February music 2: York Chamber Music Festival

After Thursday's fabulous music and with a head still full of Basia, on Saturday we went for a day trip to York to see acclaimed British pianist Martin Roscoe. Martin was performing as part of the inaugural York Chamber Music Festival, held in Bootham School over the weekend 13th-16th February. After a stroll around the centre and a bite at the lovely Licc (excellent apple pie and ice cream) we headed to Bootham.

I had been keen to see Martin for a while and particularly after a review from a friend who saw him at Ottawa Chamberfest 2013. Perhaps unusual for a pianist in solo recital, Martin performed with the music (no page turner to help, but very quick and efficient page turns). His York concert was themed around fantasy: Mozart Fantasy in D minor K.397; Beethoven Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia Op. 27 No. 2 'Moonlight; Brahms, 3 Fantasies Op. 116 Nos. 1, 4 and 7; and Chopin Fantasy in F minor Op. 49. The hall in Bootham School was set up with a Grotrian-Steinweg grand and with a reasonable audience by the start of the concert.

Martin Roscoe after the concert

Martin gave a short preamble describing his concert and little explanatory notes before each piece. I thought that was an excellent extra, concisely conveying more information than through programme notes. Throughout, his style was calm and unshowy, drawing in the audience with his relaxed concentration. Whilst the whole programme was excellent, I felt the Brahms pieces were the least interesting; I still remain a little Mozart-sceptic.

Martin's rendition of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 27 - for him too dark for 'Moonlight' - was superb. Carefully balanced between the sombre tone of the first movement and the manic final movement, he had a very clear melodic line and balanced expression with a solid structural togetherness. Chopin's Fantasy in F minor was similarly varied; for an encore treat he performed the Fantaisie Impromptu with flair.

Not just an excellent music weekend but an excellent beer weekend - after an afternoon in York City Museum and a meal, M and I went for a few drinks in 'world beer freehouse' Pivni before the return train.

Comments

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Lang Lang: a little bit of stardust in Southam Hall

Lang Lang with Anita Pari Like many National Arts Centre regulars, the idea of a Lang Lang concert sounded fantastic... except that for me the Gala tickets are rather too expensive. As a result the turnout for today's masterclass with young artists Anita Pari (Ottawa), Alexander Malikov (Calgary), and Tina Chong (Banff) in Southam Hall was pretty good. No surprises that there were photographers and a TV camera all over the stage... so much so that during Lang's analysis of Malikov's rendition of Transcendental Étude No 8 'Wild Hunt' (Liszt), someone shouted at the cameraman to move. To my mind they seemed a little intrusive on the performances, but none of the artists seemed to take any notice. Lang Lang with Tina Chong Up first and for me the best performance was Anita Pari with the captivating Ballade No 1 by Chopin. In comparison, Malikov's performance did not have anywhere near as much projection. Final performer Tina Chong seemed

New talent at Southminster

As a follow-on from last weekend's excellent Chopin concert, there is an afternoon of New Artists from the NAC's Summer Music Institute at Southminster United Church on 17th June. Entitled 'Dover Beach and other works for summertime', the concert features new artists Katarzyna Sadej , Emily Nenninger , Drew Santini, Hannah Min, Paul Casey , Karen Kang and Bryan Wagorn. I had the chance to hear Bryan Wagorn at one of University of Ottawa's Concerts at the NAC 4th Stage concerts back in February and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The proposed programme is very enticing: MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 MONIUSZKO Sen (The Dream) Prząśniczka (Spinner Girl) SZYMANOWSKI Lecioły Zórazie (The Swans Were Flying) Ściani Dumbek (The Dark Forest) CHOPIN Piosnka Litewska (Lithuanian Folksong) Moja Pieszczotka

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