Light, shade and sunshine - Chiaroscuro String Quartet and Gesualdo Six

Another new year, another hectic start! However I have found some time for concerts. The January edition of Skipton Music featured trailblazers Chiaroscuro String Quartet. The quartet perform with gut strings but that doesn't mean they're old fashioned! They generally perform standing up and certainly there is a lot of movement and vibrancy in their performances.

The programme was:

BEETHOVEN    String Quartet in D major Op.18, No. 3
MENDELSSOHN    String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 12
SCHUBERT    String Quartet No.14 in D minor, D810

I have a love/hate relationship with the Schubert 'Death and the Maiden' quartet (much like the Brahms piano quintet) and I have to say I wasn't expecting to enjoy it... but in fact this was the best performance of the evening.

There's another review on the Skipton Music page here.

Just as spring seems to be coming (judging by the bright blue sky outside my window), I have come back from a Leeds University School of Music lunchtime concert featuring the Gesualdo Six. I had clean forgotten who was performing and just about made it in time, for an hour of 'Fading': pure, clean, beautiful singing. Not normally my thing, but the Six are really superb and their programme of candlelight and compline - related music was a real freshener.

The programme - some of which I think is available on the group's website or Spotify - was:

Thomas Tallis (c.1505 – 1585) – Te lucis ante terminum
William Byrd (c.1540 – 1623) – Aspice Domine
Jonathtan Harvey (1939 – 2012) – The Annunciation
Thomas Tallis – If ye love me
Gerda Blok-Wilson (b.1955) – O Little Rose, O Dark Rose
Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179) – O Ecclesia, occuli tui
Arvo Pärt (b.1935)- Morning Star
Owain Park (b.1993) – Phos hilaron
Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963) – Seigneur, je vous en prie
Cheryl Frances-Hoad (b.1980) – The Promised Light of Life
Luca Marenzio (c.1553 – 1599) – Potrò viver io più se senza luce
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525 – 1594) – Io son ferito, ahi lasso
David Bednall (b.1979) – Put out into the deep
Josef Rheinberger (1839 – 1901) – Abendlied

I really really liked 'O Little Rose, O Dark Rose' - thought that was just fantastic lyrically and musically.

Comments

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 .

Lang Lang: a little bit of stardust in Southam Hall

Lang Lang with Anita Pari Like many National Arts Centre regulars, the idea of a Lang Lang concert sounded fantastic... except that for me the Gala tickets are rather too expensive. As a result the turnout for today's masterclass with young artists Anita Pari (Ottawa), Alexander Malikov (Calgary), and Tina Chong (Banff) in Southam Hall was pretty good. No surprises that there were photographers and a TV camera all over the stage... so much so that during Lang's analysis of Malikov's rendition of Transcendental Étude No 8 'Wild Hunt' (Liszt), someone shouted at the cameraman to move. To my mind they seemed a little intrusive on the performances, but none of the artists seemed to take any notice. Lang Lang with Tina Chong Up first and for me the best performance was Anita Pari with the captivating Ballade No 1 by Chopin. In comparison, Malikov's performance did not have anywhere near as much projection. Final performer Tina Chong seemed

New talent at Southminster

As a follow-on from last weekend's excellent Chopin concert, there is an afternoon of New Artists from the NAC's Summer Music Institute at Southminster United Church on 17th June. Entitled 'Dover Beach and other works for summertime', the concert features new artists Katarzyna Sadej , Emily Nenninger , Drew Santini, Hannah Min, Paul Casey , Karen Kang and Bryan Wagorn. I had the chance to hear Bryan Wagorn at one of University of Ottawa's Concerts at the NAC 4th Stage concerts back in February and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The proposed programme is very enticing: MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 MONIUSZKO Sen (The Dream) Prząśniczka (Spinner Girl) SZYMANOWSKI Lecioły Zórazie (The Swans Were Flying) Ściani Dumbek (The Dark Forest) CHOPIN Piosnka Litewska (Lithuanian Folksong) Moja Pieszczotka

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