PrettyInScarlett

This time it didn't rain! After a few years' gap we returned to Hebden Bridge for another sellout Piano Festival concert. I left it so late that we almost didn't get tickets for headliner Anna Tsybuleva! Understandably a sellout as Anna is the winner of the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition. A pretty impressive biography listed on the festival website - and the concert programme was equally impressive: Beethoven - Fantasy Op. 77 ; Schubert -  'Der Wanderer' Fantasy in C, D.760 ; Brahms -  '7 Fantasies' Op.116 ; and Liszt -  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 .  Described by Jonathan Biss as a little odd, the Fantasy Op. 77 is a multi-key, multi-meter, many-tempoed smorgasbord of writing, clearly showing Beethoven's genius as an improviser. Certainly parts of the Fantasy felt like a musical puppet show! Anna displayed the piece superbly (especially the quieter sections).  Suitably warmed, we headed for the intense dark/light of the '...

Two years on from her last visit, Basia Bulat returned to Leeds touring her new album Good Advice . On Record Store Day no less (16th April). Yet another good beer venue - this time she played Headrow House. Good Advice is a bigger sounding album, in many ways, than Tall Tall Shadow , so understandably Basia wanted to tour it with a band. The efficient option, as it transpired, was to have her support band as her backing band. The Weather Station (trio led by Tamara Lindeman) played a 30 minute set to a small and rather chilly audience (maybe Headrow House had forgotten the heating....). The Weather Station has a big-open-space instrumental sound (I definitely heard the soundscapes reminding me of looking at Ontario's landscape from the train); whilst Tamara seems to be a pretty respected songsmith, 30 minutes was too short a time to get into her lyrics. They were, however, much more engaging than the support from 2014. Basia and backing musicians played a shorter set t...

This year I finally made time to go to the It's All About Piano festival at the Institut Français in London. Now 4 years old, the festival seems to be ever stronger than when I attended in 2013 - and also more affordable: all my events were £5 per ticket. This year, the festival introduced a 'Come and Play' event for pianists of grade 6 or above - selected pianists to play, presented by Erica Worth of Pianist Magazine . I jumped at the challenge, applied, forgot all about it in the intervening few months, then received an invite! Very exciting - a second opportunity to play for a paying audience. I'd also bought tickets for concerts by Jonas Vitaud and Eliane Reyes .  Eliane Reyes in particular was amazing. Due to train times, I arrived at the 'Come and Play' event a little late but in time to hear half of Zala Kravos ' performance. Zala is 15, studies with Maria João Pires and is clearly a pro in the making. I heard her performances of Brahms...

Final concert of the season  - already! The Chamber Philharmonic Europe were in town to close the Skipton Music season with a varied programme - Nielsen, Borodin, Hummel, Schubert, Albinoni, Mozart. The group consisted of 8 performers (soloist Pawel Zuzanski also performed as first violin) plus trumpeter Kirill Gusarov.  An international bunch - at the end when the players were announced individually, the list of countries of origin included Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Kazakhstan.... For me, the concert was quite mixed. Some pieces were excellent - very high quality performances; others less so. Kirill Gusarov was superb - both his solo, and the orchestra, in Hummel's Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra in E flat major , were really great; Kirill made the long phrases and trills of the trumpet sound so simple. Before that, a quartet from the Philharmonic performed Borodin's Nocturno from Quartett No. 2 in D major - a very well known piece but nonethe...

rock chamber... stage set for Red Priest In case you didn’t know… Red Priest are an early music group with a huge amount of style, virtuosity and ingenuity. Whilst I’d heard of the group, I didn’t know this until I saw them in Skipton, 9th February 2016. The group (Piers Adams, Angela East, Adam Summerhayes and David Wright) were in town to perform their show ‘Handel in the Wind’, based on their album of the same name. Whilst a good proportion of the performance was based around Suite from the Messiah (very cleverly arranged by cellist Angela East) – of the suite, I thought Siciliano Pedicuro the best – I actually preferred some of the other pieces. The final allegro from the Sonata in F major Op 2 No 4 was a real foot-tapping number.  I also enjoyed David Wright’s improvisation around Prelude in B flat for harpsichord , leading into Largo and Passacaglia in G minor – a lovely cello and violin spotlight, followed by a sprightly Passacaglia featuring the violin-as-drum;...

Many moons ago, we saw bright young things Kitty, Daisy & Lewis touring their debut album at Clwb Ifor Bach and were suitably impressed with their r'n'b/blues/swing/rock/you name it mix.  Moving forward 8 years and the recorded output of the band (definitely still bright and young!) has strengthened - I strongly recommend listening to latest album The Third - a lot more original writing and plenty of sass. The opportunity to hear them live again was a definite yes. Not to mention a good excuse for a weekend trip to Sheffield.  Dosed up on Remo's coffee and with a pit stop at The Devonshire Cat , we arrived at The Plug to see support band Kiziah and The Kings from Doncaster. We'd not researched the band before, but they are a pretty funky mix of soul/rock/reggae with a very confident manner; and a pretty good front singer with Kiziah. An enjoyable set - their sounds are available (and definitely worth a listen) at Bandcamp , Soundcloud etc.  Tan Tan an...

In between unpacking and seasonal preparation, I found time in December to join Skipton Ukulele Club   - great fun! Including joining in their Christmas charity gigs on 19th December. Piano practice became somewhat less enthused.... Whilst I don't do New Years Resolutions per se, I took the turning of a new year to revisit performing and practicing. On 2nd January, I attended the first Players for Pleasure group meeting of the year in central Leeds. Players for Pleasure is like a piano group but for all instruments. As well as piano, we heard pieces for flute, clarinet, alto sax, guitar, cello, tin whistle (as well as combinations/duets/quartets). Everyone was really friendly and I look forward to going again - maybe even bringing along my ukulele!! On Wednesday 6th January, I headed to London for the latest instalment of the Piano-Yoga Club. I have been using the Piano-Yoga exercise book for a few years now, but hadn't been to any events as yet. The Piano-Yoga Club...