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Stuart Muir and Kathryn Welsh
"Diapasons and flutes galore!"

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Review by Ron Oliver

It was an effervescent Stuart Muir, in end of term mood, who introduced flautist Kathryn Welsh for a performance of flute and organ music in the last of this year's summer recitals at the Caird Hall. The larger than usual audience was certainly treated to a prize winning performance from these very talented performers.

Stuart opened with a proficient rendition of a Handel March in B flat, and this was followed by the first organ and flute duet of the evening. The baroque Voluntary by Georg Berg allowed Kathryn to display her beautiful tonality of the flute while Stuart's sympathetic accompaniment, particularly the melody exchange on the orchestral 2 foot stop was delightful.

Two enjoyable Bach Chorale Preludes played on the organ followed, although I prefer to hear the Chorale itself before any variation is played.

The next two pieces, Cantata 156 by Bach, and Largo from Concerto for flute in C by Vivaldi, demonstrated flute playing at its best. This slow and beautiful music requires considerable skill to sustain the challenging phrasing and Kathryn succeeded admirably. Although the flute was the main instrument here, Stuart's accompaniment was first class. Kept very much in the background in deference to the flute, its subtleness was nevertheless evident, particularly the sensitive slightly detached pedaling.

The duo maintained their high standard in the playing of a series of 6 'religious pieces'. Highlights were a lovely discordant end to Bunessan and a somewhat surprising, almost dance like central section of the prelude on Veni Emmanuel played by a dancing flute. Doug Denisen's arrangement of Keep Silence involved the use of the 32 foot pedal stop in the final chord whose harmonics even induced a rattle from one of the Caird Hall windows, this concert had everything.

Samuel Wesley's famous Gavotte sounded wonderful on flute and organ - so would the missing Air have done, but with some 16 items on the programme maybe this was an Air too far. The Andante for Flute in C by Mozart was again beautifully executed by Kathryn, but now it was time to release the Caird Hall Tuba to ravish the audience. Stuart's rendition of the Trumpet Tune by American Robert Lau was superb, although perhaps the solo Tuba could have benefitted from a more solid backing at times, there is certainly no chance of drowning it out.

Finally the Grand Choeur by William Spence (does anyone know anything about this gentleman?) brought a wonderful concert by two first class musicians to a memorable close, apart from a welcome encore, I think, a Stuart Muir version of Mary Had a Baby, and this was very much in keeping with Stuart's light hearted and entertaining introductions throughout the evening.

Mary Had a Baby, but Dundee Has a Baby of which we are all proud, the wonderful Caird Hall Organ.


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Gordon Stewart
"Will ye no' come back again?"

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Review by George Mottashaw


A Truly Memorable Recital

A large and appreciative audience turned out on a weatherwise very unpleasant evening, to enjoy a superb organ recital by Gordon Stewart, Dundee-born and an internationally renowned organist. His command of the Caird Hall organ - reckoned to be one of the finest concert organs in Europe, was evident from the opening Concert Overture in F by Purcell J Mansfield, superbly played with great aplomb. Gordon's remarks in between items were both humorous and informative.

Stanley's Toccata for Flutes sparkled and displayed the delicate flute stops. The Prelude and Fugue in A Minor by J.S. Bach was both exciting and evocative of the great master. Mendelssohn's Sonata No. 3 is a wonderful and thrilling piece allowing all departments of the organ to be heard.

The magnificent tuba on the Caird organ reverberated round the hall in Cocker's Tuba Tune - a truly brilliant item followed by Lemare's Berceuse and Scherzo Fugue. Sidney Nicholson's Impromptu in D was a delight, and sent me home to look it out for an airing. Chelsea Fayre by R. Goss-Custard, on a lighter approach, showed off the string stops and a final Toccata in D Minor by Renaud, on full power, brought this memorable programme to an end.

As a short encore - not to be played at funerals - Gordon played a piece based on Will Ye No' Come Back Again composed and dedicated to him by Noel Rawsthorne formerly of Liverpool Cathedral.


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Bill Hutcheson
"Strictly dancing and romancing!"

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Review by Peter Thornton

The magnificent Harrison & Harrison concert organ in the Caird Hall is noted for its tonal colour and its ability to show off a wide range of the romantic and town hall repertoire. Bill Hutcheson's programme displayed another side of the instrument's character that is seldom heard. As an enthusiast for the cinema organ and its music, Bill is able to conjure up stop combinations that effectively emulate the sounds of Wurlitzer and Compton, and you could be fooled into thinking that there might actually be a tibia and a kinura on Harrison's stop list.

The programme got off to a flying start with Sousa's Washington Post march, played in fine rhythmic style. A waltz medley followed, sweeping the grand old Caird Hall lady off her feet and gracefully round the dance floor.

The dance theme continued with a sparkling registration in Buxtehude's C minor Jig Fugue, but taken at a pace that made the rhythm difficult to sustain and obscured the texture in places.

Quicksteps at Blackpool, evoking the atmosphere of the Tower Ballroom, was the most effective showcase of Bill's talents with stop combinations, tremulants, a dancing left foot on the pedalboard and a quick flick of a piston for an ff on the final chord.

The classical organ repertoire returned with Max Reger's Romanze and William Wolstenholme's Romance. Although they explored some of the finer colours of the Caird Hall palette, their plaintive melodic lines and harmonies contrasted rather wistfully with the upbeat mood of the earlier part of the programme.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love changes everything from Aspects of Love is musically pretty dull and boring even by the standard of some his other output, and it took Jack Strachey's In party mood (recalling radio's Housewives' Choice for those of a certain vintage) to restore a cheerful atmosphere.

No organ recital would be complete without something by Bach. The Toccata and Fugue in D minor crowned the programme with a stylish and somewhat over the top performance. It might have irritated the purists, but Stokowski would have been proud of the way that it perfectly reflected the cinema theme of Disney's Fantasia.

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Andrew Caskie & Jeremy Cull
"Four hands and four feet!"

Tuesday 12 August 2008

Review by Pauline Robertson

Spirits may have been dampened on Tuesday with yet more rain, but those attending the opening concert of the Caird Hall organ recitals were revived with an interesting and entertaining evening of duets. Two well known organists from Edinburgh, Andrew Caskie and Jeremy Cull, keen advocates of organ transcriptions, educated us in the opportunities the duet repertoire offers the performer and listener. Their well-chosen concert programme was in three sections divided by a solo item by each performer, and showed the delicacy and power of the Caird Hall organ most effectively.

The concert opened to the majestic chords of Denis Bédard's Sinfonietta, a delightful scherzo rippling up and down the keyboard to a Carillon with hints of the Dallas theme. The lighter pieces in the programme included Jeremy's solo Andante in D by Alfred Hollins, showing sensitive control of shading and effective use of the tremolo. Samuel Wesley's Three Duets for Eliza were restful and lyrical to the ear, a nimble conversation of flutes on the manuals completing the set. The transcription of the Molto Allegro from Mozart's Symphony No 40 left me with mixed feelings. Mozart is very difficult to pull off because of the demands of clean phrasing, balance and choice of tempo, made even more difficult when played as a duet, so sadly I was not convinced on this occasion.

Before the final section we were enlightened with a fine performance of John Rutter's Variations on an Easter theme. Dramatic rhythmic fanfares contrasted with sensitive use of rubato in the blues section before returning to the jaggy fanfare finale. This piece would surprise those who know Rutter only from his lyrical vocal repertoire!

The final section delighted all with transcriptions of popular melodies played with style and rhythmic authority. Andrew performed Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens, effectively capturing the colours and mood of the piece. The duo followed with the Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila by the same composer. The final rousing rendition of Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever captured the tones of the concert band.

After a full programme, the audience left with Andrew and Jeremy's encore - Rubinstein's Melody in F - ringing in their ears, evoking hints of We'll meet again.