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CLASSICAL NOTES BY NICK BOSTON
JESSICA CURRY ISOBEL WALLER-BRIDGE
well as her own music from scores such as Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. Isobel Waller-Bridge has written wideranging scores for film, television (including of course, Fleabag) and theatre, as well as jazz, electronic and contemporary classical music. Nainita Desai, who concludes the series, is a highly acclaimed film and television composer, writing scores for The Reason I Jump, and Netflix’s documentary, American Murder. Listen on digital radio or online at www.planetradio.co.uk/ scala-radio. ) Live from London - Spring. Building on two successful online concert series last year, vocal
ensemble Voces8 are back with an even more ambitious festival, running from February to April. In March, they celebrate International Women’s Day a day early on Sunday, March 7 at 7pm, with a performance by pianist (and recently appointed Music Director of Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra) Joanna MacGregor, including music by Florence Price, Margaret Bond, Mary Lou Williams and Nina Simone, as well as some of MacGregor’s own arrangements and compositions. Then on Sunday, March 14 at 7pm, Dame DAME EMMA KIRBY
Sadly, it’s too early to be celebrating the return of live performance to our diaries. But in the meantime, here are some ideas for listening opportunities coming up on the radio or online, focusing on women composers and performers. ) She Scores on Scala Radio. A new series on Sundays at 6pm, from March 7, sees four women composers present a programme each, sharing some of their favourite classical music by women, as well as some of their own compositions. The series kicks off with film music composer Pinar Toprak, the first woman to score a Marvel film, Captain Marvel. Jessica Curry (who I interviewed in these very pages a few years ago), the wonderful Brighton & Hove-based composer for video games, will celebrate her wideranging influences, from Hildegard von Bingen to Errollyn Wallen, as
JOANNA MACGREGOR
PREVIEWS
Emma Kirkby is joined by friends including mezzo-sopranos Helen Charlston and Patricia Hammond, and theorbo player Toby Carr for music by Hildegard von Bingen, Clémence de Grandval and Margarita Mimi Fariña (sister of Joan Baez). Concerts are streamed live online then available on demand until the end of April. Tickets and info at voces8.foundation.
REVIEWS
) Michael Brown Noctuelles (First Hand Records FHR78). American composer-pianist Michael Brown takes the title of this recording, Noctuelles, from the first movement of Maurice Ravel’s (1875-1937) Miroirs. It is followed by the Second Improvisation (in variation form), Op. 47 by Russian composer-pianist, Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951). In Miroirs, Noctuelles (Night moths),
and its shimmering, fluttering textures are mesmerising, and Brown’s dexterity and sensitivity here, and in Oiseaux Tristes, is striking. Une Barque sur l’Océan is watery and flowing, and Brown brings out the stormy sea-sick swells as the movement develops. In contrast, Albarado del Gracioso is an athletic dance, and Brown enjoys the jumpy, balletic rhythms, before the mysterious tolling bells and dark clashing harmonies of the final movement, La Vallée des Cloches. Turning to the Medtner, The Song of the Water Nymph theme is lyrical and watery, yet chromatically ambiguous, this contrast providing the germ for the variations, from twisting dark harmonies in Meditation to shifting harmonic sands and virtuosic activity in La cadenza. Yet there is lightness too, in the sprightly Elves, frisky Gnomes, and chattering Feathered
Ones. Brown manages to bring out these contrasting characters, while still managing to create a unifying sense of direction, leading to a beautifully contemplative Conclusion. Impressive throughout, Brown demonstrates incredible virtuosity, but more than this, great sensitivity to the detail and contrasts within this remarkably evocative music. ) Oliver John Ruthven & Musica Poetica Tunder Appreciated (Veterum Musica VM020). The early music ensemble Musica Poetica, directed by Oliver John Ruthven, took part in the Brighton Early Music Festival Live! scheme back in 2012. For their debut recording, Tunder Appreciated, they present music by the German composer, Franz Tunder (1614-1667). A new one for me, he was the father-in-law of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), and there is a clear Lutheran line through him to the music of Bach, whilst at the same time elements of Italian influence. Here there are three works for solo voice and viols, and a wonderful choral cantata, Ein feste Burg. In the solo works, three of the five singers on the recording are given a solo
outing. First, soprano Lucy Knight performs Tunder’s setting of Psalm 137, Am Wasserflüssen Babylon (By the Waters of Babylon), with a beautifully clear voice, delivering the text with precision over the richly textured accompaniment. Alto Collin Shay brings us Salve mi Jesu, steadily declamatory in tone, and then emphasising Tunder’s wordpainting of sighing and weeping with great sensitivity, and the stuttering ornamentation is impressively adept. Finally the bass, Christopher Webb in Da mihi Domine, a highlight of the recording for me. Webb’s voice is rich yet agile, and he shifts between tender pleading and weighty declamation with ease. The accompaniment also shines through, with rocking melodies passed between instruments, and the two violins echoing the vocal lines beautifully. They add two works from Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): O mors Illa, a short but beautiful duet for tenor (Peter Davoren) and bass, beautifully blended here, and accompanied delicately by Toby Carr (theorbo) and Ruthven (organ), and Partite sopra Passacagli for solo organ, with its gently lilting introduction, running, winding lines and impressively fluid passacaglia. And the only time when all five singers and the full band come together are for Buxtehude’s Ad Latus, from his Membra Jesu Nostri. The dancing string introduction here has a real spark. The blend of the five voices is initially not always even, with a couple of voices dominating, although when the opening music returns, the balance seems to have settled. In the central sections, the touch is light, and one is left eager to hear their performance of the complete work. So, impressive performances here, and a great introduction to Tunder, of whom I hope to hear more.
More info For more reviews, comment and events, visit: n nicks-classical-notes.blogspot. co.uk T @nickb86uk E nbclassical@hotmail.co.uk
