St Paul’s Cathedral Concert Review

“Lunchtime concerts in St Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee, regularly produce performances of outstanding quality. They seldom, however, include world premieres. Saturday’s concert did have that innovation, a work for solo flute by the young Maltese composer Veronique Vella that both entranced and excited. And for it to stand out in a programme of music that included works by Bach, Debussy and Telemann speaks volumes for its immediate attraction. As well as this important inclusion, the concert was innovative in itself, for performances by solo flute are rare indeed. It’s just a pity a bigger audience had not been there to witness this somewhat unique event. Wens ( translated from the Maltese to “comfort”) needs a flautist of sufficient expertise to cope with its contemporary demands, percussion and vocal effects. Aisling Agnew has that by the spade-full as well as beautiful tone, perfect phrasing and effortless delivery. These were not only reflected in this work, but in the contrasting music that made up the rest of the programme. Three Baroque works, side by side with Debussy and Vellas’ delightful creation, were all linked together with Aisling’s skills which are, after her several appearances in the Cathedral in duo, trio or quartet form, quite familiar to regular concert-goers. Marin Marais’ Les Folies d’Espagne…a superb theme and variations with its inner contest between legato and staccato…might have eclipsed Telemann’s D minor solo Fantasie, but it couldn’t compete with Bach’s A minor solo Partita in which Agnew was at her thrilling best, with the slow Sarabande the only respite from some severe passages of demand and difficulty. If you add Debussy’s famous Syrinx, an indispensable part of any flautist’s repertoire, and the ultra-modern 21st Century Wens to these three, you get an idea not only of the concert’s variety, but also of the vast expanse of music that is available to one performer and one flute.”

By Garry Fraser for The Courier