Skip to main content

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 galantes' by Paul Verlaine
  • Christine - Brahms Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 4 with 'The Wanderer's Nightsong' by J.W. von Goethe
  • Neil and Christina -  Paule Maurice Tableaux de Provence for saxophone and piano, with 'O My Luve's Like A Red Red Rose' by R. Burns.

A fabulous mix of poetry and of musical styles and I enjoyed every performance. Most of the pieces performed are relatively known but I knew very little of Tableaux de Provence beforehand. Paule Maurice was a French composer of the mid 20th century and Tableaux is her most famous work. It's written for alto saxophone and orchestra but is often played with piano accompaniment. Each of the 5 movements is very evocative and humourous - especially 'Le cabridan (The Bumblebee)'. Definitely definitely worth another listen. 
Bernhard on violin

As a postscript to my first 'public performance', so to speak, we headed to Lanchester on Sunday 5th for 'Constanze Kaffeehausmusik' at Kaffeehaus Amadeus. An afternoon of coffee and lovely cakes (proper Kaffee und Kuchen!) with a little music, Vienna-style? Big big tick. The music performed was a mix of violin/piano and song/piano, with a hefty dose of Mozart. Even proprietor Bernhard performed a piece on his violin!

Fun songs - e.g. from Marriage of Figaro - for a fun afternoon!
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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 .

Angela Hewitt Week, 14th-20th May 2012

I just received information from a friend about Angela Hewitt Week in Ottawa, 14th-20th May as declared by Mayor Jim Watson. Ms Hewitt is performing with Chamber Players of Canada on Friday 18th May; there will also be An Afternoon With Angela Hewitt on 20th May at the National Arts Centre hosted by the Canadian Friends of the Trasimeno Music Festival .

Musical discoveries in Oslo

Last week I finally had the opportunity to visit Oslo with M. Amongst all the sightseeing and visiting friends, we managed a couple of musical activities. By way of an odd prologue, Thursday evening (autumn equinox) there was a torchlit riverside walk along the Akerselva river into downtown Oslo, complete with random but interesting sound, light and music installations along the way, including a few singer-songwriters, choirs and fire-eaters! light installation on Akerselva Friday evening we went to the Oslo Konserthus to see the excellent Oslo Philharmonic featuring Janine Jansen performing Britten's Violin Concerto Op. 15. From our cheap seats behind the orchestra, we enjoyed the Concerto - including the odd macabre bits - and the opening work, No 1 from Leó Weiner's Hungarian Folk Dances Op 18. For our ears the concluding work, Dvořák's Symphony No 8 was something of a let-down - too formulaic and predictable after Britten. No negatives from Saturday af...