Steven Osborne & Paul Lewis
Cumnock Tryst
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Christian Forshaw, Grace Davidson & Libby Burgess Historical Fiction
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Steven Osborne and Paul Lewis, the dream team of UK piano duettists, were in Cumnock on Saturday to share what Osborne effectively referred to as a meeting of compatible musical minds, to which I would add the word ‘brilliant’.
Their recital came on the penultimate day of Sir James Macmilan’s four-day festival. Anyone familiar with the duo’s recent French Duets CD will have known what to expect, performances imbued with natural bonhomie and seemingly impromptu touches.
The music was perfect for the moment, a dreich Saturday instantly transformed by the sweet smiling melodies of Fauré’s Dolly Suite, the subtle intricacies and magically-shared pianissimos of Debussy’s Six Epigraphes Antique and Petite Suite, and the iridescent charm of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite.
On the other hand, Poulenc’s obstreperous Sonata for Piano Duet and the viciously simplistic wit of Stravinsky’s Trois Pièces faciles provided opportunities for musical mischiefmaking. But always in the best possible taste.
Earlier on Saturday, saxophonist Christian Forshaw (artist-in-residence at this year’s Festival), soprano Grace Davidson and organist Libby Burgess presented a live, pseudo-ritualistic adaptation of their recent album, Historical Fiction, an uninterrupted sequence featuring Forshaw’s arrangements of early vocal music, from plainsong to Gibbons, Handel and Purcell, with compositional links of his own.
The performance lacked resonance. Ultimately it lacked electricity. A power cut silenced the organ, leaving the valiant Forshaw and Davidson to improvise a finish as best they could.