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Lammermuir: Van Baerle | Ridout

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Dunbar Parish Church | Crichton Collegiate Church

The first thing to note about the Van Baerle Trio is that they share the honours. Whether in the blissful ease of late Haydn, the seismic profundity of mature Brahms, the poignant tragedy of a young Lili Boulanger or the exotic Basque-flavourings of Ravel, this splendid Dutch threesome evoked generosity, luminosity and shared conviction in every one of Sunday afternoon’s enthralling performances.

First, however, we had to deal with the prospect of the government’s emergency alert system test, Festival director James Waters holding the start back a few minutes to avoid a clash between Haydn and a screaming chorus of mobile phones. A wise decision, given the random reality of the latter. 

After that momentary reminder of how dangerously unstable the world currently is, Haydn’s Piano Trio No 30 in E flat returned us instantly to a more halcyon frame of mind. Not for nothing did the composer describe his trios as sonatas for keyboard with violin and cello accompaniment, a quality self-defined by pianist Hannes Minaar’s liquid performance, his dominance beautifully tempered so as not to overstate, the refined and expressive support of violinist Maria Milstein and cellist Gideon den Herder respectful but never shy in making its mark. It was forever a joyous journey that ended in the disarming depth, courtly elegance, and ultimately unbridled vivacity of the Finale.

If the sudden grandiosity of Brahms’ C minor Piano Trio, Op 101, thrust us into a very different world, one reeling from tumultuous outbursts of passion and richly-flavoured textures, there was still a deep-seated eloquence in these musicians’ delivery. Even in the two fast opening movements – the first momentously discursive, the second energetically succinct – the interplay was incisively neat, profound but never thick-set. The Andante grazioso found a solid piano presence deliciously offset by liquid exchanges between the strings, paving the way for Finale’s unquenchable, optimistic volatility.

The focus turned to France for a second half that opened with two moving works by Lili Boulanger – the equally talented younger sister of composer Nadia – who died from tuberculosis in her mid-twenties. D’un soir triste and D’un matin de printemps were composed towards the end of her life, and in them you sense an ambivalence of hope and despair. This Van Baerle performance captured beautifully their indebtedness to Debussy – soft-scented harmonies and supple melodic shaping – but also those delicate flecks of dissonance that were the composer’s distinctive hallmark. 

No mistaking the vibrant personality of Ravel that shines through his Piano Trio in A minor, which served as a sparkling conclusion to the ensemble’s official programme. Beyond the mind-blowing delicacy of the opening bars and fluid rhythmic argument that followed, the Spanish-fuelled Pantoum presented a sunburst moment before the calm, plaintive intricacies of the Passacaille. The final Animé, surging and incandescent, was breathtaking. A tender Haydn encore brought us back to earth.

Timothy Ridout performed solo at Crichton

Equally impressive, earlier on Sunday, British violist Timothy Ridout performed solo in the remarkable acoustics of Crichton Collegiate Church, a venue that transported this Lammermuir audience momentarily out of East Lothian and into Midlothian. It was a journey well made, Ridout’s performances outstanding for their effortless virtuosity and opulent musicianship.

The main diet of works were by German Baroque contemporaries Telemann and Bach, in both cases viola versions of their respective canons for solo violin/cello. If Telemann’s Fantasies without Bass are less well-known than Bach’s Sonatas and Suites, they are no less challenging and fulfilling. Ridout’s exceptional facility and robust tonal mastery elicited a characterful charm from the Telemann pieces, and from the Bach – whether negotiating the complexities of a fugue or the suavity of a dance – a powerfully flexible composure. 

Especially interesting, though, was his opener, in manus tuas, by American Pulitzer-prize winning composer Caroline Shaw, conceived like a ghostly snapshot of the Tallis motet it is based on. Magically evocative in its use of the human voice – Ridout adding the odd sung note to a chord like some divine intervention – it’s a piece that sat perfectly in this ecclesiastical setting, its spiritual nuances all the more poignant as a result.

Ken Walton

The Lammermuir Festival runs till Mon 15 Sep. Full information at www.lammermuirfestival.co.uk

SCO / Manze

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Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh

For his first concert with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since before the pandemic, conductor Andrew Manze presided over a magnificent programme that will surely be one of the most thoughtful and inventive to grace the 150th anniversary year of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Only one of the works – Britten’s Lachrymae – was familiar to me, and the highlight of a sensational concert was a world premiere, The Years by the SCO’s Associate Composer Anna Clyne, commissioned with funds from the RVW Trust.

Setting verses by Stephanie Fleischmann, this response to the pandemic was a real challenge for the 45 voices of the SCO Chorus, and music few other amateur choirs would have attempted. Clyne employed the voices incrementally, sometimes using very few of them. Here was a fabulous evocation of the solace we all found in nature during lockdown walks, with trilling winds and bugle-like calls on the trumpets. The integration of the chorus with the instrumentalists was masterly, with some exceptional sonic results.

Part of that rich mix of sound was an evocation of the sea, and the new work was preceded by the Sea Sketches for strings by Grace Williams, a pupil of Vaughan Williams and contemporary of Britten, and another female composer whose work is ripe for rediscovery. Introducing it, Manze must have been keenly aware that the violinists behind him included only one man, seconds leader Gordon Bragg.

He, leader Doriane Gable and first viola Jessica Beeston all had brief solos in the hugely effective third section Channel Sirens, which is followed by the brisk, picturesque Breakers. This is 20th century “sea music” as worthy of a regular place in the repertoire as the famous pieces by Britten, Debussy and Ravel.

The works that followed the interval were also sequenced superbly. Manze supplied his own orchestral arrangement of John Dowland’s If My Complaints Could Passions Move as a precursor to the Britten, which is based on the Renaissance song and was written for Scots viola virtuoso William Primrose. The soloist here was young Timothy Ridout, who has recorded it with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra on a disc that also includes music by Vaughan Williams.

The work by Vaughan Williams that brought this clever programme to a close was his Flos Campi, which features both solo viola and the chorus. It is structured on texts from the Song of Solomon, but the vocal line is wordless, and although it might have been a more straightforward sing for the choir, it is still far from standard repertoire. Given the composer’s interest in traditional music, it is little surprise that Ridout was required to bring some folk fiddle feeling to his contribution.

With the sopranos on especially impressive, precise form, the chorus that brought their best game to the very scenic scoring of the piece, in what was another pinnacle of a triumphant evening, repeated at Glasgow City Halls tonight.

Keith Bruce

Timothy Ridout picture by Jan Hordijk