This week’s Music at Lunchtime recital was given by Form 7 Music Scholar, Ansh, who performed a recital of ‘cello music by Vivaldi, Leighton and Haydn, joined by Ms Bolt on piano.
Ansh opened his recital with the second movement, the Allemanda, from Vivaldi’s Sonata in G minor RV 42. With light and graceful technique, Ansh made easy work of this movement’s technical demands, complete with stylistic ornamentation and idiomatic phrasing. With a dramatic change in mood, Ansh then performed Kenneth Leighton’s powerful stand-alone work for ‘cello and piano, his Elegy. Ansh’s performance was expressive and moving, tackling the chromatic harmonic language and embracing the long, sustained lines with a rich tone. Ansh completed his programme with a major work from the ‘cello repertoire, the opening movement of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major. With its resounding opening, lively themes and fiery semiquaver passages, Ansh’s finale was a virtuosic tour de force. Congratulations to Ansh for his performances of a trio of demanding pieces for ‘cello!
Next week’s Music at Lunchtime recital will be given jointly by Form 7 Music Scholar, Henrietta, singing musical theatre songs by Kurt Weill, and the Guitar Ensemble.
