Or rather not, although we did go to hear the Schubert Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall last week, where despite their name they gave us Vaughan Williams' Piano Quintet in C minor, Colin Matthews' 'Nowhere to hide' for piano trio and Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major (Op.26).
Attendance triggered by the inclusion of the Piano Quartet, following the outings to hear one of its brothers recorded on the 9th May and the 4th July. I had thought that I had never been to hear Vaughan Williams before, despite our many outings to his adopted town of Dorking, but blog reveals that he was also on the programme on 30th June and recorded on the 4th July, but erroneously having him down for a quartet, when http://www.londonsoloistsensemble.co.uk/ says that what we actually heard on that occasion was the very same quintet as we were to get at this one. A further coincidence in that I went to this one with the same company with which I went to the one recorded on the 9th May.
A little early, so got off at Green Park and strolled up through Berkeley Square to Bond Street tube on Oxford Street, noticing on the way that some at least of the buildings in Berkeley Square still looked like houses, still boasted gold framed oil paintings in first floor rooms with grand ceilings and with curtains drawn back so that passers-by could see how grand they were. I can't imagine that they were actually houses, so I wonder what they were actually?
And so onto Oxford Street, still very crowded at perhaps 1830 on a Thursday evening. Pretty much all the shops were open. Having lost our own HMV, popped into the one there to see if there were any tempting offers for costume drama, to find a hot and noisy shop with a vast display of films and discounted boxed sets, some of surprising size (surprising because large that is), but with nothing that caught the eye. Far easier for this shopper to find what he wants at Amazon, rather than in the flesh, which made we wonder how the place survives at all.
Into the Wigmore Hall to find that for once we had a free programme, a piece of stiff A3 paper, almost card, folded in half, and that the hall was not full, maybe three quarters.
I stick with my verdict that the Williams was interesting, perhaps better on this occasion in that the ensemble had been together for 30 years (this was their 30th anniversary concert), had settled down together and it showed. Furthermore, the pianist did not feel the need to dominate the proceedings, he was content to be a member of the ensemble, which was good if not the norm. Also improved by our being nearer the front, with the sound rawer andless blended that it would have been further back.
The Matthews was the London première of the piece, which had been commissioned by the Ensemble for a world première at Cheltenham earlier in the year. Also interesting, but it made one realise how hard it was for a composer to compete now with the greats of two hundred years ago. One can see that they want to get out of the old groove, but I am not sure that they have found a very comfortable new one. Artists in paint have much the same problem.
Brahms good, although being near but slightly behind the cellist niggled at me. I did not feel I was hearing her properly, until she got really warmed up for the fourth and last movement. I suspect that this was an illusion, or at least a product of the visual part of the experience rather than the aural part. But on the whole, I am gettings sold on being nearer. Not right at the front, but maybe 10 rows back rather than 20.
Back home, passing the interesting Christmas decorations in the windows of John Lewis (mainly fabricated from household utensils of various sizes) on the way, checked out their site (http://www.schubertensemble.com/) to find that they are driven by a charitable trust of much the same name, and are strong on both commissioning and education. An interesting format. Was there a dollop of family money in there to get them started?
I also found that the London Soloists Ensemble (see above) are doing more Brahms Piano Quartets in the spring, Must check diary.
PS: was it the first concert that I had ever attended in which the names of the participating composers all ended in an 's'? Leading to concern about the proper use of the apostrophe.
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