CONCERT REVIEWS
St Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee
“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
Aberdeen Chamber Music Club
Click here to read the review of Agnew/McAllister Duo concert for the Aberdeen Chamber Music Club which appeared in the Aberdeen Press & Journal in December
Dundee University
“Last night saw the final concert in the latest season of University evening concerts, presented by flautist Aisling Agnew and guitarist Matthew McAllister, a combination that never disappoint. Although their programme consisted of only four items, there was never any hint of the audience being short-changed. The content and diversity of each, and the style of performance, was extremely satisfying.
J.S.Bach flute sonatas, adapted for guitar accompaniment, are works that make the perfect entree to any concert. The sonata in E is fairly typical example, but its Andante stands out as a particularly beautiful movement, with a following Allegro that needed both players to be on their toes.
Aisling took the larger share of the technical challenges in Francoise Borne’s Carmen Fantasie, particularly the variations of the Habanera. This work is the perfect vehicle for a flautist of her stature, and although I had heard her perform it before, it was still as captivating.
An interesting contemporary work by Greg Caffrey, an Irish composer known to both players, started the second half of the programme. Pluck Blow demonstrates the extremes each instrument can achieve, at the same time giving each player a thorough examination, a test both emerged from with flying colours.
Astor Piazzolla’s works are becoming increasingly popular in concert programmes. I have heard some of his Histoire du Tango before but the work as a whole is superb. The composer’s metamorphosis of the tango from its early roots to its modern popularity is beautifully constructed and last night’s performance by the
McAllister/Agnew duo was equally excellent
The Chaplaincy Centre has had more than its fair share of excellent performances. This was another to add to the list, and it made a fine ending to an excellent series of concerts.”
Review from The Courier
Ilkley Manor House
The Agnew/McAllister Duo’s concert for Ilkley Manor House at the end of last year was reviewed by Classical Guitar Magazine.
To read the review click here
Kelvin Trio
The debut performance of the Kelvin Trio was the subject of much excitement and enthusiasm at St Paul’s Cathedral on the 19th of May. The trio performed sonatas by Bach, Telemann & Vivaldi in the popular lunchtime concert series.
To read the review please click here
CD REVIEWS
Histoire du Tango
“Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango has been recorded many times. This recording is like no other. The Frevo Quartet’s arrangement adds depth and sparkle to the original flute and guitar version. These musicians (and they are all excellent) bring the work to life in this performance recorded before an audience at Crail Parish Church in Fife. There is nothing else on this twenty-two-minute CD, and nothing else is needed. A little gem, and presented in a beautifully-produced folder. Wonderful.”
By Robert Bigio for Pan flute magazine
Histoire du Tango
Histoire du Tango
“Into places formerly deemed too dark: Evokes mental images of a small street band,
A couple of years ago, German label Field Muzick issued a compilation called “Music out of Open Windows”. It comprised of mostly quiet compositions intended as inverse images of the usual escapism propagated by genres like techno, inviting the listener to “open his windows wide and let his environment remix the songs!” The Frevo Quartet’s rendition of “Histoire du Tango” would have made for a perfect addition to that album. Eschewing the sterile ambiance of comparable recordings, the Quartet takes Astor Piazzolla’s classic to the streets – bringing a tasty urban flavour to your living room.
After all, Piazzolla’s music is well aware of where it came from: The dirty alleys it was born in, the smokey cafes where it spent its infancy, the dingy nightclubs filled with people loosing themselves in the seductive trance of the Tango’s rhythm. For the largest part of his life as a composer, Piazzolla was no longer part of this particular world, studying with Nadia Boulanger, writing for concert halls and creating a revolutionary stylistic hybrid. Possessed by the curse of those who began with nothing and worked their way up to the top, however, he kept revisiting his past, nightmares, visions and roots.
All of this is important, because this aspect of “Histoire du Tango” is essential to the Frevos interpretation. Their line-up of Flute, Violin, Guitar and Bass is compact enough to evoke mental images of a small street band, yet big enough to come across as voluble and timbrally versatile. The sound of the Quartet is pleasantly hard to pin down, refined rather than raw, real rather than rich. Even though it has more to do with energy than original practise, the instrumentation makes perfect sense on the conceptual side of the piece as well: This is the sound of a combo which could actually have played in all of the four phases of development Piazzolla is delineating in his music.
The story of the Frevo Quartet matters, too: Matthew McAllister (Guitar) and Feargus Hetherington (Violin) were touring with the “Tango” on their program, when Aisling Agnew (Flute) and Douglas Whates (Bass) initially joined for a one-off but stayed on as full band members in the end. If you listen closely, you can hear the personal backgrounds of the ensemble members in their performance: Hetherington and McAllister are still sketching the basic outlines of the music, while their companions are entwining their performances around them. This is why the naked purity of the composition shines through, while the new voices both smooth out the rougher edges and lead it into places formerly deemed too dark.
Douglas Whates contribution is especially remarkable. All but dissolving in the tight group sound most of the time, his well-dosed pulses of sonic sonorities transmitt a strong urgency, his bowed strokes pushing the pieces forward. On “Nightclub 1960”, he even ventures into melodic territory, while his elastic bass lends a truly contemporary edge to the closing “Concert d’Aujourd’hui”. His deep and sturdy lines provide for just the kind of grounded foundation Agnew needs for her airy and weightless solos.
Maybe the most important performer here, however, is the crowd. Recorded live in March of this year, “Histoire du Tango” benefits greatly from the sense of excitement, expectation and eroticism lingering in the air of the Crail Parish Church, sounding as crystaline as a studio production and as dynamic and colourful as a day out in Buenos Aires’ barrios. The window’s may have been shut the day of the concert, but I’m sure the doors were left ajar, allowing some fresh air and the pulse of urban life to trickle in.”
By Tobias Fischer for Tokafi
Standing Stones
“I became a fan of the Frevo Quartet on hearing their CD of Astor Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. This second disc is another little gem. The players are excellent musicians, and their performances of Irish and Scots tunes are ravishingly beautiful. They have chosen music that works well on modern instruments, they have arranged it with the greatest skill, they play it superbly and (perhaps best of all) they clearly love what they do. The presentation of this disc could be a model to others; the photography (by Joe Gough) and design (by the quartet’s multi-talented bass player Douglas Whates) are as excellent as the performances, and the recording quality is superb. This is a short CD, but like the old saying goes, it’s better to keep the audience asking for more. I certainly am. This is simply gorgeous.”
By Robert Bigio for Pan flute magazine
Recital
“Works 300 years old and 3 years young: A musical partnership of gentle contours.
Even though the cover of this album depicts two instruments with a long tradition of their own, it is really an album about the interaction between two Classical musicians very much in touch with the present. Aisling Agnew and Matthew McAllister know their way in the digital domain, in the confinements of a studio surrounding and in the splintered landscape of 21st century composition, while at the same time cherishing the purity of a traditional concert with baroque and impressionist pieces. “Recital”, therefore, can be seen as a summary of what they are about, both aesthetically and programatically.
If that sounds too serious and intellectual, let’s put it differently: If you can’t catch this duo live, then “Recital” is the next best thing. Here you’ll find a Bach sonata next to a Carmen-transcription, works 300 years old and 3 years young, concise three minute tracks and overflowing fantasies. Few world premieres and special commissions, Agnew and McAllister concentrate on what has already proven its value or deserves a second listen and that is an approach which works commendibly well and needs no superlatives. It also matches the character of the performance, as this musical partnership is one of gentle contours, soft outlines and a dulcet flow. Even the more spikey and edgey moments have a relaxed feeling to them, which at first seems just a tad too mellow, but becomes more and more hypnotical as the album progresses and lends a touch of spring to the interpretations – even the broken groove of David Fennessy’s “continuity error” never irritates and the tender loops of “Mouvements Perpetuels” by Francis Poulenc drift like a seagull in the warm winds of summer. What certainly comes as an important bonus are the many different timbral colours Agnew and McAllister are drawing from their instruments, practically building each piece from scratch, while keeping a steady flow over the entire 55 minutes.
“Recital” is not a disc which will make you jump from your seat in ecstacy, but it is a work which lures you into loving it by its unintrusive nature. Despite its general pleasantness, it can never ever be confused with the background music running in barber shops – it is vivid and full of the pleasure of being alive, albeit in its own mood. Of course this kind of delicacy requires absolute certainty that your musical partner is on the same wavelength. Which brings us back to the abovementioned charcterisation of this album as a display of the interaction between its creators: You can actually hear the trust.”
By Tobias Fischer for Tokafi
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