Trio are terrific (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Trio are terrific

4:40pm Thursday 18th February 2010 in General

Canteloube Wind Trio
Basingstoke Concert Club

THE Canteloube Wind Trio presented an interesting and varied programme at their concert at Trinity Methodist Church.

Earlier in the day, the Trio – Jennie-Lee Keetley(oboe), Peter Cigleris (clarinet) and Molly Nielsen (bassoon) – provided a workshop for 12 local youngsters who were learning wind instruments, guiding them in an improvisation exercise and in a previously prepared piece, which they played together at the end of the session. Many of them attended the evening concert.

Unlike a group of strings, where the tone colours blend, a wind group of this sort relies upon the strong contrasts between the sounds of the instruments. It was these contrasts that the Trio exploited with verve throughout their programme.

It got off to a jolly start with an arrangement of Figaro’s aria Largo al Factotum from Rossini’s Barber of Seville. The bassoon caught the humour of the piece, standing in, as it were, for the baritone in this famous operatic “patter” song.

There followed a divertimento by Mozart – relaxing music, with the chattering bassoon again much in evidence – and a duo by Beethoven for clarinet and bassoon.

A trio by Gordon Jacob ended the first half of the programme. This was a very approachable work, with some full mellow-toned playing from the clarinet, and more bassoon jollity in the Scherzo.

The concert continued with two Three-Part Inventions by J.S.Bach, originally written for keyboard, they lent themselves well to the wind trio.

Next was a modern piece by Graham Williams, a teacher of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, written for the Canteloube Trio, entitled More from the Music Box – a sequel to an earlier composition From the Music Box.

The intriguing idea is of an old box-type piano-stool, in which all sorts of ideas are stored, and can be taken out as required.

The final work was Rustiques by Joseph Canteloube. His interest in the collection of folk-songs from the Auvergne is reflected in this beautiful trio, so typically French, and played with panache by the accomplished young musicians, who gave us a delightful encore called The Cuckoo by Darius Milhaud.

This concert was sponsored by Hyacinth Furtado in memory of her husband Adrian, who served on the club’s committee and was an enthusiast for the bassoon, which he was learning to play. He would have been delighted by the many opportunities afforded by the programme for that instrument to shine.

–David Lucas

Basingstoke Concert Club’s next concert is on February 27 at Trinity Methodist Church, when the artists will be Soojin Han (violin) and Sholto Kynoch (piano). See basingstokeconcertclub.org.uk for more details.