Friday 18^th September Lunchtime Concert   New Walk Museum and Art Gallery

The Unusual Quietness of Snow

The evocative name of this captivating concert was taken from the opening item, the slow movement of Paul Carr’s Oboe Concerto, here scored for oboe and string quartet.

This touching and immediately appealing piece was written at a time of great personal sadness. The principal theme is an eloquent threnody for oboe with an evocative shifting accompaniment. A central raising of tension adds to the poignancy before serenity returns. It was lovingly played by oboist Nicholas Daniel (the work’s dedicatee) and members of the Festival Ensemble.

Tansy Davies’s arresting settings of two short poems by Nick Drake: This Love and Static, were here given their world premiere by James Gilchrist (tenor) and Anna Tilbrook (piano), who then went on to give an outstanding account of Sir Michael Tippett’s compelling post war song cycle, The Heart’s Assurance. The work sets five poems by Sydney Keyes and Alun Lewis, both killed, aged 20 and 28 respectively, in the 2^nd World War. It is sub-titled “Love under the shadow of death” and shows Tippet’s brilliant complexity as a word setter.  The accompaniments are often intensely florid, yet both voice and piano create a remarkably vivid cohesion that is both moving and uplifting.  

After John Dankworth’s charming arrangement for oboe and violin of Gershwin’s Summertime, the concert ended with Elgar’s Violin Sonata performed by Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin) and Katya Apekisheva (piano). This was an exhilarating reading with strong sense of momentum allied to an ardent lyricism, impressive dynamic shading, and in the slow movement, an appealing vein of fantasy.   

Neil Crutchley : Leicester Mercury

Friday 18^th September Evening Concert   New Walk Museum and Art Gallery

Prelude,  Autumn

This concert featured what is sure to be one of the highlights of the festival - a spellbinding performance of Benjamin Britten’s Winter Words, given by James Gilchrist (tenor) and Anna Tilbrook (piano). These eight settings of poems by Thomas Hardy show Britten’s extraordinary ability to enhance words by what are often the simplest of means to produce a most profound effect. The music has great humanity – even at its bleakest moments such as the searing cry of “How long” with which the work ends.

Gilchrist’s perception and sensitivity held us spellbound. The smallest gesture or change of vocal timbre conveyed a world of meaning and impeccable diction ensured that every word was audible. Equally impressive was Anna Tilbrook’s empathetic and searching accompaniment.

The other substantial work of the evening was William Walton’s youthful Piano Quartet. Written when the composer was just 17, this is a remarkably confident piece with strong themes, a powerful romantic sweep and a touch of French influence in its refinement and clarity of texture. There are also some remarkably “mature” sounding moments, especially in the strongly rhythmic finale. The Festival Ensemble proved fervent advocates, giving an exciting, lyrical and affectionate performance.

Included in the shorter items were an exquisitely played Prelude, Autumn, by Tippett, and Destroying Beauty, a haunting, chromatic setting of words by John Clare, from Tansy Davies. More substantial was Peter Wiegold’s evocative, if rather overlong, Earth receive an honoured guest, for cor anglais and string trio.

Neil Crutchley : Leicester Mercury

Saturday 19^th September Lunchtime Concert   New Walk Museum and Art Gallery

Quartetathon!

The festival’s artistic director referred to the three young string quartets that took part in this Quartetathon as “outstanding” and he was not exaggerating. The incredible talent and musicality of the players, is quite amazing.

We began with the Eilon Quartet from the Royal College of Music, who played Debussy’s luscious G major Quartet. This was a fascinating performance that mellowed as it progressed.  The first movement had a strong sense of momentum and intensity making it rather more “pent up” than usual. The delightful scherzo with its emphasis on pizzicato, bounced along. In the ravishing Adagio the players relaxed and produced beautifully expressive phrasing that resulted in a glowing idiomatic account of the movement that led skilfully into a buoyant finale.

Technical brilliance, unanimity of attack and excellent balance were hallmarks of the Isolani Quartet of the Royal Northern College of music. They chose Haydn’s “Sunrise” Quartet (Op.76, No.1) and gave a delightful performance, with a spirited and elegant first movement, a warm rather than profound Adagio, a poised minuet and a finale that made the most of Haydn’s teasing sense of humour.

Finally we heard a searing account of Shostakovich’s 9th String Quartet from the Idomeneo Quartet from the Guildhall School of Music. This was without doubt the most challenging of the three works to interpret yet these perceptive young musicians skilfully captured the uneasy, ambivalence of the piece, drawing out its emotional heart with playing of great integrity and technical assurance.     

Neil Crutchley : Leicester Mercury

Saturday 19^th September Evening Concert   New Walk Museum and Art Gallery

English Sky

For many, this year’s festival will be remembered above all for the outstanding contribution of James Gilchrist (tenor) and Anna Tilbrook (piano). In the course of thirty-six hours they gave exemplary performances of three of the greatest British song-cycles of the twentieth century.

Today we heard On Wenlock Edge – settings by Vaughan Williams of poems from Housman’s A Shropshire Lad, scored for tenor, piano and string quartet.  Once again, Gilchrist’s ability to convey intense emotion held the audience spellbound. In songs such as “Is my team ploughing?” and “In Summertime on Bredon”, his vocal range, subtle inflections and tone colour, were astounding. The accompaniment was of equal distinction whether in conjuring the heat of a summer day, the howl of a gale or the clangour of bells.

Gilchrist’s vocal athletics and stunning dynamic range were employed to the full in Tavener’s haunting Songs of the Sky, written in memory of those who lost their lives in the Pacific Tsunami of 2004. Nicholas Daniel (oboe) and Anna Tilbrook joined him in this heartfelt performance.  

Long time musical partners Nicholas Daniel and Julius Drake (piano) revelled in Vaughan Williams’s Six Studies in English Folk Song. These exquisite miniatures were played with that expressive singing tone that gives Daniel his foremost position amongst British oboists.

The concert began with the early Trio for violin, viola and piano by Arnold Bax. This somewhat diffuse, “busy” work had charm, if little of the composer’s mature style. The fervent performance couldn’t have been bettered.    

Neil Crutchley : Leicester Mercury

Sunday 20^th September Evening Concert    Leicester Cathedral

Kaleidoscopes

Dedicated to the memory of Richard Hickox, this was a concert of moods and of some of the English music with which Hickox was particularly associated.

John Taverner’s Threnos for solo cello began the concert.  Played by Natalie Clein, this reflective piece played entirely on muted cello, had an air of remembrance and serenity.

Festival Composer in Residence, Tansy Davies’ Residuum was composed with an imprint of Dowland’s Galliard to Lachrymae in mind – almost a ghost of the earlier work. Its conflicting rhythms and harmonies formed a whirlpool of confusion and an abrupt ending left the listener with a sense of loss.

The opening chords of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro Opus 47 provided a tuneful contrast.  Nicholas Daniel’s conducting was passionate and the playing by a young orchestra had depth and passion.  An enthusiastic audience reaction was testament both to the quality of playing and composition.

Taverner’s Kaleidoscopes was written for Nicholas Daniel and the solo oboe part was performed by him, accompanied by strings, four Tibetan temple bells and a very large gong.

The oboist stands in the middle of a circle of the other players, almost as an individual surrounded by the world.   This incredible piece has a Far Eastern Atmosphere and snippets of Mozart are heard.  Low level lighting and candles added to a captivating performance which provided a great finale to the 21^st Leicester International Music Festival.

Peter Collett : Leicester Mercury

The Times 26 September 2009

 Volunteers in the arts

Let’s salute the unpaid volunteer: in the arts world they are vital

Richard Morrison 

Hovering below the radar of the national media are thousands of organisations that give this country’s cultural life its breadth and richness. I’m talking about the repertory theatres that get reviewed by London critics once in a blue moon, yet pump out a wonderfully varied diet of drama week after week; and the regional galleries and museums that continually astonish with their resourcefulness and quirky diversity; and the local music clubs that manage to lure top-class instrumentalists and singers to school halls or churches, despite being run on a frayed shoestring.

Then there are the doughty little festivals, often based in unglamorous locations, that scale ambitious heights year after year yet get hardly any recognition in the national press. Last week I briefly visited the Leicester International Music Festival and was astounded by the quality and boldness of the chamber-music programme devised by its artistic director, the virtuoso oboist Nicholas Daniel. This four-day musical feast included several premieres, students’ workshops, and a fabulous range of 20th and 21st century British compositions by the likes of Tavener, Tippett and Britten.

How do such institutions survive? In the case of Leicester — and, I would guess, many others — one answer is that the lion’s share of the work behind the scenes is done by indefatigable volunteers. I wonder whether there’s a lesson here for the cultural world generally, especially as it enters into what everyone expects to be a period of grim austerity for the subsidised arts. Words such as “amateur” and “volunteer” still carry a bit of a stigma, an innuendo of mediocrity and unreliability, that is both unfortunate and undeserved. Britain’s cities on Fridays and Saturday nights would be anarchic no-go areas, for instance, without the calming presence of thousands of volunteer police officers — the Specials. Some 40,000 volunteers keep the St John Ambulance running. Volunteers organise thousands of youth clubs, football leagues, scouts and guides troops, choirs and after-school activities. They are responsible for some of the best heritage restoration projects of the past 30 years — canals, Victorian pumping stations, steam railways, you name it. They govern schools. They staff lifeboats, mountain rescue services and the Samaritans. Without volunteers, national life would be hugely impoverished.

And they often work tirelessly for the arts — the professional scene as well as the amateur one. My daughter is one of many youngsters who act as unpaid stewards at Glastonbury. In return for crowd-shepherding they hear some great music. Other musical youngsters spend their summers as “trogs” (the unseen helpers shifting pianos and chairs for concerts) at Dartington. Their reward, too, is to be part of a top-class musical scene. It’s not just youngsters who get involved. Arts organisations often benefit enormously from the input of middle-aged or retired people who can bring from their professional lives an expertise in a vital area — accountancy, transportation, catering, carpentry, marketing, plumbing, security, fundraising, whatever it may be. But there’s much more to be gained than just free expertise and labour. Volunteers also plug a cultural organisation into the community. Ordinary people feel that they have a stake; that they are part of a team contributing something excellent to their town. That in turn fosters local pride, and local pride is the key to any organisation surviving in these troubled times.

I’ve just witnessed an example of that in a slightly different field. Our local parish church has a huge, historic churchyard that has been a jungle of overgrown weeds, broken tombstones and impenetrable thickets for as long as anyone can recall. The congregation couldn’t muster the muscle power to keep it tamed and there was no money to have it professionally maintained. Then someone had the idea of sticking notices on the path through the churchyard, asking for volunteer gardeners to restore the tranquil beauty of the area. To the surprise of many sceptics, talented local people flocked to help. Within weeks the churchyard was transformed. But, more than that, the community supporting the church was widened to include many people who would probably not have entered its doors otherwise. It’s as if the project filled a long-felt need in people’s lives: the need to make a difference to their own neighbourhood.

Of course the professional arts world, like any other industry, can be suspicious of outsiders who aren’t “properly” trained and who might be seen as threatening employment prospects within the business by offering their services for nothing. Our rigidly unionised theatres, in particular, can seem hostile territory to volunteers. But that attitude must change. When deficits are mounting, subsidies are under threat, sponsors are going bust and the public is counting its precious pennies, arts organisations should be welcoming free help with open arms. In some cases it might be the only path to survival.

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