Gig-a-Blog™ (Rarescale Flute Academy, St Anne & St Agnes)

Friday 26 October, 2007

Rarescale Flute Academy. Carla Rees, director; Kayleigh Glasper, Rebecca Lee, Vicky Phillips, Rebecca Sparkes. Vittoria: Three Pieces - Jesu Dulcis Memoria, Benedictus, O Magnum Mysterium; Birtwistle: from Duets for Storab - Urlar; Stark Pastoral, Fanfare with Birds; Bozza: Image; Mozart: Overture from the Marriage of Figaro.

Vittoria: interesting flute line-up: bass, alto, two ?trebles (ah, no: a nice flautist from the group tells me the standard flute is just a flute, or perhaps a C flute, but not a soprano, treble or whatever, despite the obvious temptation.)

1. Very still, wonderful texture.
2. More movement but not fast
3. This is the OMM I know from school. It's really beautiful. Embarrassingly, I'd forgotten that it was by Vittoria. Lovely lovely.

Birtwistle: from Duets for Storab -Urlar, Stark Pastoral, Fanfare with Birds

• As the title suggests, flute duets (duh!) Bleak landscape being conjured. Quite an empty sound with some big vertical gaps. Impressionistic? I'd claim it was, if I felt I had a clue what it meant.

Bozza: Image

• Solo flute only. Very nicely played. It's about Narcissus apparently. Complex, interesting, beautiful. I've played some Bozza but don't remember it being as sophisticated as this.

Mozart: Overture from the Marriage of Figaro.

• Four C flutes. Calm(ish) pace, very pleasant.

Quite a short concert, an advertised piece of Handel having been pulled. (They pulled the Handel. Handel ... pulled. Ahaha. Oh never mind.) There is, however, nothing wrong with a concert that runs a little short - like this blogological entity.