The 29th International East Anglian Summer Music Festival 2007

by Vicky Anfilogoff

Well, once again one of my favourite times of year has come around.   After a very indifferent June –wet and cold– summer finally decided to arrive in mid-July and with it the start of the International East Anglian Summer Music Festival in its 29th year.   This long running event was the brain child of Thomas McIntosh, an international concert pianist and conductor who trained at the Julliard School of Music in New York City, and his wife, Miranda Reckitt, an Ipswich solicitor.   This Festival is held in The Old School in Hadleigh and provides a delightful venue; the former school hall, which has very good acoustics, is a wonderfully intimate performance space much enjoyed by performers and audience alike whilst the beautifully kept garden is a great place to have a glass of wine before the performance or during the interval and, on Saturdays, is an oasis in which to have a ploughman's lunch following the morning performances.

 This year the first weekend started with a Saturday evening Supper Concert commencing with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.2 B-flat major, Op. 19 with Thomas McIntosh at the piano, the string players Roy Chilton, Claire Constable, Andrew Harper, Andrew Laing and John Rayson.   This was a chamber arrangement of the work which was absolutely lovely and totally satisfying with a beautiful, full sound and very fine playing by the sextet.  Following this was Hummel's Piano Quintet E-flat major, Op.87. This starts  energetically and with martial characteristics and goes on to a second movement which was a mixture of great animation and melancholy with a bright middle Trio section.  The deeply felt largo is quite short but absolutely poignantly beautiful leading directly into the Allegro Agitato that changes the mood again and is quite mischievous and very full of fun.    After the interval came another chamber arrangement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto, No.1 C major, Op.15.  This was a fabulous piece.   It has a very assured first movement – although given the number 'one' it was, in fact, the second of his piano concertos and is an altogether more mature work.   The largo is gently lyrical, Beethoven at his heart-stopping best, emotional and very beautiful leading directly into a sparkling, rumbustious Allegro Scherzando.   What a wonderful start to the proceedings and obviously much enjoyed by the audience judging by the enthusiastic applause and buzz of conversation over the delicious supper which always follows a Saturday evening concert.

 The Wednesday evening Supper Concerts this year were something of a departure for the Summer Music Festival.   They took the form of exploring in words and music three periods of tremendous change and upheaval in Great Britain's recent history.   This was the inspired idea of Miranda Reckitt who did all of the research and brought together the material, a huge task and tremendous undertaking that she  accomplished very successfully.   Judith Buckle (mezzo-soprano) and Peter Grevatt (baritone/narrator), two very popular and regular performers at the Old School, and Tom McIntosh (piano) presented these café style concerts.   This first evening explored 1900 – 1918 and was a very poignant experience with the narrated links highlighting the innocence of the age, the loss and, really, the futility of the war.   A wonderful evening though quite humbling, emotional and thought provoking in many respects and the packed audience were very responsive and clearly thoroughly enjoyed this evening of piano, song and prose with, yet again, a huge and non-stop buzz of conversation over supper.

 The first of three Saturday morning Kaffee und Kuchen concerts once again underlined Tom McIntosh's outstanding ability for programming.    On the face of it Janacek, Hindemith and Brahms do not look promising bedfellows but it was, in fact, a stroke of genius to bracket them together for this series of three concerts.  One has to accept in doing so that the ever-present suspicions of the concert-going public will come to the fore and attendance may be limited to those folk who are more adventurous and open minded in their approach to music but such a man is Mr. McIntosh and long may he continue to be so!   This was just a wonderful series.   I know little of Janacek – and, if I am honest, had him marked down as possibly 'difficult' –though had been exposed to Hindemith at previous Festivals so did not have much trepidation about hearing more of his work.  This morning started with Janacek's 'Along an Overgrown Path' (First Series) with an artist new to the Festival at the piano, Robyn Sevastos, a very accomplished Australian pianist and conductor. This lovely piece has miniature structures and an impressionistic, narrative style and is wonderfully melodic.   He wrote this piece in part looking back at memories of his childhood but, also, following the death of his daughter, Olga, which probably informs the darker, more melancholic sections.   This is very alluring music and so easy to listen to, a real delight and beautifully played by Robyn.    Following this John Rayson played Hindemith's Solo Viola Sonata, Opus 11, No.5.   This starts with two chords which are then reflected throughout the work and, having been given this information by John before he started playing, were quite evident.   This is an very interesting and thoughtful piece with a strong melodic line throughout and echoes of various other composers – this acknowledged by Hindemith – with the final, longest, movement modelled on the D-minor chaconne from Bach's Second Violin Sonata.   A lovely piece and well realised by John.    The final piece of the morning's concert was Brahms' Sonata for Violin and Piano, G major, Opus 78 No.1.   Andrew Laing, violin, joined Robyn Sevastos for this beautiful piece.  Nostalgic and lyrical you could see the audience settling back with an air of total contentment to listen to this last work and a perfect end to the morning's excellently played and very satisfying concert.   I looked forward with real anticipation to the second and third mornings of this series.

 The second Saturday Evening Super Concert promised to be a real treat starting with Ernest Bloch's Conceto Grosso No.2 with the London City Chamber Orchestra. This work has a quiet, almost spiritual, opening broadening out to a round, full sound. As it develops, Jewish musical influences can be heard quite clearly in the writing echoing Bloch's background.   It is a totally beguiling work that merely requires one to sit back and be carried along enjoying it.   This was followed by the first performance of Thomas McIntosh's Concerto for Piano (Four Hands) and Orchestra.   Carlos Lama and Sofia Cabruja, who were so well received at the Festival last year, joined the orchestra for this Concerto   which had been commissioned by them for a music festival to be held later this year in Spain.  This proved to be a reqally engaging piece of work.   Starting off with 'misty' strings and moving to a dialogue between the strings and piano then broadening out to big ensemble playing.  We had been told in advance that there were hidden references to other works in this opening movement and this gave it a fun element – certainly for the players!   A lovely and slightly poignant theme was established in the terrific, sweeping second movement being repeated and  passed to and fro.   The third movement was just sheer enjoyment, humorous and good fun with a very upbeat interplay between the pianists to finish.  It was quite evident throughout that the instrumentalists were all very much enjoying playing this piece and justifiably so.   This first half was just so very good that I secured a ticket to return on the Sunday afternoon to hear it for a second time!   The programme finished with the ever popular Adagio for Strings, Opus 11 Samuel Barber and Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik K525 which is the signature piece of this Festival.   Once again, a thoroughly enjoyable concert, beautifully played and enthusiastically received.

 The second of the Wednesday evening Supper Concerts covered the 1920's – 1930's with Judith Buckle, Peter Grevatt and Tom McIntosh once again performing.   Overall this evening was more light-hearted than the previous week with Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter among the composers featured but the mood of the audience was changed too and fro with readings as diverse as the fun of Winnie the Pooh and hammer-blow of The Grapes of Wrath eloquently read by Peter Grevatt.   Tom McIntosh played a selection from 'New Moon' by Sigmund Romberg and 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' by Meade Lux Lewis thus demonstrating a new side to his pianistic abilities!  Great fun!   It was, once again, a packed house with a very appreciative and enthusiastic audience thoroughly enjoying the ebb and flow of the evening.  

 The second of the Saturday Morning Kaffee und Kuchen concerts followed the pattern of the first.   (I should, perhaps, mention that before these concerts - and included in the ticket price - one is able to enjoy a cup of coffee and a piece from a selection of home-made cakes).   This morning started with Robyn Sevastos playing Janacek's 'In the Mist'.   He wrote it in 1912 as 'reflections of his youth'.  It is a totally engrossing piece in four movements with enticing rhythms  and harmonies constantly changing mood and direction –very accurately reflecting youth!  Once again really beautifully played by Robyn.   The second piece in this programme was Hindemith's Sonata for Solo Viola, Opus 25, No.1 (1922) performed by John Rayson.   Hindemith was a virtuoso viola player and this piece reflects that.   It is totally different in character to the previous week's work - austere, elegant but totally seductive it is a piece that really draws you in, it demands and deserves your complete attention.   Wonderful.   The final work was Brahms' Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2 A major, Op.100 again played by Andrew Laing and Robyn Sevastos.  This has a beautiful, meditative and very romantic opening with the two instruments in conversation before coming together.  The mood changes in the second movement, dancing and teasing throughout and the piece finishes with a very positive and affirming last movement.   It was just so interesting to hear the differences between the first and second weeks – one of the strengths of this Festival and Tom McIntosh's thoughtful programming.

The third of the Saturday Evening Supper Concerts was a programme of music by Chopin though not, however, the more usually heard works.  The evening started with his Cello Sonata G major, Opus 65 played by Claire Constable, a regular performer at the Festival.   This is a late work and if one heard it played without being told the composer I would think that Chopin would certainly not be the first name to spring to mind.   It is a very distinctive and modern sounding work, somewhat more astringent than one is used to with this composer.   It is, nonetheless, a fine work and well performed by Claire.   The audience obviously enjoyed it and it was a great pleasure to have the opportunity of hearing it played. The second work was Chopin's Piano Trio in G-minor, Opus 8 which he wrote in his second year at the Warsaw High School of Music – he left at the end of his third year with a final report stating "Exceptional talent, musical genius".   It opens with a dramatic allegro con fuoco which gradually builds and develops the beautiful theme.   A graceful and quite lovely scherzo follows leading on to an attractive and sentimental adagio.  The finale establishes from the outset the unmistakable sound and rhythm of a Polish dance that is great fun whilst having  a certain stateliness about it.  After the interval with a glass of wine in the very pleasant surroundings of the garden, we were treated to Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1 in E-minor, Opus 11.   A quite dramatic opening statement leads into this long but quite lovely first movement broadening out into glorious, romantic swells of sound.   The larghetto maintains the romanticism with a slightly melancholic overtone, memories of past love, a joy to hear and full of Chopin's trademark cadenzas in the piano part.   The vivace was just that, full of life and movement, elegant and brilliant writing.   This evenings programme was yet another excellent example of Tom McIntosh's almost educational programming.   He continues to treat the Festival's audiences as intelligent adults who welcome the opportunity of hearing deserving but little played pieces rather than the tired repetition of tried and tested 'popular' pieces which do little to broaden ones' knowledge of music.

The final Wednesday Evening Supper Concert covered the 1940's.   This series has been a real delight and very enthusiastically received by the capacity audiences on each evening.    The audience was by no means made up of people in the age group who would remember this as the music of their youth but included a large proportion of younger people who were just as enthusiastic.   There were, again, some wonderful show tunes written by the 'big' names of that genre, Rondo alla Turca by Mozart in memory of the many wartime concerts given by Myra Hess and a readings recalling some highs and lows of the era.  Once again, this was a great success and a triumph for Miranda Reckitt and the artists taking part.

 The final Saturday morning in the Kaffee und Kuchen series started with Janacek's 'Along an Overgrown Path' (Second series) again played brilliantly by Robyn Sevastos.  This series is quite different in character to the first series. They do not have the same narrative style or 'paint pictures in sound' but are based on what Janacek called 'melodies of language'.    They are, effectively, very engaging sound-scapes, totally engrossing and responded to very positively by the audience, most of whom had attended all of the series.   Hindemith's Solo Viola Sonata, Opus 31, No.4 played by John Rayson, intentionally has echoes of Bach's Solo Violin Sonata in the first movement and is wonderfully sinuous, continually moving and shifting completely drawing one into it.   By contrast the adagio is quite simple and unadorned moving on to a more defined third part with an almost courtly quality to it - an absolutely riveting sonata.    Brahms' Violin Sonata No.3 D-minor, Opus 108 played once again by Andrew Laing on violin and Robyn Sevastos on piano, has a wonderfully dramatic,  sweeping and romantic first movement followed by a simpler, soaring and nostalgic adagio.   The final movement is very powerful, almost stormy, and acclaimed by loud applause and shouts of 'bravo' at its conclusion to the evident delight of the musicians.    The Saturday morning series has been so well received by the audiences who have been delighted to have the opportunity of hearing the development of three great composers with works from each of their early, middle and late periods – a real treat.

 The final Saturday Evening Supper Concert started with Haydn's Piano Concerto D major (Hob XVIII.11) with the Artsanglia Players and Tom McIntosh at the piano.    This is a small gem of a concerto and is probably Haydn's most popular.   It opens with a lovely vivace – full, rich and alluring.   There follows a short but very elegant larghetto and the conclusion of this piece is a wonderful sweeping rondo with very obvious references to Hungarian folk music.  This was totally exhilarating and played with tremendous style and verve by this talented group of players.    The concert hall was abuzz with conversation in the interval.   The second half of the programme was Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, E major (arr. Stein) with Robyn Sevastos at the piano.    This piece was arranged for a smaller group of instrumentalists, losing none of its impact or integrity in this diminution, in order to promote the work to a wider audience.  This opens with quiet, almost stealthy, strings.   This movement has everything, beautiful, lyrical qualities, enormous crescendos, moments of almost stillness with  a very cheeky statement repeated throughout it ends very powerfully.   The adagio is elegant, wistful, elegiac with a coda written at the time of Wagner's death and dedicated by Bruckner "to the memory of the late deeply beloved and immortal Master".   It has a brilliant and exciting scherzo that is just brim full of energy and drive with a small quiet middle section.   The final movement is not huge but, rather, stately, a closing of the circle to bring this stunning work to its conclusion.   The audience were absolutely rapt throughout this symphone and it ended to rapturous, sustained applause and great shouts or 'bravo' and 'well done'.   This was a wonderful final concert bringing to an end a really fabulous day's music at the finish of this very memorable 29th International East Anglian Summer Music Festival. 

VA  11/8/2007