Skip to main content

New season at Skipton Music: Ensemble 360 and Steven Osborne

Since starting to attend Skipton Music concerts the quality has been very high, but this season seems to have started off exceptionally well. The seasons' concerts are in Christ Church Skipton, as the Town Hall is being refurbished, and the ambience and acoustic are very good. 

Catching up from 23rd October, adaptable chamber group Ensemble 360 showcased a contemporary piece by Jörg Widmann alongside its inspiration, Schubert's Octet in F,  D803.

The Widmann, an Octet in five movements, was composed in 2004 and references Schubert rhythmically, and also with leanings towards the many hundred songs that Schubert wrote (third movement Lied ohne Worte). The first movement, Intrada, felt warmly off-kilter and Lied ohne Worte had a fantastic horn solo. However the piece was not that accessible to listen to. Whilst it certainly got the audience talking I'm not sure that may were big fans.

The Schubert Octet was more warmly received and I particularly enjoyed the second and third movements.

Fast forward to 20th November and Steven Osborne, whom I eagerly anticipated.  M and I heard Steven perform in 2016 as part of Ribble Valley International Piano Week and enjoyed the performance.

This time, the programme was:  
Poulenc        Three Novelettes
Debussy        Images Book 2
Prokofiev     Piano Sonata No.7
Schubert      Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat, D960

I particularly liked the Poulenc pieces - even more so than Debussy! The first two Novelettes are from 1927 and 1928, whilst the third is from 1959. Steven introduced them as evidence that Poulenc didn't care too much for fashion! The third one developed a very eerie, spooky ending. 

Ending the first half with Prokofiev, this was very impressively played with a super 2nd movement - to me it sounded like stoicism in the face of disaster. 

After the interval, we were treated to a fantastic rendition of Schubert's great last work - described by Steven as the calm release after the homages to Beethoven of Sonatas No. 19 and 20. Certainly, whilst Schubert seemed to be running the full extremes of emotion, there is a pervading sense of ending, of the finite. 

The encore was Debussy's Canope from Preludes Book 2, a real treat. 

After all this, I am looking forward to December!
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

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 .
4 comments
Read more

Piano salons

Catching up on LinkedIn after a vacation, I came across a link for The Saturday Piano Salon . This caught my eye as I organise and attend an adult amateur piano group here in Ottawa. The Saturday Piano Salon, based in London, is an impressive step up from our friendly afternoons, giving amateur (and semi-professional, according to their site) pianists an opportunity to perform on a Steinway Model D at Steinway Hall. I read the review of their first Saturday event with interest. Maybe next time I find myself in London...
2 comments
Read more