One into four doesn't go, but two into four DOES go both mathematically and, as it did on Saturday lunchtime in St Paul's Cathedral, musically. The four were Mozart, Faure, Lennox Berkeley and Richard Rodney Bennett. The two, pianists Avril Evans and Stephen Armstrong who are, in the realms of piano duet, as accomplished as they come.
I expected the Mozart B-flat major sonata to be the ace in the programme's pack, but it was trumped by three composers from the twentieth century whose works gave both players even more chances to exhibit their considerable technique. I must confess the Mozart sonata did not sit well with me at all. The excellent acoustic of the Cathedral was belittled by excessive use of the sustaining pedal which might suit contemporary works but not something as classical as this.
In comparison Faure's Dolly Suite, the composer's only composition for piano duet, was a delight. Written in stages for the child of an old friend, the titles of the set are enough to trigger enthusiasm on top of inventive and stylish composition. Mi-a-ou has no feline connotations at all but was derived from the child's pronunciation of her brother's name. The opening movement, Berceuse, achieved eternal fame as the theme music for BBC's Listen With Mother but it was the finale of the set, Le pas Espagnol, that set the suite alight, with which the Evans-Armstrong partnership set about with flair and skill.
Lennox Berkeley's Sonatina followed in a fast-slow-fast form that need both players to be at the very top of their game, with the final Allegro culminating in a blaze of energy. This work seemed to me to be the hardest of the lot, the difficulties belied by two excellent performances.
Richard Rodney Bennet's Suite For Skip And Sadie finished the programme. I'm not sure too many composers were inspired by the antics of their cats, but this was great fun and contained some superb musical caricatures, especially Skip's Dance which finished in almost cartoon fashion as if the cat had careered into a wall! However, things were brought to a peacefull conclusion in the gentle almost pianissimo ending of Good Night.
Great music, great performances and a great way to open another series of the Cathedral's Saturday lunchtime concerts.
Garry Fraser, Dundee Courier 14/09/09
