If the 100th Gala concert was the most joyful celebratory occasion, so was the 101th recital! For this season-opening concert of what we call "the most normal season after the pandemic", we were delighted that the typical Breinton-style buzz was back. The audience was ready for this wonderful music performed in our intimate setting; they were attentive, enthusiastic, curious and greedy. And the Abbate-Perkins Duo of Emma Abbate and Julian Perkins did the perfect job to satisfy our enthusiasm and quench the thirst we had craved since March 2020.
The main attraction of the first half was Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor. The first movement started off more slowly than most versions I have heard of this piece, as if breathing in and storing the feeling to get ready for the utterly beautiful theme to be voiced and sung. Sincere to the score and never heavily relying on the pedals, they created their original tonal world. How fascinating it was to hear everything that was happening, every single note, chord, intertwined passage. It was as if we were witnessing an arresting tragic-romantic love story. The second half consisted of composers I was not particularly familiar with, Lambert and Barber, but what a delightful mood uplifters. Barber’s Souvenirs was quirky, rhythmical and fun; the Duo created the exact atmosphere for each piece, displaying a wide range of tones and nuances, which stimulated our imagination.
The Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate enjoys a demanding career as a piano accompanist and chamber musician. Described as "an amazingly talented pianist" by the leading Italian magazine Musica, she has performed in duo recitals for international festivals and concert societies in Austria, Portugal, Italy, Poland and USA, and at UK venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Royal Opera House, St John’s Smith Square, St George’s, Bristol and at the Aldeburgh Festival, in addition to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
Shortlisted for the 2021 Gramophone Award, Julian Perkins is Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera and Founder Director of Sounds Baroque. He has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh International Festival and BBC Proms, and featured as soloist in concertos with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Florilegium and Orchestra of The Sixteen.
- Beethoven
- Sonata in D Major Op. 6
- Schubert
- Fantasia in F minor, D.940
- von Weber
- From Huit Pièces, op. 60: Allegro – Alla siciliana – Rondo
- Lambert
- Trois Pièces nègres pour les touches blanches
- Barber
- Souvenirs, op. 28