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Last night’s concert was another blinder: members of the superb Ensemble 360 playing their hearts out for an enrapt audience in the beautiful surroundings of St Mary’s Church. Each of the players has a personal CV to die for, with awards, recordings and listed performances all over the world. One would think that this might lead to rivalry when performing chamber music together, but not a bit of it!
“Their love of what they do – playing music – is evident in every phrase, and in every mutually exchanged glance; each player had glorious solo moments totally unimpeded by the others…”
The programming was brilliant, sandwiching a little-known work by Vaughan Williams between a delightful Schubert string trio and the ever-popular Schubert Trout Quintet. The reasoning was obvious – very few other works are scored for a piano plus strings including a double bass… and the Vaughan Williams is similarly scored… Composed when he was only 30, performed once in 1905, revised and then left unperformed until decades after his death, the opening Allegro jolted us from our post-Schubertian state of relaxed pleasure by the ferocious and dramatic 1st subject, with thunderous piano and definitely con fuoco strings! A sudden cessation, then a lovely 2nd theme emerged, Tim Horton wringing every ounce of Romantic ardour from the piano, and the strings either in rich harmony or even working in 3-octave unison. The addition of double bass gave an added depth to the overall sound, and the use of pizzicato, as in the Schubert, was most effective. The second movement was also a joy, with a chorale-like opening moving into a more dramatic middle section before returning to the re-harmonised opening section. The complete pin-drop silence said it all, before the final movement, when violinist Benjamin Nabarro gave us a delightfully whimsical folksy melody, answered by the rich tone of Gemma Rosefield’s cello, with the bass growling underneath! More fireworks from the piano, and we were back con fuoco, with lines flying contrapuntally around, variations galore and a mad accelerando to a grand ending and a rapturous audience reception!
After the interval they returned for what was, for me, one of the best performances I have ever heard of Schubert’s Trout Quintet! (And I’ve heard plenty.)
“The mood was joy personified; the melodies burst forth radiantly, every nuance was effective, and each instrumentalist shone individually whilst being totally aware of what was happening elsewhere.”
Chamber music to perfection, and one could imagine the young Schubert – only 22 and enjoying the summer Austrian countryside – having a whale of a time on the piano with his friends around him. How lovely to hear the viola so wonderfully played by Scott Dickinson, bringing its beautifully rich timbre to the Andante and having splendid moments in the variations too. The Scherzo whizzed along splendidly, the lively melody tossed between the players with unabated energy, and the variations on the famous Trout melody were beautifully crafted, with the famous piano accompaniment lines shared with rare delicacy by piano and violin.
“A truly wonderful concert, and a rapturous audience…”
