***** (5 stars)
“A brilliant concert!”
As ever, this was a brilliant concert. The Royal Northern Sinfonia love coming to Musselburgh’s Northesk parish church, and Musselburgh loves to welcome them. The church was packed, and not just with grey heads, all keen to spend an evening with this talented group of musicians who so obviously enjoy making music together and sharing it with us.
They presented a packed programme of Baroque music – Rameau, Leclair, Torelli, Purcell, Corelli, Locatelli, Telemann and Handel took us to England, France, Germany and Italy. Director Maria Włoszczowska told us how much the Sinfonia love coming to Scotland: it’s not just the freshness of the air but the importance of folk music in Scottish culture, which makes audiences resonate with the folk tunes in the music they play.
There were plenty of them, beginning with Rameau’s Danse from his Fêtes des Herbes, with a continuous bass drone upon which the upper strings danced delicately before everyone burst into an almost eastern, gypsyish dance with a lively tambourine accompaniment. Leclair’s violin concerto gave soloist Maria Włoszczowska a showcase for her incredible technique – but all the other players are equally talented. Texture, phrasing, dynamics, shaping, communication, incredible precision, and above all a joy in playing suffuses everything they play, and makes the whole evening a non-stop succession of delights.
And it wasn’t just strings, either! The tambourine made several appearances, as did sleigh bells. Maria Włoszczowska turned out to be a mean one-handed drummer, and harpsichordist Amhad Arara could be seen bopping away in the liveliest pieces, adding his solid support and extravagant flourishes to the music.
A couple of Christmas concerti made appearances, there was a wonderful Rameau Orage [storm], one of Handel’s concerti grossi and some delightful dances from Purcell’s Fairy Queen. A particular joy was to hear Michael Gerrard as soloist in Telemann’s viola concerto. Throughout the evening his instrument could be heard as a warm, rich contribution among the brighter dancing violins: now he got to stand centre stage and show off his impressive technique in a gorgeous piece which rightly got the loudest applause of the evening.
I don’t know about anyone else in the audience, as I was sitting at the back of the church, but I was smiling virtually from beginning to end of the evening, for sheer joy at the quality of the music and the delight of watching a group of superb musicians play music they obviously love. Already I’m looking forward to next year’s visit… haste ye back!
The Brunton, Christmas by Candlelight, Northesk Parish Church, Musselburgh, Run Ended.
ScotsGay Arts 