Fringe Music
Shostakovich Late
Royal Overseas League
Miranda Heggie
Five Stars
Displaying an outstanding array of musicians, Tuesday’s late night offering from the Royal Overseas League was a recital which stood out for all the right reasons. Pianist Alexander Soares kicked off proceedings with a fascinating rendition of Piere Boulez’s Notations, a set of 12 minatures for solo piano. He began with a clear, ringing tone before delving into a far more explosive sound world, pulling out a rich array of colour and texture. His chameleon-like qualities as a pianist were further demonstrated by his sensitive, intelligent playing of the piano reduction of Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s single movement viola concert A String around Autumn. Inspired by a short Japanese poem by Makoto ?oka, violist Jared Yapp lent a beautiful, dream like quality to the Takemitsu's music.
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Shostakovich’s String Quartet in C no 8, exquisitely transcribed for four cellos by the Quattro Cello Quartet. The Quartet evoked the emotions of fear, angst and all-encompassing sorrow felt by Shostakovich as he poured his innermost feelings into this composition with an overwhelming beauty and poignancy. The relationships between parts felt all the more intimate for being played on the same instrument, the sonorous tones of each cellist intermingling, leaving the audience spellbound.
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