Chipping Sodbury Music Society

The prestigious London Schubert Players were the artists at the Society’s May concert.

Donizetti is best known as a composer of opera and his trio for piano, violin and cello is a light hearted piece full of charm and good humour. These qualities were well brought out by the players, with the jolly dancelike variations in the final movement played with particular panâche.

Dvorak’s gift for melody was self-evident throughout his piano quartet Opus 23, intensely passionate in the opening Allegro, melancholy in the Andantino and happily carefree in the Finale. This work received a vibrant, committed performance full of Slavonic yearning and fire.

The Trout Quintet by Schubert is one of his most popular works and the performance, hugely enjoyed by the audience, explained why this is so. The opening Allegro was played with rhythmic poise, the Andante with great feeling, the famous Variations with great affection (despite a broken cello string) and the final Allegro, taken at a deliberate tempo, with memorable style.

The final work, a dance and improvisation for double bass, composed by their very own player Michael Cretu, entitled "Nine Steps", revealed what this Cinderella of the string section could achieve. Its vast register was explored with relish and, at its highest, made the cello seem almost redundant.

So ended a well received concert with the high reputation of the London Schubert Players demonstrated to good effect.

The Society's Summer Concert at St John the Baptist Church, Wickwar Road, Chipping Sodbury, BS37 6BQ on Saturday 25 July 2009 at 7:30 pm will see the welcome return of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. They will be playing a programme which should appeal to all ages, including the first performance of a composition by the young Columbian composer Carolina Noguera Palau, so new that it does not yet have a name!

By Gerry Philp