Summer serenade: 4 Girls 4 Harps at Auckland Castle

My first trip to Auckland Castle this summer and the music matched the end of a sunny day. When I saw the listing for a harp quartet, I immediately made a note to go. I've previously seen and heard harp quartets in Ottawa (the Four Seasons Harp Quartet at Music and Beyond, if I recall correctly) and enjoyed the sound.

4 Girls 4 Harps are: Eleanor Turner, Harriet Adie, Keziah Thomas and Elizabeth Scorer. They celebrate their 15th anniversary this year. The organisers at Bishop Auckland Music Society had arranged for this concert to be in St Peter's Chapel rather than the Throne Room; the acoustics in the chapel supported the harps really well, creating a wash of sound.

The concert tonight was a super-duper programme of new arrangements, new works and a few favourites. Whilst I enjoyed the favourites (arrangements by Harriet Adie of the 18th Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini - Rachmaninov - and Waltz 2 from Suite for Variety Orchestra - Shostakovich), the standout parts of the concert were the new works. After Eleanor Turner's arrangement of La Chasse (Sophia Giustina Corri), the birthday piece was revealed for its second performance. Their 15th anniversary commission, entitled Tetra, features 4 movements by 4 female composers, inspired by 4 great women, and all quoting from Henriette Renié's Légende, as follows (as much as my hasty notes will confirm):

Meditation 1 - by Ayanna Witter-Johnson - inspired by Mother Theresa

Tree of Hope - by Alissa Firsova - inspired by Frida Kahlo

Fantasy - Nicola LeFanu - inspired by (I think?) Amelia Fawcett DBE

Lady in the Shadows - Savourna Stevenson - inspired by Josephine Baker

Meditation 1 was a super shimmery piece with vocal overlays; it and Tree of Hope also featured lots of harp drumming. Tree of Hope was explosive, plaintive, angry, and calm in short succession. Fantasy had a weaving, murmuring quality to it; and Lady in the Shadows was very much a slow, bluesy number. Following on from Tetra, we heard the original Renié Légende.

The concert closed with another Adie arrangement, of Tarrega's guitar work Recuerdos de la Alhambra (really lovely piece); and finally an Adie original, Elemental. Elemental's 4 movements were Earth, Air, Water and Fire - very different atmospheres throughout and each based on a theme introduced by Adie (gnomes, caves, ponds, wind and woodland all featured). Mixtures of textures, jazzy elements, polyrhythms - an excellent work.

Each quartet member had a piece, or pieces, to introduce, adding background stories and extra information, all with a good dash of humour. This continued into the encore, a witty arrangement of the Clog Dance from La fille mal gardée. The current concert schedule for 4 Girls 4 Harps continues throughout the year and is available on their website. They are definitely worth seeing!

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...

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...

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...

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