Parkhouse

The programme

Back to the Purcell Room last week to hear another of the Parkhouse concerts, last heard getting on for two years ago and noticed at reference 1, with which this concert appears have shared a programme designer. With Parkhouse being a memorial trust which encourages young chamber musicians, with the prizes coming in the form of concerts at respectable venues. This being the third concert given by the Amatis Trio, the winners in 2015 and web-sited at reference 2.

Very similar format to the previous concert, with a new work followed by two trios from the central repertoire. I suppose in passing that in the days when composers lived in some large part by the sales of their music, that trios were popular, being a format which provincial amateurs could readily aspire to. Maybe I would find hundreds of them out there if I started to poke around - although probably less than ten in my ten feet of vinyl.

Moorlands from Andrea Tarrodi. Op.87 piano trio from Brahms. Op.66 piano trio from Mendelsohn.

Heritage wiring

Started the evening my admiring the heritage wiring in and around the canopy over the stairs leading down to the barriers and exit. Not sure that we have much live wiring of this sort left in our house, but we do have plumbing. Which the surveyor who looked at the house for us thirty years ago told us would probably eventually cause problems. But having held on this far, perhaps it will see us out.

Bullingdon stands on the ramp at Waterloo completely full at 1845 or so, as were the small stands in Concert Hall Approach. A few riders circling hopefully. Always a bit of a pain at the end of your journey to be scratching around for somewhere to put your bike. But presumably servicing the Bullingdon network, presumably a heavily subsidised operation, is not immune from austerity. I note in passing that Boris scores the bikes as a feather in his cap, although they had been kicked off towards the end of Ken's time as mayor. Still, it might not have been his idea, but it did come to the boil on his watch, so the feather is reasonable.

Six police vans parked up in the road beneath the Hayward Gallery. Probably something to do with demonstrations in Parliament Square.

Concrete

Not a flattering snap, but testimony to the fact that I rather like all the concrete around the QEH part of the South Bank Centre. It takes a lot of stick, but I believe it has and will continue to stand the test of time much better than all the stuff rushed up in the City and in east London over the past few years.

Missa Solemnis on in the main hall, the QEH, so quite a lot of people wandering about in formal attire, some choir, some audience. I took my beverage leaning on a covered grand piano at the back of the concourse area, so while I was glad we did not have music there on this occasion, they presumably do sometimes.

Plenty of squatters squatting and informal meetings going in the concourse area, taking up a fair proportion of the available seating, but no obviously very poor people. They certainly all seemed to have their laptops and mobiles on the go. I suppose that these last would count as essentials in benefits speak - and rightly so. A relatively cheap way to keep the 10% of people at the bottom of the heap in touch with the rest of the world.

The Tarrodi started off with just the cellist on the darkened stage and I was just starting to think that it did not sound quite like just the cello when the pianist appeared, after which I noticed the violinist lurking in the doorway at the back. Eventually we had all three on stage in the ordinary way. I wondered whether the long cello notes seeming to gradually morph into violin notes without any clear break was part of the plan. I found it slightly distracting.

The Brahms was billed as romantic, but it came across to me as more playful, in a virtuso sort of way. While the Mendelsohn, written more than thirty years before the Brahms, struck me a superficially similar, but somehow managing to strike a more solemn, a more serious note. In any event, I preferred the Mendelsohn.

The pianist used a foot operated iPad for the second and third works.

I think the encore was Gabriel Faure's  'Après un rêve', Op.7, No.1 of 1878, roughly the same time as the Brahms. YouTube suggests arrangements for piano and cello or piano and violin, but my memory was that we had all three instruments - not that my memory for the recent past is very reliable these days. In any event, very suitable encore music.

Overall, interesting, but a little outside my comfort zone. On the up side, confirmed in my very positive view of the trio as a format.

Platform library at Raynes Park open, but it had not been restocked from the day before, the day of the haul from Pakistan, yet to be properly reported on.

PS: reading the programme on the way home, I did not recognise the names of any of the 13 Parkhouse award winners. Partly, no doubt, my lack of exposure to trios. Perhaps also to trios being kept busy at festivals and smaller venues. Perhaps they do corporate entertainment?

Reference 1: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2018/12/trio-sora-with-feet.html.

Reference 2: https://www.amatistrio.com/.