PrettyInScarlett

...For Leeds University School of Music.  To celebrate the delivery of 27 Steinway pianos,  the School of Music performed a newly commissioned piece  - for 28 pianos! The performance is available to watch again at https://livestream.com/uol/steinway1 Short but snappy - a mix of Reich-style randomness with a Bach style finale. Plus some funky lighting!  Full press release here and photos on Twitter .

Almost the end of November and another term of excellent concerts is almost concluded. The high quality continues  - this Friday, 24th November, featured music for gamelan . I have read with interest about gamelan, notably in the excellent The Other Classical Musics , but have never heard the ensemble live. Leeds music students who had spent this term learning gamelan music, performed a mixture of traditional and modern pieces under the name The Golden Thread. I was NOT disappointed! I liked all of it! But particular mention to the traditional pieces Lancaran Singanebah and Lancaran Tropong-bang - excellent, immersive stuff - and the new pieces, firstly When East Meets West . This used gamelan timbres to sample Western popular music - I'm sure I heard 'Another One Bites The Dust'!! - complete with sunglasses wearing students. The second, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas , added a shadow puppet show to the performance, referencing the traditional artfor...

Mid-month and my concert calendar is in full swing. When tickets for Gabriela Montero were released, I decided to treat myself to a day trip to Wigmore Hall on 13th November. Definitely worth the effort! The recital programme was Schumann's Kinderszenen Op. 15 and Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61 . First, the Kinderszenen . Deftly demonstrating the variety within this set of piece, the intensity of Gabriela's performance went up and up - at the point of Traumerei , any audience murmur hushed completely; after this most famous piece, I thought the performance got even better.  The Shostakovich Piano Sonata was (is) a complete contrast. Written during wartime and in between his Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, the sonata, whilst a memorial to former piano teacher Leonid Nikolaev, also contains a commentary on the times. The three movements are dramatic, lyrical, tragic. For me - a lot of angst in the first movement, moving from an almost skip, t...

The first two concerts of Skipton Music's 2017/18 season maintained the high quality I have come to expect of the concert series. First up in October was Doric String Quartet , with a programme of Mendelssohn, Thomas Adès and Haydn. The Adès, The Four Quarters (2011), was probably unknown to everyone except the quartet - but definitely worth investigating. The piece is in a classical string quartet model and follows the process of a day in time, comprising 4 movements: Nightfalls , Serenade: Morning Dew, Days and The Twenty-fifth Hour . I particularly liked Morning Dew - concurrently reminding me of early morning light hitting blades of grass, or morning commuters arriving in a big city imagined as colliding atoms. Days hat 'flap of the day' and 'mid-afternoon meander' aspects to it. The Mendelssohn (Quartet in E flat, Op, 12) and Haydn (String Quartet Op. 20 No. 5) were very enjoyable. Fast forward a few weeks (feels like fast forward!!) to Trio Con Brio...

For a piano geek like me, today's lunchtime concert by Jill Crossland at University of Leeds was a must-see/hear. Jill performed a programme of 18th century keyboard music, comprising D Scarlatti, JS Bach, Rameau and WA Mozart.  After a slightly stressful few weeks it was a really positive experience to sit and hear pure, hopeful music - a cascade of wellness. The very first piece, Scarlatti's Sonata in B minor K19, was like measured droplets of water - a dose of calm to set the pace, followed by the Sonata in G , K146. Jill then delighted the audience with a selection of Rameau pieces and selection from Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier, Book 1 (17, 21 and 23 I think - though I am sure there was a bonus piece!). The final work was Mozart's Piano Sonata in C , K330. Joy and hope and resolution. I was floating!  The sum total of the programme brought to mind the famous quote of Julian of Norwich: All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing...

A new academic year at Leeds and the first term along boasts a pretty good lineup of lunchtime concerts at the School of Music. The first one saw Matt Anderson Jazz Quartet - Matt Anderson (saxophone) Martin Longhawn (piano) Sam Vicary (double-bass) Sam Gardner (drums). This quartet of long-time collaborators and friends was formed during studies at Leeds College of Music; now living further afield, this was a unique opportunity to hear them play together once more. A really fun hour of music - not my normal style of music but well performed, with very good examples of communality in music making. Pieces by Gardner, Anderson and Longhawn as well as American Songbook classic and final Charlie Parker. The rest of the Lunchtime Concerts are listed at http://concerts.leeds.ac.uk/

My attempt at embroidery Two weeks, two more great events. First up a Museums at Night event including music held on 19th May. The Leeds University Library Galleries hosted an event looking at the anniversary of the Russian Revolutions. A ticketed 18+ event, there was plenty of space and time to look at the various activities.  Musically, members of the Leeds Festival Chorus performed 3 times, selections from Rachmaninov's Vespers . Spine tingling stuff and very effective use of the space in Parkinson Court.  Members of stage@leeds performed dramatic readings from eyewitness accounts of the two Revolutions. This took place in the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery, where there is currently a special exhibition of items related to the Revolutions. Diary entries, photographs, personal belongings of British citizens resident in St Petersburg/Petrograd - all of which were referenced in the readings - the exhibition is a real eye opener and well worth a visit. Alth...

Bright sunshine and another excellent lunchtime concert. This time the programme was a selection os solo harp pieces with Hugh Webb performing. Hugh was a charming presenter as well as performer, providing interesting information behind his programme of 20th century harp music (but then, according to Hugh, the concert harp is a 20th century instrument). The programme started with the evocative En France by Marcel Tournier. Sounds of the sea - very nice anticipation of summer. Then came Benjamin Britten's Interlude from Ceremony of Carols - a clear sonic difference from Tournier, very simple and direct. Colin Matthews' Little Suite for Harp was possibly my favourite piece of the hour - 3 short movements (march, barcarole, toccata) with preludes in between - from sublime to angular. Similar to the Peter Moore lunchtime concert, the programme here demonstrated the wonderful range of the instrument. Robert Keeley's Farid left me behind a little, but Hugh's own ...

The May Day weekend saw the annual Ribble Valley Jazz and Blues festival hit Clitheroe. An amazing lineup of musicians across 17 venues for the weekend. The festival is entirely volunteer run and they did an amazing job! This year, the festival organisers had a few branch-out events including A Classical Interlude - a morning of classical guitar and an afternoon of piano.  Members of the Clitheroe Piano Meetup, myself included, were invited to perform at the Interlude concerts. They were held in Clitheroe Library - so far, so familiar as this is the venue for the regular piano group.  Multi instrumentalists John Hesketh and Ian Plested performed solo and duo guitar repertoire to a packed out room.  For the piano slot, there were 5 performers: John Hesketh, Nick Mahon, Margaret Plested, yours truly and Richard Dinsmore . The repertoire - what a selection! Somehow independently of each other we'd ended up focusing on quite a few French composers. After a more 'c...

A real lunchtime treat a few weeks back -the ever increasing chaos of my life at the moment means sadly I have only now found the time to write! Taking an hour out of the whirlwind I went to see Peter Moore , with pianist Robert Thompson, play one of Leeds University School of Music's Lunchtime Concerts. What an hour!  Peter Moore won BBC Young Musician in 2008; since the he has gone from strength to strength including nomination as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and as a Young Classical Artists Trust musician. For the lunchtime recital, the programme was: James Maynard - new work (premiere 30th January 2017 at Wigmore Hall) Manuel de Falla - 7 Canciones populares Españolas Reynaldo Hahn - A Cloris Henri Duparc - La Vie antérieure Eric Ewazen - Sonata for trombone and piano (1993)  Everything was fantastic. Throughout, the sheer range of textures and emotions that Peter pulled out of the trombone was amazing; from a dreamy softness in the Maynard wo...

After purchasing tickets for Lubomyr Melynck, I saw this performance and thought - yep, that sounds good! People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag) is a German silent film from 1930, filmed in summer 1929. A portrayal of daily life in Berlin at the time and the desire of workers to enjoy their leisure time! múm are an experimental group from Iceland. Think indie/electronic/ambient and very enjoyable.  The combination - a highly enjoyable, informative, funny, relaxing evening. I hadn't seen Menschen am Sonntag before and it was interesting to watch - bits of Berlin that I recognise, beer drunk from big goblets (think oversized wine glasses), the feel of warm sunshine and the breeze off the lake. Great! As was the social commentary - including how modern the lifestyles of the characters were (or maybe, how much continuity there is between the late 1920s and today). The live improvised score from múm was very in keeping with the film - both matching the sunny weather and the scenes...

The last day of February and (yet) another concert - ending the month on a high! The 28th February saw a concert by the Aurora Ensemble at Skipton Town Hall as the penultimate concert in the Skipton Music season. One of the top wind quintets in the UK, the Aurora Ensemble performed a varied and classy programme. The pieces performed were all Classical or early 20th Century - with the exception of the Quintet by Klughardt, which is a rare Romantic piece for this set of instruments. I did find this piece hard, or at least harder than the rest - though the serenade and scherzo sections were very good. Piece of the evening went to Malcolm Arnold's Divertimento for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet Op. 37 - 6 brief movements but encompassing a wide range of styles and emotions. The rest of the programme - all very enjoyable - included Zemlinsky, Danzi and Briccaldi. The Ensemble indeed live up to their billing - a very elegant performance!

Courtesy of Erased Tapes, Lubomyr Melynck was already on my radar so his concert at Leeds' Howard Assembly Rooms on 24th February was an easy choice. The Hungarian/Canadian pianist describes his style as 'continuous music' and treated the audience to a witty monologue before his performance. I will leave Lubomyr to describe continuous music himself - see his website .  The fastest pianist in the world is also a strong proponent of acoustic listening and was delighted that the concert could be performed acoustically (no amplification) due to the acoustics of the Howard Assembly Room. The performance was of 4 pieces of which special mention goes to Butterfly - definitely my favourite. The piece exists in solo piano and 2 piano versions, and in different recorded versions (excellent CD of this piece purchased at the show). So full of hope and beauty. The final piece performed was Windmills , which is written for 2 pianos. Lubomyr had recorded one part earlier that aft...

January brought 'piano night' to Skipton for the piano recital event of this year's Skipton Music season. Following on from her win at the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition, Anna Tsybuleva has received several concert invites including here in Skipton. After her performance in Hebden Bridge last spring, I was looking forward to this concert. Whereas the Hebden Bridge programme was more 'traditional' - Schubert, Beethoven, Liszt - the programme for the 24th January recital in Skipton was more varied (more of her own favourites, perhaps?): CPE Bach Fantasy in F sharp minor H.300 ; Schumann Symphonic Etudes Op. 13 ; Medtner Sonata in G minor Op. 22 ; a selection from da Játékok by György Kurtág; and four Preludes plus L'Isle Joyeuse of Debussy.  Anna's demeanour throughout was of unfussy, confident elegance. The Fantasy started out in contemplative mode (quite apt for a work night concert!?) with the expression following almost acting as a sta...