28 November 2009
Winter Concert
David Watkins (18th Century harp)
Michael Bochman (violin)
Jane Leslie Mackenzie (soprano)
A new venue, and a new venture!
The Festival has not previously presented a concert in the winter months, so this was something of an experiment, and, I think it is fair to say, a successful one. The Welshpool Town Hall Assembly Room was chosen as being a slightly more central venue than the churches of Llanfyllin and Bwlch-y-Cibau, and drinks and mince pies were made available. The room proved to have a pleasant, clean acoustic, perhaps not unlike the sort of chamber in which this music would first have been heard.
Although we had programmes, the musicians introduced the pieces, so that among other things we learnt that a sonata for harp and violin written by Carl Friedrich Abel was written for a Welsh harpist of his acquaintance and that, furthermore, it was only recently rediscovered and was enjoying its' first modern performance. David Watkins' 18th Century single action harp (a much less intimidatingly flamboyant instrument than a modern concert harp) is believed to have belonged to the famous Parisian salon hostess, Mme Recamier. I could not help but contrast the quiet attention of the modern audience with what we have heard of musical soirees of the 17th and 18th Century!
The three performers appeared to be enjoying themselves considerably, which always adds to the fun for the audience. In addition, they presented a balanced programme of pieces, involving solos, duets, and trios. Many of the pieces were familiar, although not necessarily in the arrangements we heard, and after all, each new arrangement reveals new aspects, even of familiar pieces.. In particular, the use of harp and violin to accompany the voice did feel very much like an insight into the world of sheet music and domestic performance of operatic hits that we hear of, but of which we have had little experience since the advent of recorded music. Our loss, I feel.
Rachel Wright
Committee Member