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SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW
Mozart: Quintet for piano and winds in E flat, K452
Poulenc: Sonata for flute and piano
Frank Bridge: Divertimenti for Wind Quartet
Beethoven: Quintet for piano and winds in E flat, Op 16.
The London Conchord Ensemble is a group of youngish musicians who
perform chamber music for various combinations of instruments. On
this occasion five of its wind players took to the stage with
pianist Julian Milford.
The flautist waited in the wings as his colleagues performed
Mozart's attractive Quintet imbuing it with
cheerfulness.and wit. The first movement brought to mind the antics
of Papageno, and the Larghetto started off as a gloriously laid-back
serenade ideal for a warm summer evening,but developed interesting
chromatic harmonies at the end. There was a carefree atmosphere,
too, in the Rondo with Julian Milford acquittng himself with
honours.in the dominant piano part.
Then it was the turn of Daniel Pailthorpe with the Poulenc
Sonata - a work which combines melancholy and playfulness. He
tackled the bright melodies of the first movement with true verve
before slowing down in anticipation of the slow movement. This, the
Cantilena, had an endearing wistfulness - a feeling that vanished in
the fast and furious finale. This featured brilliant flute passages
and what sometimes felt like a race to the finish between flute and
piano. To describe the performance as a tour de force does not
convey adequately the impression he made.
Frank Bridge is better known for having been Benjamin Britten's
mentor than for his compositions, yet his output is by and large of
high quality and deserves to be heard more often. The
Divertimenti, which started out as two duets for flute and oboe
and was later extended to include clarinet and bassoon, is a lively
work best regarded as a series of conversations between the
instruments. In the first movement, Fanfare, there was an animated
discussion. The Nocturne featured another excellent contribution
from Mr Pailthorpe whose flute seemed to be offering a commentary on
the pronouncements of Emily Pailthorpe's oboe. (As I suspect that
the pair are either spouses or siblings, I am tempted to speculate
as to whether their musical performance was replicating domestic
life!) In the witty Scherzo Peter Sparks (clarinet) and Julie Price
(bassoon) tossed melodic fragments at each other with great
abandon,and seemed to dance together at times. The Bagatelle which
concluded the work brought all four instrumentalists together for a
fairly inconsequential discussion with plenty of virtuosic display.
Beethoven modelled his Quintet for piano and winds on
Mozart's which had been written twelve years earlier. Now in his
mid-twenties Beethoven was ambitious to make his mark as a composer,
and one gets the impression that he was attempting not only to
emulate but to surpass Mozart's. One has the nagging suspicion that
he was trying a little too hard given the many showy passages,
especially for the piano.- which Beethoven would have played in the
early performances. Julian Milford certainly addressed the
complexities of the piano part with confidence and intelligence, but
I found hardly any in the audience who were prepared to admit that
this quintet outshone Mozart's K452. Yet, I have to admit I
was almost won over to the other side by Richard Bayliss's fine horn
playing in the central section of the Andante Cantabile.
With their crisp, committed playing the London Conchord Ensemble
proved to be a force to be reckoned with in the world of chamber
music. Now its wind players are looking forward to wooing American
concert-goers when they perform at the Library of Congress in
Washington DC in a month's time.
Roger Jones