Bollington Chamber Concerts

With superb musical interpretations and an unparalleled listening environment, Bollington Chamber Concerts offer the perfect introduction to the most rewarding repertoires.

We are very privileged in Bollington to see mainly young string quartets and other ensembles at the start of their promising careers. They astonish us with virtuosity and insight that belies their tender years. Many are trained at the Royal Northern College of Music, a conservatoire with an enviable reputation. While occasionally one hears (elsewhere!) long-established quartets going through the motions with long-familiar repertoires, our visitors always have a fresh insight that carries the audience along on their voyage of discovery.

Many people consider chamber music to be a difficult genre, and in many ways it is. It requires huge concentration from both performers and listeners, and the string quartet is generally regarded as the hardest genre for both. A further feature of the Bollington Concerts is that they almost always contain a modern or unfamiliar work. But far from being off-putting, these are often a hit with a receptive and open minded audience.

Performers love their visits to Bollington. They are warmly welcomed, well fed (menus and recipe books on sale in the foyer!), and their performances are received with discernment and delight. They often have a few informal and enlightening words to say about the music, and they rave about the warmth of the acoustic and the audience. Eager to return, the only mitigation against this is that all too quickly, they become very successful and too expensive. Luckily, a new generation of equally talented young musicians are always waiting to step into their shoes.

Those of you who have never been to a chamber concert or who think this music may not be for you, give it a try. You won’t find a more friendly welcome or a better standard of performance anywhere, and you may find yourself revelling in this amazing genre of music.

To find out more about the Bollington chamber concerts, please browse the Bollington Arts Centre Events listing.

Saturday 29th September 2012 The Heath Quartet

Saturday 10th November 2012 Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow Piano Duets

Saturday 2nd February 2013 The Primrose Trio

Saturday 9th March 2013  The Danish Quartet

Saturday 20 April 2013 The Navarra Quartet

Special pricing for multiple bookings

£60.00 for five concerts
£52.00 for four concerts

Concessionary price, students and claimants of means-tested benefits

£35.00 for five concerts
£28.00 for four concerts

For more information please telephone 01625 576402 or 01625 575287.

  
 


Review of the concert by the Danish Quartet on March 9th 2013

    The Danes came two years ago to Bollington and conquered. They came again, by request, to give this fourth concert in the chamber season, and played to a full and expectant audience - this time with a difference.
    Their performance was still that of four young, very gifted musicians, but their style has become more inward. Their technique is outstanding, especially since they have not had the usual training of schools and colleges of music as other players. They seemed to have fallen into a professional career by their natural ability being observed and taken up by a professor of the Danish Royal Academy of Music. He coached them, and they have become what they are now.
    Their more inward style became obvious in their choice of programme. Janacek ,Abrahamsen, and Debussy are all of the 20th century, and all require a searching response from the players.
    Janacek wrote two quartets which are considered by men of music as among the most challenging in the repertoire. The "Kreutzer Sonata" Quartet is an intense experience. Putting aside the novella of Tolstoy, depicting love, jealousy, murder and final resolution which inspired it, the music alone is a brilliant and exciting work. The Danes were at their best in it. The closely-packed and juxtaposed short themes present opposed emotions, dramatic, lyric, explosive or jaunty calm, evolving in a progression and requiring abrupt changes of mood and rhythm all through, and in this the players kept the whole "story" absorbing. They moved along in a closely held flow of changing rhythms and emotions upward to the climax and on to the resolution, revealing the pattern to the listener thanks to their well-articulated control of the whole piece. Nothing was over-played in the violence, and nothing sagged in the lyrical passages. They gave a gripping account of this quartet.
    Abrahamsen is well known and respected by contemporary British composers. His "Ten Preludes" forming Quartet no. 1 was new to most of the audience. Described as minimalist, these ten short preludes were very varied and very individual indeed. The listener has to let modern music speak for itself, on its own terms, and the Danes allowed it to do this, the clarity of their playing very good all through. Until suddenly in the last prelude, there was a complete surprise! The music burst into a spirited, fully-fledged 18th century finale. This complete shock from minimalist to "school of Haydn", so to speak, was a delight to audience and players alike. It was a joy and an exhilarating ending to this concentrated work.
    The Debussy was territory more familiar. This was played with great finesse. Passionate strength and a pulsing swing made the first movement very attractive: beautiful tone in the second movement led to the third movement which is marked "doucement expressif".This was given with a quiet transport of feeling that was truly lovely. The finale "avec passion" came through with a dramatic flourish worthy of the piece.
    Some Scandinavian folk music concluded the programme. Two years ago the quartet stormed home with gypsy folk dances as their encore. This time the "folk" was more subtle and restrained but fascinating even so.
    A final comment must be made about the beauty of tone in all four instruments, whether solo or ensemble. The tone and quality of the playing was lovely. The whole concert gave great pleasure.

Joan Houlihan.