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LIVELY CHARACTERISATION
An organ recital by Ian Tracey,
heard by MIKE WHEELER
Organist of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, Ian Tracey, launched his recital (Derby Cathedral, Derby UK, 29 July 2009) with the Minué from Soler's 6th Concerto for two organs. More fandango than minuet, it got the evening off to a merry start.
It was followed by the Chaconne from J S Bach's D minor solo violin Partita, in an over-romanticised transcription by Reginald Goss-Custard, one of Ian Tracey's predecessors at Liverpool, to which some would have responded more readily than I did.
The C minor Sonata by eighteenth-century Venetian Giovanni Battista Pescetti (a new name to me) was an attractive rarity, particularly the bright and bubbly first and last movements. A similar feel for lively characterisation informed the performances of Schumann's Four Sketches for pedal piano, Op 58 and Bossi's G minor Scherzo (a bigger piece than its title suggests). Ian Tracey's own transcription of the second movement from Elgar's Serenade worked nicely in this deeply thoughtful account.
The Scherzo from Mendelssohn's Midsummer night's dream in Goss-Custard's transcription -- which, Ian Tracey told us, he had judiciously thinned out (whatever must the original sound like?) -- was made to scamper along deftly, though, perhaps inevitably, at the cost of some definition in the details.
Two movements from Flor Peeters' Lied symphony ended the advertised part of the evening, bringing a nice sense of flow to 'Lied to the Flowers' and capturing the exuberance of the toccata-like 'Lied to the Sun'. As an encore 'La Morisque' from Susato's Danserye took us back to the piquantly reedy sound-world where we began.
Ian Tracey's spoken introductions were both entertaining and to the point -- an all-too-rare combination.
Copyright © 5 August 2009 Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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