Fate, Love and Legends

I was privileged to attend last night’s concert by the University of Essex Choir, conducted by Richard Cooke, featuring two pianists: Jonathan Beatty and Richard Pearce.

The programme represented a remarkable selection of work, I guess rarely performed together, and it was also a chance to see two grand pianos in unison, as well as four hands on a single piano. All the music was, to my non-technical ears, performed exquisitely. And the gestalt? A preternatural vision so badly needed for our troubled times, one that can only be provided by the power lent by such a live performance, its audience and choral backdrop of singers around the two pianists and conductor, all in synergy.

I will not try to describe each work, and having enjoyed in the past every composer featured here, these were re-awakening moments. Just run your eyes down the list below and dwell upon how you imagine each must have sounded, one after the other. And then imagined as a whole.

My previous reviews of classical music in my area HERE.