Tonight we enjoyed a varied recital by Katie Wilkinson, viola and Marios Argiros, piano, moving from the early 1700s to a new commission, and finishing with the viola sonata that Shostakovich finished just two days before he died. From the outset we were aware of a close partnership between the performers: sensitive to each other as well as to the music. The piano lid was fully open, but Marios’s playing ranged from full and bold to whisper quiet, always…

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Quartet Camerata: Peter Bussereau and Anna Dryer-Beers (violins), Hannah Horton (viola) and Peter Randall (‘cello). Before the first note had been sounded it was clear that this was going to be a lovely evening, and it wasn’t just the atmospheric lighting that made this so. The short verbal introductions by first violin Peter Bussereau were all beautifully judged, giving us either an insight into the music we were about to hear: why is it called the “Sunrise” quartet? –…

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What it is to be hissed at by a performer in the middle of a concert: “Too soon” he said. “Sorry!” I whispered, and didn’t sin again. At the end of the concert there was warm applause, and the pianist kindly acknowledged my contribution: turning the pages. But how hard it is to pay attention to the performance itself when your eyes are glued to the page and you’re petrified of missing a turn-over. It’s all very well when…

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LETCHWORTH MUSIC YOUNG MUSICIAN COMPETITION 2026 Letchworth Music held the final of their Young Musician competition on Wednesday 18th March. 6 very talented young people between the ages of 15 and 17 who either lived or went to school within 10 kms of Howgills competed in the final. This year the competition was sponsored by the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and Alastair Stewart, Head of Charitable Projects and Parnerships awarded the prizes.  The winner was 16 year old…

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Given the delights of the evening’s entertainment it’s no surprise that this was the fourth time the Club has invited Duo b!z’art to play for us. With a theme of “Across the Stars” they were themselves stars! In the small meeting room, and with members of the audience so close to the performers, the piano is often used on its short stick, or even with lid closed, but the lid was fully open to greet us, making one wonder what the…

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How many ways are there of saying “delightful”? From how many angles can one evaluate a performance?: variety of music; technical excellence; phrasing; tuning; communication with the audience…

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The concert of 12th November by Trio Celadon: Daniel Ephgrave, flute, Naomi Sullivan, saxophone, and Jill Morton, piano, was a feast of delights.  We heard the tale of Fuzzette the tarantula, who lost her coat but still got her man, her adventure being highlighted in short instrumental episodes between the narration. This reviewer was moved by a trio by Madelaine Dring, which he himself has played with his children on flute and oboe, the latter, in this concert, being reassigned…

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Piano recital by Alan Dorn. 9th April 2025. Alan shared with us a feast of the Romantic repertoire, focussing on four composers born between 1809 and 1811. Of these Mendelssohn only lived to 38, Chopin to 39, and Schumann to 46, and we tend to forget that these were all composing in the age of the wood-framed piano, with its light sound which quickly died away. But Liszt lived till 1886 and the age of 75 by which time the…

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The December recital by Bridget Kerrison (soprano), Tom Caldecote (clarinet) and Trevor Hughes (piano) was a feast of lovely music, avowedly made up of the performers’ favourite items, which came across in their warm interactions with each other and with the audience. The substantial first item: the Clarinet Sonata by Saint-Saëns, explored all aspects of the interplay between the instruments, exploiting the full capability of the clarinet from the lowest to the highest pitches, from whisper quiet to dramatic…

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The Letchworth Music Club’s new season got off to a wonderful start on October the 12th with a concert by ‘Quartet Camerata’. They began the first half of their programme with Haydn’s Quartet in D major (Op. 76 No 5), whose skittish playfulness set a lovely note for the whole evening. They followed this with Beethoven’s Quartet in C minor, (Op. 18 No 4). This work was written in Vienna at the very end of the 18th century and was published…

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