola d’amore this time taking centre stage, and the tenor recorder and viola da gamba providing subtle inner and lower lines. A delightful collection, highly recommended.
CONCERTS
Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF) – Midsummer Season
Following a highly successful midsummer season last year, BREMF are back this summer with a weekend of events exploring Transition, which will form a year-round theme for the festival.
The weekend begins with In Transit to the Baroque– ensemble In Echo perform music by Semisy, Willaert, Bertali and Frescobaldi, exploring instrumental music’s journey from the Renaissance into the Baroque periods (7.30pm, Friday, June 24, St Bartholomew’s Church, Brighton).
BREMF Consort of Voices
Later that night, BREMF Consort of Voices perform sacred music and chant from the night Offices of Compline and Matins, with music by Tye, Tallis, White, Sheppard, Browne, Palestrina and Victoria (9pm, Friday, June 24, St Bart’s).
Puppets and instruments combine for a performance by Rust & Stardust for ‘primary-aged children and the young in spirit’ – Endo the Earthwormexplores nature in transition, with two performances (Saturday, June 25, 11am at Royal Spa, Brighton and 2.30pm at The Crew Club, Whitehawk).
Joglaresa
Joglaresa are joined by the BREMF Community Choir for ¡Bailemos!, celebrating in style the legacy of founder Belinda Sykes, who sadly passed away recently. Expect a joyful party of music-making! (5pm, Saturday, June 25, Royal Spa).
Folk in Transition explores music from the British Isles to the New World, with traditional ballads, Irish jugs, Scottish reels and Appalachian bluegrass, performed by Brighton folk trio Hope Cove (8pm, Saturday, June 25, Royal Spa).
Aradhana Arts
Aradhana Arts perform Indian classical music and dance in The Daksha Yagna, a powerful mythological story from the ancient Hindu scriptures (3pm, Sunday, June 26, Royal Spa).
And the Midsummer Season ends with Fair Oriana peforming Eliza is the Fairest Queen, with popular songs from the reigns of two queen Elizabeths, including Tudor-tinted arrangements of Vera Lynn, Aretha Franklin and The Beatles (6pm, Sunday, June 26, Royal Spa).
Fair Oriana
Some tickets voluntary, with suggested donations or pay what you can – check for details.
Chamber choir Brighton16 perform Tales of Love, the world premiere of a new English translation by Matt Jelf and Christopher Goldsack of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes (5pm, Saturday, June 4, Brighthelm Centre, Brighton – free admission).
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.
Chandos CHAN20218
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.
TheString 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.
First Hand Records FHR127
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.
CONCERTS: BRIGHTON FESTIVAL
Pavel Haas Quartet (credit Marco Borggreve)
The Pavel Haas Quartet join pianist Boris Giltburg to perform Piano Quintets by Brahms and Dvořák, and Giltburg also performs Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No 2 (3pm, Sunday, May 8 at Glyndebourne).
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Brighton & East Sussex Youth Orchestra are joined by pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and conductor Peter Davison in the Piano Concerto and Third Symphony by African–American composer Florence Price, alongside Gershwin’sAn American in Paris (7.30pm, Monday, May 9 at Brighton Dome).
Contemporary instrumentalists Riot Ensemble perform music by Xenakis and Kaija Saariaho, as well as Brighton-based composers Peter Copley and Patrick Harrex, and new generation composers Outi Tarkianen and Anthony R. Green (6pm, Wednesday, May 11 at All Saints, Hove).
The Marian Consortcombine the Baroque magnificence of Schütz’s Musikalische Exequienwith the world premiereof specially commissioned work bycontemporary Irish composer David Fennessy (8.30pm, Friday, May 13 at All Saints, Hove).
Marta Gardolińska (credit: Stephan Polzer)
As part of her UK debut, Polish-born conductor, Marta Gardolińska conducts theLondon Symphony Orchestra in music by Lili Boulanger, and Tchaikovsky, as well as Marc-Andre Dalbavie’s Concerto for Flute (with the LSO’s principal flautist Gareth Davies as soloist), and Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov’s Prayer for Ukraine. (8pm, Thursday, May 19 at Brighton Dome).
Iestyn Davies
La Nuova Musica join forces with countertenor Iestyn Davies, for a concert of arias and instrumental music in Handel‘s Unsung Heroes, conducted byDavid Bates (8pm, Friday, May 20 at Brighton Dome.)
In Damascus, a moving elegy for Syria from composer Jonathan Dove, is performed by tenor James Gilchrist and the Sacconi Quartet. Set to words by the Syrian poet Ali Safar it provides a vivid account of life in a war-torn country (6pm, Thursday, May 26 at All Saints, Hove). This is followed by a concert by oud player, Rihab Azar, of classical and contemporary Syrian and broader Middle Eastern music (8.30pm, Thursday, May 26 at All Saints, Hove.)
Ilan Volkov (Credit: Astrid Ackermann)
The Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov, with soloists Gweneth-Ann Rand, Duncan Rock, and the Brighton Festival Chorus perform Kaija Saariaho’s Oltra Mar and Vaughan Williams‘A Sea Symphony (8pm, Sunday, May 29 at Brighton Dome).
All Saints, Hove and Brighton Dome lunchtime concerts feature countertenor Hugh Cutting (Tuesday, May 10), pianist Joe Howson (Wednesday, May 11), violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux (Thursday, May 12), Ukrainian pianist Alexei Grynyuk (Thursday, May 19), Glyndebourne’s Jerwood Young Artists (Friday, May 20) and French harpsichordist Béatrice Martin (Wednesday, May 25).
Lunchtime concerts at Brighton Unitarian Church include Lyndsay Jeffery (clarinet) & Nick Andrews (piano) playing Weber and Paul Reade (12.30pm, Friday, May 6) and Simone AlessandroTavoni (piano) playing Schubert, Mompou & Chopin (12.30pm, Friday, May 20).
Sussex Flutes perform Mozart, Piazzolla and Beeftink (5.30pm, Saturday, May 21 at St Laurence Church, Falmer).
Greenwich Trio
Concerts at the Chapel Royal, Brighton include Imogen Whitehead (trumpet) & Jennifer Walsh (piano) (1.10pm, Tuesday, May 10), the Greenwich Piano Trio playing Brahms (1.10pm, Tuesday, May 10), and the Zoffany Ensemble performing Mahler & Brahms (1.10pm, Tuesday, May 31).
The Sussex Symphony Orchestra perform Fire & Fury: Gala Concert, with music by Wagner, Shostakovich, Mussorgsky & Stravinsky (7.30pm, Saturday, May 21, All Saints, Hove).
Ivan Hovorun
And concerts at St Nicholas Church, Brighton include a recital celebrating women composers, poets and characters by Mehreen Shah (soprano & piano) (2pm, Wednesday, May 11), Ivan Hovorun (piano) playing Beethoven, Mendelssohn & Schumann (2pm, Wednesday, May 18), and Daria Robertson (soprano), Nicholas Buxton (tenor) & Zhanna Kemp (piano) in a programme of well-known arias & duets (2pm, Wednesday, May25).
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