<<  -- 4 --  Philip Lancaster    A home-coming

The Friday afternoon took us back to the former glory days of English music in the Tudor period with a recital given by the consistently impressive viol consort Fretwork, joined here by counter-tenor Robin Blaze who, despite the very occasional loss of words, couldn't fail in enchanting all. One piece of Bach (why not?) and two recent works were also included in the programme, the latter showing the versatility of an instrument, which fell redundant with the coming of the violin family as we know it, as a medium for modern composers: Floating Through by Barrington Pheloung and a strange offering from singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. A brief episode with a broken string left them undaunted and all were delighted to the end with a final sung chorus from Fretwork in a New Year anthem by William Byrd.

In the final recital of the week at St Mary de Lode the Chalumeau Wind Quintet offered a journey into a sound world that is rarely heard. The novelty of the ensemble compared to all heard that week was most striking and effective and was well programmed to show the versatility of the group in varying combinations, all crisply executed and well communicated as full quintet or as the duos called for in the Bridge quartet.

The end of the week here saw the convergence of a near perfection in song. On the Thursday Gary Magee and Susie Allan offered a recital including Vaughan Williams' popular Songs of Travel. This swarthy young baritone's richly toned voice gave impression of over-singing somewhat, occasionally to the detriment of the words, but his performance of the Vaughan Williams was deeply felt and thoughtfully phrased and sensitively accompanied and phrased by Susie Allan. Here there occasionally shone through a lighter head voice which was beautifully apparent in the encore, Silent Noon (at 'was the song'), a head voice which could have been used more, notably in the Butterworth Bredon Hill set and the Ivor Gurney settings to great effect. Maybe a lack of confidence is causing him to over-sing at those crucially sensitive, potentially more vulnerable moments, a vulnerability that would give scope for a greater insight and reading into the personal nature of the songs. This recital finished, unusually, with a selection of unknown Bantock settings, proving highly effective.

The pinnacle of the four song recitals was Stephen Varcoe's lecture recital, commemorating, in song, Gerald Finzi, his friends and mentors. Here the voice itself played second fiddle to the words and became almost inessential in the overall picture; the music was, as intended, purely an extension of the language itself. The recital culminated in a performance of Finzi's Earth and Air and Rain, Varcoe allowing the words to interpret themselves in part, and not at all dulled by a perhaps struggling Allan at the piano, lacking some of the greater colours and insights that are in the word setting. Varcoe has perfected his art and knowledge of the subject, and his voice, despite not quite being what it used to be -- occasionally struggling in the outer reaches, is irrelevant, although always bringing the goods when necessary.

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