PrettyInScarlett

Old and new worlds mixed yesterday with Angela Hewitt 's recital for Darlington Piano Society . Having seen Angela 3 times (plus a rehearsal) in Ottawa it was good to hear her in a different environment. The room in the Dolphin Centre had been rearranged to fit more people (and there was hardly a spare seat), but no Fazioli - so another difference to previous recitals. A more diverse andience than normal, with a good few first listeners  - for Angela, if not for the DPS too! The programme, performed in memory of David Robson and after a brief introduction, was as follows: Bach – Partita no.5 in G Major, BWV 829 Beethoven – Sonata in E flat major, Op. 81a (Les Adieux) ------ Beethoven – Sonata in A flat major, Op. 110 Bach – Siciliano from the Flute Sonata in E flat major (arr. Wilhelm Kempff) Bach – Sheep may Safely Graze (arr. Mary Howe) Bach – Alle Menschen Müssen Sterben (arr. Angela Hewitt) Bach – Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue Having heard 3 concerts this season on...

Having missed last season's concerts, I was determined to start well with the current selection of performances through Darlington Piano Society . A bright, sunny October afternoon on 12th found M and I in the Dolphin Centre for an afternoon of music by Maria Marchant . Definitely a name to watch, Maria opened the 2014 season with a very thoughtful programme 'Conflicts and Memories - The First World War' featuring a selection of works composed around the war years from French, Russian and British composers - Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and John Ireland. Maria chose to introduce each set of pieces before playing. The concert was organised at the beginning with Debussy's Berceuse héroïque and Élégie , followed by Rachmaninov's Études-Tableaux, Op. 39 - Nos 8 and 5. Whilst these works were well performed, especially No. 8 of Rachmaninov's set, I felt Maria lacked a certain degree of stage presence. This was much improved, however, throughout the f...

I initially hadn't planned to go to Friday 18th May's Chamber Players of Canada concert featuring Angela Hewitt - Schubert's String Quartet No. 14, Death and the Maiden isn't really my thing. However, I had the chance to attend Friday's rehearsal. As part of 'Angela Hewitt Week' the rehearsal had been opened up to students from Glebe Collegiate, Carleton Heights Public School and Gowling Public School; there were also some attendees from the OrKidstra programme. Once all the students had arrived at Christ Church, the assembled musicians started by playing the final movement of Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44. The sound quality from my seat at the back was of a warm, mellow sound (matching the late morning sun outside) combined with an exciting peformance - the kids were hooked. Sufficiently hooked to sit through a good few minutes rehearsing before hearing the first movement from the Piano Quintet . In between playing, both Hewitt an...

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 .

The programme for Angela Hewitt 's latest NAC concert on 3rd November started with a difference: Hewitt's recital was after the interval and not before. In addition, the first auditory experience was the supposedly least-accessible of Sibelius' symphonies, Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63 . Prior to the performance I was completely unfamiliar with this piece, but no less interested in hearing the NACO's premiere performance.  The programme notes describe the piece as both severe and stern. After hearing even the first few minutes of the symphony, I beg to differ: these terms seem to be excessively negative. I prefer 'spare elegance', especially in relation to the first and third movements. The piece may have its bleak moments but, especially in the hands of the NACO, the resulting sound is smooth, measured and very beautiful. Having heard quite a bit of more recent Nordic music, Sibelius' influence on modern bands is clear. Unfortunately, a fair few ...

After thoroughly enjoying Angela Hewitt's February concert at the National Arts Centre, 3 friends and I attended her chamber concert on 7th May at Christ Church Cathedral. Promoted by the Chamber Players of Canada, the recital was in aid of the Bruyère Foundation and, according to their representative and the Ottawa Citizen's review , raised over $26,000 for the Foundation. Our group arrived very early (on advice from Chamber Players regulars) and found good seats in the front of the 'regular' section. By the time the concert started with speeches, the cathedral was very definitely full. The programme comprised of: 10 of Bach's 15 Three-Part Inventions (Sinfonias); Variations and Fugue, Op. 25 'Eroica' by Beethoven; then, after the interval, Bach's French Suite No.3 in B minor and Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 by Brahms. Although not an enormous Bach lover, I did enjoy the French Suite particularly well along with the Beethoven varia...

Something of a late April/May bonanza for shows - now that spring is here (mostly - in between the rainy days) there seem to be events galore! First up, an interesting and unusual evening. M and I received complimentary tickets to see Chamber Music of Healey Willan from Chamber Players of Canada , 23rd April. Neither of us were familiar with his works, but there's a first time for everything. I particularly liked the evening's premiere, which was a Willan piece for cello and piano completed by Matthew Larkin. Very very interesting, but sadly far too short! The trio in B minor was pretty good too. The first half programme (Fugue in G minor, Introduction/Allegro, Romance for Violin & Piano, Sanata in E minor for Violin & Piano), didn't engage us quite as much, though. The Chamber Players series also includes Angela Hewitt on May 7th. From one festival to another. The Prairie Scene (co-promoted by the National Arts Centre) is a showcase of music, visual arts/media, th...

A busy week! A mixture of events centred around music and talk. Firstly, M and I went to the National Arts Centre (NAC) on Sunday 13th to see/hear Alex Ross 's lecture 'Chacona, Lamento, Walking Blues'. The talk is based on a chapter of his current book Listen to This. He 'talked with music': a playlist of tracks to illustrate his thesis. It was very interesting to hear the samples rather than just read their titles or description; almost the 'book with soundtrack' although not quite in the same vein as Vikram Seth's An Equal Music . A sell out, too. From there we headed to University of Ottawa's Freiman Hall (Perez Hall) for the flip side: 'music with talk'. This was courtesy of Ottawa-born pianist Frank Horvat , who was visiting as part of his Green Keys tour. Horvat is an eco-friendly musician and uses his shows (which are free, as the Green Keys tour is sponsored by eco-friendly businesses) to promote sustainability. Horvat explained t...

I have finally sorted out my site links to reflect some new/renewed interests and my current location. We have something of a National Arts Centre bonanza shortly: I had already booked to see Angela Hewitt on 16th Feb but found a good ticket offer on LivingSocial.com to see Radu Lupu this coming Wednesday, 26th. In addition to all that, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross (his recent book, Listen To This , is excellent, as well as his previous tome, The Rest Is Noise ) is giving a talk there on 13th February. This is all followed in March by a complete about turn to the Bronson Centre to see Finnish band Apocalyptica . They have been somewhere on my radar for a while but I was spurred on to book tickets after a bout of nostalgia. M and I were regular visitors to Wolverhampton UK to see various bands at Civic Hall/Wulfrun Hall; a few months ago a mutual friend posted on that there Facebook thing about seeing said Apocalyptica at Wulfrun Hall. Nostalgia for the venue and renewed intere...