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CLASSICAL NOTES: Nick Boston tunes into the best classical music

Posted on by Nick Boston

REVIEWS

Philippe Grisvard: Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch: Works for Keyboard (Audax ADX13725)

Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch (1736-1800) shared the position of harpsichordist to Frederick II with CPE Bach, and was also responsible for establishing the Singakademie in Berlin, which was chiefly responsible for the rediscovery of JS Bach’s music which by then had fallen into obscurity.

Philippe Grisvard has recorded a selection of Fasch’s keyboard works, performing them on a gloriously ringing fortepiano from around 1790. The disc includes three of Fasch’s Sonatas, and several short ‘character’ pieces, ending with a wonderful Ariette with Fourteen Variations.

The B flat minor Sonata has a dramatically rippling opening, and continues with almost perpetual motion, with falling arpeggios dropping to a sombre trill at the bass of the keyboard. In its slow movement, the rich lower tones of Grisvard’s instrument are warmly echoey, and the trumpet-like repeated notes ring out almost like an organ stop.

Whilst conventional in structure, its finale has drama too in its fantasia-like explosion before the return of the opening material. The C major Sonata is full of Viennese gentility, despite its challenging hand crossing, and an expressive central movement is followed by a fiery yet playful finale, with its stop-start rhythms.

Grisvard creates such a variety of tones here, from the sound of a music box in the quieter sections to a guitar-like sound at the light, hiccupping finish. Of the character pieces, L’Antoine perhaps stands out, with Grisvard again bringing out its mournful expressiveness with the muted tone of the instrument. La Cecchina is delightful, with its sudden runs and pleasing melodic material. But it is the Ariette and its variations that prove to be the real demonstration of Fasch’s inventiveness, taking the graceful and delicate theme through a gentle dance (3), perpetual spinning wheel motion (4), dramatic statements (7) and rich repeated chords (13) to mention just a few.

Grisvard is on a roll here, and shifts effortlessly from variation to variation, shifting from a gently rocking lilt to rapid top to bottom scales with effortless smoothness.

Fasch ends with a rattling motion, and Grisvard’s clattering chords bring this to a suitably striking conclusion. The combination of some delightfully inventive keyboard music, the surprisingly versatile and sonorous fortepiano, and Grisvard’s virtuosity combined with delicacy and lightness of touch make this recording a resounding hit.

Simon Callaghan, BBC NOW, Martyn Brabbins: British Piano Concertos (Lyrita SRCD407)

Pianist Simon Callaghan joins the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), conducted by Martyn Brabbins, for a great selection of obscure British Piano Concertos. John Addison’s (1920-1998) Wellington Suite kicks things off, and this is a great, playful romp. Scored for two horns, piano, percussion and strings, the horns actually take centre stage with some really challenging and rapid exchanges, deftly handled here by Tim Thorpe and Meilyr Hughes.

Written in 1959, we can hear the film music that Addison was best known for (eg. Reach for the Sky, A Taste of Honey). He relocated to Los Angeles in 1975 – receiving an Emmy for his signature tune for Murder, She Wrote. There are cartoon capers in the opening movement, with sliding piano lines and bright horns. The horns are slinkier in the more reflective second movement, with delicate piano pecks over gentle strings, before concluding with a lumbering march. Delicate pizzicato strings, played with great control by the BBC NOW build towards an almost Shostakovich-like comic second section. A light, halting waltz ends with vaudeville piano tremolos, before a playfully jaunty ride lead by the horns, with quickening pace in the piano and strings exchanges to finish.

Australian born Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960) studied and later taught at the Royal College of Music (RCM), where Britten was one of his pupils. His Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (1927) was influenced by the popularity of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and its single movement has its bluesy movements courtesy of the addition of an alto saxophone. Callaghan delivers the racing light piano ripples and the wandering cadenza towards the end with elegant panache.

Arthur Benjamin

Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) was another RCM alumnus, and was an important figure in the world of new music composition, becoming the first woman chair of the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain in 1959, and the president of the Society for the Promotion of New Music in 1976, succeeding Britten. Her Concertino for Piano and String Orchestra (1949) is dramatic and virtuosic for the piano, with angular strings and intense, insistent rhythms throughout. The middle movement has more lyricism, but here still the jagged rhythmic knocks are unsettling. Insistence continues in the final movement, with rapid motion passed between piano and orchestra, and repetition of ideas hammering home its darkly infectious spirit.

Edmund Rubbra’s (1901-1986) Nature’s Song, a tone poem for orchestra, piano and organ (1920) is perhaps the most immediately engaging work here, with its filmic, rich scoring and expressive melodic lines. The sea’s ‘rich roar’ surges in the strings, and Callaghan is particularly expressive in the solo section towards the end, before the flute and oboe rise up to the sky over quiet strings to finish.

Geoffrey Bush’s (1920-1998) A Little Concerto on themes of Thomas Arne (1939) is definitely of its time, yet his delicate arrangement of music taken several of Arne’s Harpsichord Sonatas and the Keyboard Concerto No. 3 is surprisingly delicate and refined. He keeps the textures relatively light, and here Callaghan weaves the piano part, often running in octaves, around the bare string textures. Overall, this is a fascinating collection. With a range of styles on offer, the Rubbra and Maconchy stand out for their overall depth, but the Addison is a comic gem.

CONCERTS

Jess Gillam (credit: Robin Clewley)

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) perform Mussorgsky, Ravel, and Glazunov’s Concerto for Saxophone, with Jess Gillam (saxophone), conducted by Finnegan Downie-Dear (7.30pm on Saturday, April 23 at Brighton Dome). For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Daniel Pioro (credit: David James Grinly)

The LPO then hop over to Eastbourne to play Coleridge-Taylor, Vaughan Williams and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with Daniel Pioro (violin), this time conducted by Tom Gauterin (3pm on Sunday, April 24 at Congress Theatre, Eastbourne. For tickets, CLICK HERE

Cristian Grajner de Sa

The Worthing Symphony Orchestra perform Romantic Classics, including Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with Cristian Grajner de Sa (violin), conducted by guest conductor, Hilary Davan Wetton (2.45pm on Sunday, April 24 at Assembly Hall, Worthing). For tickets, CLICK HERE

John Hancorn

The Baroque Collective Singers perform Music for Passiontide, with Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater and music by Byrd, Gibbons and Tallis, conducted by John Hancorn (5pm on Sunday, April 3 at St Peter’s Church in Firle, and 5pm on Sunday, April 10 at St Michael’s Church in Lewes). For tickets, CLICK HERE

MORE INFO

For more reviews, comment and events, CLICK HERE  

Twitter @nickb86uk

Email – nbclassical@hotmail.co.uk

CLASSICAL NOTES: Nick Boston tunes into the best classical music

Posted on by Nick Boston

In the month of International Women’s Day, I am happy to say that by chance rather than design, I have ended up with three great recordings to review, as well as a range of concert listings, that feature no fewer than 14 women composers, four women conductors and ten women performers. This shouldn’t be unusual, yet it still us – but it’s a sign of some progress that I haven’t explicitly gone looking for this. Credit should also go to the three recordings’ shared record company, First Hand Records, for supporting such a diverse range of music composed and performed by women.

REVIEWS

Vision | Unsung Heroine – The Telling (First Hand Records FHR123). Late last year, The Telling released a new album, partly in response to the very sad and sudden loss of singer Ariane Prüssner earlier that year. The album consists of two soundtracks to ‘concertplays’, something the group have become so well known for. Vision is the imagined testimony of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), and Unsung Heroine charts the imagined life and love of troubadour Beatriz de Dia, who was possibly born in the early 1140s and died around 1212.

You may have caught both of these concertplays over the years in Brighton, as the other lead singer and founder of The Telling, Clare Norburn, was also founder and co-director for many years of Brighton Early Music Festival. The music on this recording consists of soundtracks for film versions of the plays made in 2020 following the first lockdown. Both soundtracks are testament to the chemistry of Claire Norburn’s souring soprano and Ariane Prüssner’s rich, deep mezzo-soprano, so passionately expressive when combined. In Vision, they explore the beauty but also the pain of Hildegard’s often shocking visions. There are moments of ecstasy, such as when Norburn’s solo line bursts forth above the simple harp accompaniment (Jean Kelly on medieval harp here) in Ave generosa, or when Prüssner’s rich tones circle and wind passionately in Columba aspexit.

In Unsung Heroine, we enter the world of the troubadour, with a whole range of songs drawing on Beatrix de Dia’s poetry, some with existing vocal lines, some borrowed from other songs of the time. There’s lots of forbidden love and jealousy here, as well as the distress of betrayal, the latter evocatively expressed by Norburn’s rise to stratospheric heights in Estat ai en greu cossirier (‘I have been in a state of great distress’). Prüssner on the other hand gives us the passion of two lovers and a jealous husband, and a love that can never be, in Kalenda mia (‘May Day’), here accompanied by harp (Joy Smith) and the medieval bowed string instrument, the vielle (Giles Lewin). This disc is a wonderful testament to these two rich explorations of contrasting medieval music, but more importantly to the deep musical partnership between two exceptional singers, one now sadly lost to us.

The Future is Female, Vol. 1 – Sarah Cahill (First Hand Records FHR131). American pianist Sarah Cahill has released the first volume of a three volume series, The Future is Female, aiming to celebrate women composers right from the 17th century through to the present day. In the first volume, loosely themed In Nature, the ten composers hail from across the globe, and there are a number of premiere recordings here. The works are presented chronologically, so we begin with a graceful and expressive Keyboard Sonata from Anna Bon (1739/40-after 1767).

Born in Venice, she composed for Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia in Bayreuth, then later sang in Haydn’s ensemble at the court of Esterházy. Sadly, but not untypically, all record of her disappears after her marriage to an Italian singer. Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s (1805-1847) story is not dissimilar – despite being a child prodigy alongside her brother Felix, their father discouraged any ambition for Fanny as a composer, and once married, although she continued to compose in private, it was only after her death that her work began to be published. Here, Cahill plays two of her Vier Lieder, the rippling and poignantly expressive No. 1, with its turbulent, swirling left hand, and the gently throbbing No. 3, Cahill delivering the yearning melody with great lyricism here.

Space won’t allow for discussion of all the pieces here, so I must focus on highlights, such as the turbulent waves around a constant chugging rhythm in Venezuelan composer Teresa Carreño’s (1853-1917) Un rêve en mer, or the brightly evocative bird song over dark chords in Fannie Dillon’s (1881-1947) Birds at Dawn. Agi Jambor’s (1909-1997) Piano Sonata: To the Victims of Auschwitz is unsurprisingly dark, with hammering repeated low octaves and nagging repetition, urgent driving rhythms, and then ghostly pianissimo tinkles at the top of the keyboard and a final deathly quiet chord to finish.

Deirdre Gribbin (b.1967) explores the dark side of her adopted home of London in Unseen, with insistent, shaking urgency and dark, fearful undertones, before a moment of almost motionless calm. This is an impressive collection, with Cahill effortlessly traversing a phenomenal range of styles, even contributing her voice reciting a poem by Ruth Crawford Seeger in Eve Beglarian’s (b.1958) Fireside. Her exemplary performances here also serve to celebrate the variety of music composed by women over centuries excluded from the classical ‘canon’, and the next volume is eagerly awaited.

Cabinet of Wonders, Volume 2 – Kinga Ujszászi & Tom Foster (First Hand Records FHR121). I very much enjoyed the first volume of violinist Kinga Ujszászi and harpsichordist Tom Foster’s exploration of the riches of an amazing archive from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Cabinet of Wonders, and now they’re back with another volume of delights.

The archive has miraculously survived all that time in Dresden, and is known as Schrank II after the cabinet in which it was stored. This volume presents us with music by Martino Bitti (1655/56-1743), Henricus Albicastro (c.1660-1730), Carlo Fiorelli (c.1673-unknown), and two works of uncertain origin, but possibly attributable to Girolamo Laurenti (1678-1751) and Antonio Montanari (1676-1737). I have to confess only the last of these names was at all familiar to me, but there is some delightful and inventive music on offer here.

Bitti’s Dresden Sonatas (of which three are performed here) have delicate grace and lively, bouncy faster movements. There are harmonically relatively conventional, but Bitti explores the higher register of the violin to great effect in the second Allegro of the Sonata No. 4. There are some slightly more interesting harmonic shifts in No. 1’s middle movement, which dances along nicely, and there is great rapid interplay between violin and harpsichord, a 10th apart, in the opening movement. No.5’s final Gigue is lively, with the harpsichord trilling like a strumming guitar.

Albicastro’s offering has a mournfully lyrical opening, as well as rapid figuration and imitation between the instruments in the middle movement. The Laurenti is perhaps the most overtly virtuosic for the violin, but it is the Montanari that stands out for me, with its sliding chromatic lines, frequent tempo changes, and delicate joint figurations from the two instruments.

Ujszászi’s virtuosity is without doubt, but she is also alive to the more lyrical and expressive moments, and brings a graceful lightness to even the more conventional passages. There is clear unanimity between Ujszászi and Foster throughout, whether when imitating one another, or when in rapid runs together as in the Bitti. Given there are around 1,750 works in Schrank II, I think we can confidently expect more volumes from these two talented players.

CONCERTS

JOANNA MACGREGOR

The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Joanna MacGregor present Silent Classics at Brighton Dome, with Neil Brand (pianist, film historian & composer), with live music performed to the Buster Keaton classic One Week, and Oliver Twist, starring Jackie Coogan & Lon Chaney (2.45pm, Sunday, March 6). They return later in the month for Elgar, Mozart and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, with Joanna MacGregor now on the piano, and Sian Edwards conducting (2.45, Sunday, March 27). For tickets, CLICK HERE 

HOLLY MATHIESON

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs Williams, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninov‘s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with Martin James Bartlett (piano), conducted by Holly Mathieson (7.30pm, Saturday, March 12 at Brighton Dome; 3pm, Sunday, March 13 at Congress Theatre, Eastbourne).

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

The Worthing Symphony Orchestra performs Mainly Mozart, including the Concerto for flute and harp (with soloists Monica McCarron & Elizabeth Green), the Piano Concerto No. 6 with Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (piano) and Elgar & Haydn also on the programme (2.45pm, Sunday, March 13, Assembly Hall, Worthing). For tickets, CLICK HERE

Brighton Early Music Festival celebrates Early Music Day with a concert of Renaissance Music on a Grand Scale, including Brumel’s Earthquake Mass, and music by Robert Carver, performed by the BREMF Consort of Voices and members of the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, conducted by Deborah Roberts (7.30pm, Sunday, March 20, St Martin’s Church, Brighton). For tickets, CLICK HERE

For more reviews, comment and events, CLICK HERE  

Twitter @nickb86uk

Email – nbclassical@hotmail.co.uk

 

CLASSICAL NOTES: Nick Boston tunes into the best classical music

Posted on by Nick Boston

REVIEWS

Johannes Pramsohler and Ensemble Diderot: The Beginnings Of The Violin Concerto In France (Audax ADX13782)

Violinist Johannes Pramsohler has done it again with another collection exploring yet more fascinating early repertoire. This time his focus is on the beginnings of the violin concerto in France, and he’s joined by Ensemble Diderot. He explores how France was essentially late to the party, resisting the prevailing Italian style of virtuosic violin concertos of Vivaldi and Corelli and others. Jacques Aubert (1689-1753) eventually found a way to marry the styles, and in the two Concertos from his Op. 26 set recorded here, he concludes both with longer movements drawing on typical French forms (a Chaconne in No. 3 and a ringing Carillon in No. 4).

High ornamentation in the solo violin part of No. 3 certainly lifts its relative conventionality, and the gently dancing second movement has a watery solo line too. But it is in the Ciaconna that Pramsohler takes flight, impressive as ever in the virtuosic demands of the solo part’s string-crossing arpeggios and high lines ringing out above the running bass part.

Similarly in No. 4, in the Carillon, the Ensemble Diderot ring out, with a rattling violin part from Pramsohler swirling around the bells, leading to an unexpectedly quiet conclusion. Jean-Marie-Leclair’s (1697-1764) contribution here, in a world premiere recording of his Concerto in E flat major, certainly matches the virtuosic solo part with some real delicacy of expression in the slow movement. The challenging virtuosity of the Presto occasionally breaks up the flow of the rhythm, but the payoff is an exciting show of technique, with a shuddering accompaniment from the ensemble.

Johannes Pramsohler by Paul Foster Williams

Jean-Baptiste-Quentin’s (c.1690-c.1742) Concerto Op. 12 No. 1 has an older stylistic feel in its opening Largo. It has more spring in its step in its two faster movements, but there is also a delightful arioso third movement, with Pramsohler singing out over a sparse accompaniment.

In another world premiere recording, the players present André-Joseph Exaudet’s (1710-1762) Concerto à cinq instruments, with its high, winding melodic solo lines, strange harmonic turns and dramatic cadenza passages. Pramsohler gives the finale his all – there is rattling, scraping, and rocking arpeggios in the borderline violent tarantella-like virtuosity on display here.

Calm is perhaps restored in the final work here, Michel Corrette’s (1707-1795) Concerto comique No. 25. The strings are joined by a flute, and the feeling is definitely French, with Corrette arranging two famous melodies, separated by a delicate flute and harp rendition of another well-known melody, accompanied by gentle pizzicato strings. Another fascinating exploration from Pramsohler and the Ensemble Diderot, performed as always with commitment, energy and great virtuosity.

Jamie W Hall & Paul Plummer: Franz Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin (Convivium CR063)

Baritone Jamie W. Hall has an established career as concert soloist, ensemble singer, and member of the BBC Singers, the only full-time professional British choir.

Like many performers, the pandemic has had a dramatic effect on his performing life, and in the early lockdown periods, he shared a regular series of solo performances, at home at his piano, in his dressing gown (#BathrobeRecitals on Twitter).

He also, along with fellow singers, streamed some wonderful song recitals on YouTube (Proud Songsters), with Hall performing a range of repertoire. But it was his performance, with pianist Paul Plummer, of Schubert’s (1797-1828) Die Schöne Müllerin that stood out for me.

Hall has clearly grasped the enforced restrictions on his musical life and turned them into an opportunity to explore the music in depth, developing his approach to the work to the extent that he then decided to record his interpretation, launching a Crowdfunding campaign (which I supported on the back of that online performance).

Jamie W Hall

At over an hour in duration, Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin is an ambitious undertaking. It tells the tale of a travelling young man who falls in love with a miller’s daughter, only to be usurped by a huntsman, and the tale doesn’t end well, with our travelling man in despair drowning himself in the brook. The brook features large throughout the cycle, with watery, rippling piano accompaniments.

Schubert shifts the moods both harmonically and lyrically, and the singer must demonstrate a great range of emotions, from simple delight in nature early on, to tenderness, longing, full on passion, through to jealousy, even anger and ultimately desperation. Hall captures this wonderfully, and draws us into the tale from the outset, with a tender lightness of touch in the opening song, Das Wandern.

Hall gives us that sense of surprise and wonder in Halt! in the melody’s lilting swing, over the piano’s clatter of the turning mill wheels. Then as he falls in love with the miller’s daughter, Hall injects a sense of urgency and impatience in Ungeduld, as Plummer’s piano accompaniment stutters anxiously.

Paul Plummer. Photo Mike Cooter

Passion builds in the turbulent Mein!, with an edge added to Hall’s warm tone, and the burbling brook has returned in the piano part. Later, Hall delivers the rapid text of Der Jäger with an air of breathlessness as the traveller see the threat of his rival, and this turns to jealousy, anger, fear and ultimately desperation in Eifersucht und Stolz (Jealousy and Pride).

But in the end, there is a tired resignation in Der Müller und der Bach, as he takes comfort in the brook, before the disturbingly calm final lullaby, Des Baches Wiegenlied.

Hall captures this range of emotions well, and tells the tragic tale with remarkable clarity as a result. The combination of Hall’s delivery and Schubert’s exquisite mood-painting is so transparently communicative throughout. I look forward to his Winterreise soon!

CONCERTS

Junyan Chen

The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Barry Wordsworth returns to conduct the European Connection, with music by Mendelssohn, Fauré and Ravel, with Junyan Chen on the piano (2.45pm, Sunday, February 13 at Brighton Dome). TICKETS

Joanna MacGregor

Joanna MacGregor (piano) joins the Brighton Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble for music by Gershwin, Amy Beach and Schumann (11am, Sunday, February 20 at ACCA in Brighton). TICKETS

Benjamin Ealovega

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham, perform Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2, with Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) (3pm, Sunday, February 20 at Congress Theatre in Eastbourne). TICKETS

Tenor Ian Farrell to stream Christmas show on Saturday, December 12

Posted on by Nick Boston

Following up on his album Ten for Ten earlier this year, tenor Ian Farrell is streaming an online Christmas performance on Saturday, December 12 at 6pm on his YouTube channel.

The performance was recorded at St. Michael and All Angels Church in Brighton, and the evening of Christmas music ranges from the traditional – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Polar Express, and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – to the more contemporary, including Sarah McLachlan’s Winter Song. Ian also touches on the events of this year and sings about the trials and tribulations of 2020.

You can read more about Ian and the album in the April edition of Gscene available here.

‘Classical Notes’: Nick Boston tunes into the best classical music in May Gscene

Posted on by Nick Boston

For fans of classical music, our regular columnist Nick Boston mulls the consequences of lockdown on the classical music and opera scene, and suggests practical ways to support musicians.

This month he reviews Elan Valley by Brighton-based Barry Mills, and Treasures of The New World by Clélia Iruzun & The Coull Quartet.

Link to read the full article: 

Worbey and Farrell dazzle & entertain with virtuosic piano-playing & quick-fire comedy

Posted on by Nick Boston

Worbey and Farrell dazzle & entertain with virtuosic piano-playing & quick-fire comedy

Stephen Worbey & Kevin Farrell

Brighton Dome

Sunday 1 March 2020

An interesting departure for the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra – a concert without the orchestra! They’ve already taken steps in that direction this season, with a concert performed by just their brass section, but this was a step further, to bring back Worbey & Farrell, the piano duo who performed with the orchestra back in 2018 to great acclaim. Knowing they’ve been struggling somewhat financially, it’s clear that they’ve had to think outside the box a little. On this occasion, they definitely pulled off a deft move – something different, that no doubt brought in a much needed new audience, but that in no way could have left the BPO regulars feeling short changed.

Stephen Worbey and Kevin Farrell met at the Royal College of Music, and have established a highly successful career playing together over many years now – today’s concert also marked Kevin’s 50th birthday. They pull off the tricky challenge of combining humour and classical music virtuosity, the key being that they excel at both. It is a tricky mix – often classical music comedy is either just not very funny, or it relies so much on in-jokes and knowledge that it’s exclusive and smugly self-congratulatory. Neither could be said about Worbey & Farrell in any way. Their onstage patter comes across as natural, whilst their anecdotes and asides never stray too far from the music itself. And they are genuinely funny, with well-constructed gags and jokes throughout.

They of course owe a debt to the likes of Victor Borge, Liberace and even Les Dawson – and these all get affection name checks. We were even treated to a smattering of Dawson’s ‘wrong notes’ playing, as well as their own arrangement of Liberace’s classic showpiece, Boogie Woogie. Here they brought in an element of audience participation, and it was noticeable that when it was the turn of the under 20s to shout out, their ‘hey’ was impressively loud, the audience containing a refreshingly high percentage of children and younger people.

Having announced their goal, to ‘cheer up piano recitals’, early proceedings included their impressive rendition of Khachaturian’s weighty Masquerade Waltz (which they jokingly said was on their new ‘Meditation’ album), and a delicately romantic arrangement of Ennio Morricone’s Chi Mai (which listeners of a certain age will remember as the theme tune to TVs The Life and Times of Lloyd George). After this, they switched on a camera positioned to pick up the keyboard, and more importantly, their hands, projected onto a large screen behind them. This remained for the rest of the concert, and made for a mesmerising insight into the technical complication of their arrangements.

They share the one piano stool, and play with their arms mostly interlinked – so not the straightforward bass/treble split of standard four hands piano duets. As they explained, and deftly illustrated with some deconstructed explanation in their arrangement of John Williams’ Superman love theme and Jurassic Park, they aim to replicate as far as possible the full orchestral colours of the pieces they arrange. So Farrell often plays percussively at the bass of the keyboard, whilst brass and bassoon textures are brought out in the baritonal ranges. Strings feature in the mid-range, and the bright woodwind at the top end. Frequently, you could see their hands intertwined as they pass the melody lines around the ‘orchestra’.

And they demonstrated their true musical expertise, both in terms of virtuosity and understanding of orchestration and arranging in the two ‘big’ pieces of their programme – their own arrangements of Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. In both, their ability to combine the lush orchestral textures and detail of instrumentation with the virtuosity of the piano ‘solo’ part is astonishing. Their choice of other main work for the second half of the concert, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf was also a masterstroke. Again, they could show off their skill in replicating orchestral colour, as well as adding their own humorous take on the tale (including a bizarrely northern duck) – and spoiler alert, they add their own happy ending!

With a few other gems thrown in for measure – Albeniz’s Asturias (Leyenda), complete with Kevin dampening the strings in the piano to replicate a guitar, as well as hammering chords from a standing position to great effect, and Piazzolla’s Libertango equally percussive – this was a hugely entertaining and action-packed programme from two highly consummate musicians as well as very funny showmen.

Check out their website here for all up and coming concerts or performances. 

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