St Mark’s is an excellent space for chamber music, and I suspect, many other types of music. It is intimate and atmospheric without being cluttered and has an excellent acoustic. In this programme, presented by three members of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, we had three successive solo pieces by Bach.
The first was the Suite No 2 for cello played by Tim Paxton. He took the opening prelude to warm up but the Allemande and Courante were more successful. Their rich, deep sound fitting well with the rush hour rumble below. The whole piece was 24 minutes long. That is a long time to listen to a cello alone and, I suspect, also to play one so it can be no surprise that the minuets and gigue at the end struggled a little.
The Partita No 1 was next, played by Helena Buckmayer. For me this was the highlight of the hour and sparkled with a light, charming, almost elfin musicality. I particularly enjoyed the joyous frivolity of the Allemande and the closing Gigue. The Sonata No 1 for violin closed the concert. Played by Hector Scott, this was clearly a difficult piece and he made us aware of his struggle. The bright, crisp closing Presto contrasting with the preceding battles. In retrospect I would have liked to have a little less of each so as to enjoy the 3 coming together as an ensemble to round out the whole experience.
The programme notes explained that these were special pieces that changed day by day; reminded us that concerts are one off events; none are ever the same. Music is eternal but each single experience is unique. There is another concert in this series on the 31st August.
