Friends bring freshness and joy

Canterbury Music Club, St Gregory’s Centre for Music, Canterbury

This concert featured Simon Lepper (piano), Juliette Bausor (flute) and Daniel Bates (oboe).all three are previous winners of the Royal Overseas League music competition and enjoy high-profile solo careers alongside their regular positions in orchestras and chamber music.

All three have been performing together for many years and as a result of their close friendship they bring a palpable freshness and sense of joy to their collaboration.

This was more than evident in their performance when the contact between the three was really alive. The programme included a trio by Madeleine Dring, a flute solo by Edwin York Bowen, the Intermezzo to Delius’s Fennimore & Gerda and then two movements from Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Suite Bourgeoise.

After the interval we were treated to two movements from William Matthias’s Divertimento, two movements from Britten’s Metamorphoses after Ovid for oboe and Geoffrey Robbins’s Pastorale and Bagatelle.

The concert ended on a high note with Iain Farrington’s Heatwave.

This explores the contrasting feelings of a sweltering hot day. The first movement, Hot heads, depicts the tense stressful atmosphere caused by stifling heat. To contrast, Siesta has a sultry, lazy and passionate mood. Finally, Scorcher captures some of the fun and energy of an outdoor get-together.

The next concert is in St Paul’s Church, Church Street St Paul’s, Canterbury, at 7.30pm on Thursday, November 16, when the violin duo Retorica (Harriet Mackenzie and Philippa Mo) will play works by Telemann, Wieniawski, Mozart, Bartok and others. Further details, including booking, may be found by visiting www. canterburymusicclub.com.

J W Davey