Catching up with autumn - October highlights: The Sacconi Quartet and David Braid

With the change in seasons, my concert calendar has filled up again. Though with all my interests plus a day job writing time is somewhat elusive! My October highlights were the first event of Skipton Music's season, plus David Braid at University of Leeds' International Concert Series.

This year I have arranged for a Skipton Music season ticket. No excuses! The current season is a mix of chamber, song, instrumental and orchestral concerts. First up were Sacconi String Quartet with Robert Plane on clarinet. It is ages (so long I can't recall!) since I last heard a string quartet live, so it was a real pleasure to hear the Sacconi Quartet and their high quality timbres. Their first piece on the programme was Haydn's String Quartet Op. 76 No. 1; lively and humourous in particular with the 'gallop' in the final movement!

Robert Plane joined the Sacconi Quartet for the rest of the evening. The second piece was a truly interesting Phantasy Quintet for Bass Clarinet and Strings by York Bowen. A one-movement chamber piece from 1932, in which Bowen incorporates the range of a 3 movement sonata. Robert introduced the piece and explained the relative paucity of music for the bass clarinet - this was the only piece in the evening to feature the instrument. Great stuff - at times I found the piece almost as if it had stepped from a Jean Cocteau movie!

Finishing off the concert we heard Glazunov's Oriental Reverie for Clarinet Quintet - another one-movement piece, this one evoking hazy summer forests of Russia; and Weber's Clarinet Quintet in B flat Op. 34 - a return to a more classical/Romantic sound to finish.

During term time there are regular Friday lunchtime concerts in Leeds University School of Music. My first attendance this academic year was to hear Canadian pianist David Braid. David is an innovative and original jazz pianist/composer, who treated the audience to a concert based on his 2012 album Verge, with which he won a Juno Award. We heard La Phare, El Castillo Interior; and a few prepared piano pieces - 春江花月夜 (Spring Garden Night) and Richmond Square; finishing with Reverence. David has a very witty, at-ease style of presentation and made for a very enjoyable hour's music.

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 .

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 .

The Venezuelan maestro comes to Cardiff

A highly anticipated evening of entertainment for M and I, we headed to St Davids Hall to see the conductor of the moment, Gustavo Dudamel , conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra . Highly entertaining, too, and the place was pretty full, though possibly not sold out. We had anticipated the first piece to be Antonio Estevez' 'Mediodia en el llano', but a last minute change meant the first work was (I believe - the posters up in the venue were rather short on info!) Berlioz' Roman Carnival. Initially we may have been a tad disappointed but the replacement work was excellently peformed, cue many smiles. Unfortunately, the smiles soon evaporated, as the second, and for us, least interesting piece, was Mozart's Piano Concert No.17 K453 with Emanuel Ax on piano. M described Ax as mellow, I described him as dull. That may be because neither of us are really into Mozart, but compared to previous visits to St Davids Hall to see pianists Noriko Ogawa and Freddy Kempf, we really...

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