Skip to main content

Tynedale Music Festival

Thanks to a fortuitous perusal of Facebook the other week, I spotted the listing for Tynedale Music Festival via The British and International Federation of Festivals' feed. I'd not previously been to this style of competition/festival before; result =  fun first visit to Hexham albeit braving thick fog and grey skies. 

I only saw the afternoon session of the Tynedale Music Festival - Open Pianoforte Duet (P12) and Open Pianoforte Recital Class (P11). I hope their evening concert had a good turnout as the afternoon audience was rather select... but enthusiastic! 

First up the Piano Duet class, featuring music by Ravel - excerpts from Mother Goose; Bernstein's four-hands arragement of Overture to Candide; Arthur Benjamin's Jamaican Rumba and (I believe) an arrangement of Spohr's String Quartet in G minor (1st movement). A lot of unusual repertoire already and it was really interesting listening to the performances. The eventual winners (Ravel and Bernstein) were Lucy Brooks and Anne Kearney.

Moving on to the solo piano recital performers, between 5 performers the audience was treated to a good dose of Poulenc with some Shostakovich, Copland, Prokofiev and Dohnhanyi as well as more well-known repertoire from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. All the performers were excellent and it was interesting to see how the judge (Dorothy Howden) ranked the top 3 compared to my own preferences. The official result was: 
  • Annie Ball in 3rd place (Scherzo Humoristique from Copland; 3 Visions Fugitives from Prokofiev; and Rachmaninov Prelude in G minor Op 23 No 5); 
  • Anthony Satterthwaite in 2nd place (presto from Piano Suite - Poulenc and the first 3 movements from Schumann's Faschingsschwank aus Wien); 
  • Winner: Michael Biggins, playing Chopin's Ballade in G minor Op 23 and Dohnhanyi's Rhapsody in C, Op 11 No 3.   
I much preferred Annie Ball's performance; whilst Biggins was very capable, it felt a little anonymous. I also liked the performance from the first competitor, Bolin Dai, who looked to be the youngest on stage; whilst playing perhaps less difficult repertoire she was very engaging emotionally.

A fun afternoon's listening! First visit ticks also to Hexham Tans vegetarian cafe for an excellent lunch and Deli at Number 4 for a post-festival cake boost. Hopefully my next visit to Hexham will involve some sunshine...
 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music, Poetry and Cake (Gateshead and Lanchester)

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love, chaos and hope: Gabriela Montero and Scottish Ensemble in Kendal

After a sublime Friday lunchtime concert, Saturday (16th February) got even better. The day started with the February edition of Clitheroe Piano Group, and even more than normal we had an excellent afternoon's music. Quick smart up the M6 to Kendal and a quick meal courtesy of Farmhouse Kitchen (very nice) before we headed to Kendal Leisure Centre. Lakeland Sinfonia seem to have a good set of concerts this season - I tried to book for Jess Gillham in January but sold out - and the February concert, Gabriela Montero and Scottish Ensemble, was definitely a treat. There seem to be a lot of season ticket holders as quite a lot of the audience seemed to know each other; and with a few single ticket holders like us, the hall was pretty full!  Scottish Ensemble are a 12-piece string group, and a quick look at their website shows they are interested in anything strings! Gabriela Montero is renowned for her pianism, improvisations and compositions - certainly one of the draws f...
Post a Comment
Read more