October recitals

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Something of a tour of the country in the last three weeks with concerts in Norfolk, Somerset, Buckinghamshire, Oxford, Thame, and London….  From the Rachmaninov cello sonata and Brahms A major violin sonata to an oboe programme of Schumann and his legacy, from Russian song and a Dvorak cycle for two sopranos to Schubert or Finzi and Vaughan Williams, it’s been a wonderfully varied month of delicious music with lovely performers in stunning bits of the country. Being a musician has its advantages!

Oxford Lieder Festival

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October can mean only one thing for Lieder fans: time for the Oxford Lieder Festival!  As ever it was an absolute joy to be back, this year performing two (very different!) recitals; a late-night Die Schöne Müllerin with Marcus Farnsworth in the atmospheric New College Chapel (part of the opening weekend dedicated entirely to Schubert), and then a lunchtime Wesendonck Lieder (plus some cheeky Wolf and extrovert Strauss!) in the Jacqueline du Pré Building with Julia Sporsén, as part of a two-day Wagner study.  Then there was a repeat of last year’s successful student composition workshop, exploring the university music students’ song contributions, and Ciara Hendrick and I again represented the performers’ perspective in this, learning, performing and workshopping each composition, along with faculty professor Robert Saxton and the festival’s Composer in Residence, Charlotte Bray.  The festival seems to be on outstanding form in its 10th year – many congratulations to Sholto Kynoch and the amazing team!

Cellists and organists!

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Pleased to be asked back as pianist for Sue Lowe's International Cello Course at Easter for the third year – and in the same week as piano tutor on the Oundle for Organists 'Advance' course. Both have been great fun in the past so looking forward to being back.

Choirs

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Lovely to be asked back to take tonight’s Oxford Bach Choir rehearsal for Nicholas Cleobury; having been the choir’s accompanist for two years as an undergraduate, then their Rehearsal Conductor for two years (and occasional concert conductor!), it was good to see lots of familiar faces (and an encouraging number of new ones too) after a few years away.  Their Christmas concert is a glorious programme of Bach (Eb major Magnificat, Wachet auf, Lobet den Herrn, Part 1 of the Christmas Oratorio).  Looking forward to regular choir conducting for the next few weeks as rehearsals kick off shortly with the Renaissance Singers for our Christmas concert, A Boy is Born.

Music at St Peter’s

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The third season of the Music at St Peter’s recital series started this weekend.  This was a varied programme of songs and arias from superb countertenor Jeremy Kenyon (the first countertenor at the series and the first countertenor encounter for many of the audience!) – and then oboist James Turnbull and violinist Clare Wheeler (something of a Christ Church reunion as we all studied there together) contributing Rubbra, Vaughan Williams and the Bach double concerto to the second half.  An excellent start!  Plans for the rest of the year include Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Brahms’ Clarinet Trio and a range of songs and instrumental pieces.  As ever all the concerts raise considerable sums of money for different local charities.  Plans are also afoot for a weekend of choral workshops, and for projects in local primary schools linked to the recitals – an exciting year ahead!

Riders to the Sea / Curlew River

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RAO's first production of the year is a double-bill of Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea and Britten's Curlew River, on which I have been assistant conductor and chorusmaster.  Directed by John Ramster and conducted by Peter Robinson, this is a dark evening (two pieces exploring the grief of losing a child) but captivating and moving, and the cast are superb.  It's particularly interesting to revisit Curlew River, having conducted another of the church parables, The Prodigal Son, in the Ryedale Festival's opera production (dir. Joe Austin) last year.  This double-bill opens on Thursday; toi toi to all.

Bach cantatas

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What a pleasure to take a couple of days out from preparing numerous October recital programmes at the piano, to play some continuo organ instead!  The ambitious and spectacular Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata series continues, and it was a delight to perform three of these cantatas on Sunday, directed by Iain Ledingham and led by Rachel Podger.

Oxford Lieder Festival

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Very sorry that superb soprano Louise Alder has had to withdraw from our Oxford Lieder Festival recital later this month, but delighted that Julia Sporsén has stepped in, in the middle of the run of The Passenger at ENO!

September recitals

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As ever, a pleasure to perform recitals with two longer-standing duo partners in the last ten days –  Die schöne Müllerin at Curry Rivel Music Club with Marcus Farnsworth (which we are looking forward to repeating in the Oxford Lieder Festival), and oboe works by Lutoslawski, Colin Matthews and Rubbra at The Forge in Camden last week, with James Turnbull (some of which we are reprising at the next Music at St Peter's concert next month).

Competition season

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Competitions seem to happen in fits and bursts over the year, and September, like February, is one of those bursts!  Last weekend was crammed with playing for three days of the Hampshire Singer of the Year preliminary rounds, as one of the two official accompanists (with Marc Verter).  Newly relaunched as a national competition with significant status and prize money, this opportunity has attracted a high level of vocal talent, so congratulations to those through to the next stage in October.  Hot on its heels was the Pavarotti opera prize at the Academy (again the official accompanist), hotly contested with arias ranging from Handel to Stravinsky, via Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz and Britten (an exercise in playing most of the hardest orchestral reductions in one evening…), but deservedly won by Ruth Jenkins.  Just a few Glyndebourne auditions to play for next week…