David Le Page

News...

Errollyn Wallen Premiere Stratford Upon Avon Civic Hall

David will appear as soloist in Errollyn Wallen's new Concerto Grosso for Solo violin, Double Bass (Thomas Martin), Piano (Errollyn Wallen) and String Orchestra (Orchestra of the Swan) on Wednesday 4th June at the Civic Hall in Stratford (7.30pm). David has worked extensively with Errollyn since 1995 when he appeared on her album 'Meet Me At Harold Moores'. Last season the Swan premiered and subsequently performed on a number of occasions Errollyn's work 'Photography' which also featured David as a soloist.

BACH IN CONCERT
and conversation...

The Complete Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin
The Chantry Chapel Buckingham

David Le Page Violin

A series of 3 coffee concerts
Sundays at 11.15

Sunday 27th January 2008
Sonata in G minor BWV 1001 – Partita in B minor BWV 1002
Sunday 10th February 2008
Sonata in A minor BWV 1003 – Partita in D minor BWV 1004
Sunday 24th February 2008
Sonata in C major BWV 1005 – Partita in E major BWV 1006

A rare opportunity to hear the complete sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach presented with an illuminating talk about each piece and its historical perspective by one of the UK’s foremost professional violinists, David Le Page, a former pupil of the Yehudi Menuhin School. Performances will take place in Buckingham’s oldest building, the beautiful Chantry Chapel (Market Hill, Buckingham) which dates from the eleventh century. In 1912 the chapel was purchased by public subscription and given to the National Trust. Don’t miss this chance to hear the greatest music for solo violin in this extraordinary setting.

Tickets £10 (accompanied children under 16 free) available in advance from The Duke’s Music (24 Market Hill, Buckingham Tel. 01280 821771) or at the door. Ticket price includes tea and biscuits. Each concert will finish at approximately 12.30.

Smiles all round as Swan takes flight

Oct 23 2007

Orchestra of the Swan
* * * * *
at Birmingham Town Hall
Review by Christopher Morley

Sunday's inaugural concert from the Orchestra of the Swan, as associate artist at Town Hall Birmingham, was an absolute corker.

Smiling faces from an excellent audience - many of them tempted into the city by the convenience of a matinee - mirrored the enthusiasm and freshness of the players themselves, smilingly directed by the genial David Curtis.

"The CBSO had better watch out for this lot," someone said. But with much of the large orchestral canon beyond OOTS' complement, Curtis constructs instead themed programmes where appopriate works can be drawn together, as in this "Spanish for Beginners" sequence.

Actually there was only one genuine Spaniard represented here, Rodrigo, whose famous Concierto de Aranjuez was given an elegant account by the personable soloist Morgan Szymanski. Discreetly miked in this remarkable acoustic (such true wind clarity, and space for string tone to bloom), all the dynamic nuances and eloquent colourings of a reading which otherwise might have impressed for technical brilliance alone came through.

The famous cor anglais solo in the slow movement was beautifully delivered by Louise Braithwaite, just one of many OOTS players who made valuable individual contributions during the afternoon.

Chief among these was concertmaster David Le Page, the scintillating violin soloist in Astor Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, baroque meeting Argentinian tango with plenty of homage to Vivaldi. Curtis and Le Page cast a sinuously flexible spell, and the orchestral strings tackled the famous "mosquito-bite" glissandi with style and panache.

Elgar's Spanish Lady Suite brought some charming Restoration-style pastiche, and the hispanic flair afforded to Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture made us forget that he lifted it from an earlier opera about Good Queen Bess.

ESTA conference at the Yehudi Menuhin School

On November 18th David will give talks about the New Associated Board syllabus and 'Leading and Directing from the Chair' to delegates at the European String Teachers Association. The event will be held at Menuhin Hall in the grounds of the Yehudi Menuhin school. In the morning David will discuss repertoire from the violin and viola examinations of which a selection will be performed by pupils from the school. In the afternoon he will direct the school orchestra in a performance of Grieg's 'Holberg Suite' following an exploration of directing from the instrument without conductor.

Cremenville

A project David worked on in 2006

SharpWire

Words and music by Pete M Wyer
Directed by Matthew Sharp

With the help of Opera North, the Arts Council of England and Farnham Maltings, a multimedia opera, Cremenville, was created. loosely adapted from the story of Oedipus. Working with soprano, Liz Franklin-Kitchen, violinist, Dave Le Page, bassist, Perry, percussionist, Graham Instrall and singer/technician Thom Ashworth, SharpWire also collaborated once more with film-maker Tobin Rothlein . A work-in-progress showing of the work was presented at Leeds Met theatre on June 7th and 8th and at Farnham Maltings on June 9th 2006.

Cremenville:

Amy keeps seeing her dead brother, Paul. Unemployment, poverty and crime have replaced Amy's childhood mmemory of the happy thriving town of Cremenville. But, as the locals, who never quite manage to leave the bar will tell you; things are rarely what they seem in Cremenville.......

Le Page Ensemble Course

The first Le Page Ensemble Course was held at Woldingham school in Surrey on April 13th this year. The course took place over three days and was attended by eight ensembles who studied a wide range of repertoire. As well as the coaching sessions which took place each morning there was a concert given by the LPE on Saturday evening featuring Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden' quartet and Haydn Op 76 No. 1. On Sunday members joined forces with coaches to play through some string orchestra repertoire and after lunch the LPE presented a workshop exploring various aspects of chamber music playing. The surrounding hills and woods afforded some beautiful walks and the on site swimming pool was available for use. The weather was good too...

Piazzolla Four Seasons

Dates have been confirmed where David will perform the Piazzolla Four Seasons with the Orchestra of the Swan. The dates and venues are as follows: October 17, Stratford Upon Avon Civic Hall, October 19, Bedworth Civic Hall, October 21, Birmingham Town Hall. Birmingham Town Hall has just undergone a stunning refurbishment and the concert will be one of the first performances there following its reopening in October 2007.

Premiere of 'Gonzalez' by Joe Cutler

Review

Wednesday April 11, 2007

The Orchestra of the Swan's commissioning policy is enterprising, and sometimes very imaginative, in the way it garners companion pieces for standard repertoire. Setting them side by side, new energies are often created.

From Joe Cutler, the orchestra had sought a work for solo flute and string ensemble to be heard with music by Vaughan Williams, whose Fantasia on Greensleeves has that scoring. The further specification that this should not be a concerto, yet embrace concertante elements, was a constraint Cutler countered by writing a parallel violin role.

The result, entitled Gonzalez, was curious, a somewhat uneasy compromise. That may also have been due to the imaginary character of Gonzalez, who emerged unbidden during composition, enigmatic and unignorable. In this three-part work, a brief string opening set up shadowy street corners where this dubious character might lurk, but a shrill tritone on violin and piccolo in fact heralded a main section of exuberant Latin American dance rhythms.

Gonzalez was not a villain after all - perhaps just a chancer - and, in the more contemplative final section, reworking Bach harmonies, the feeling of a journey was discernible. This thoughtful, slightly quixotic finale revealed more about Cutler than his character. This premiere, under conductor Nicholas Cleobury, was certainly spirited, suggesting that vibrant flautist Diane Clark should get a full-blown concerto after all.

In Bartok's Rumanian Dances and in the concert's culminating work, Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme By Thomas Tallis, it was the consistently sweet-toned solos of leader David Le Page that stood out.

Rian Evans The Guardian

'As The Crow Flies'

David has begun recording an album of his own material entitled ‘As The Crow Flies’ which will be released on the Castleroad Recordings label. It will feature ‘Catastrophe’ (movements ‘Taste’, ‘Skin’, ‘Pig’ and ‘Royal Jelly’) which was premiered at the Royal Academy of Music for the opening of the Yehudi Menuhin competition. The album will also contain the music David wrote for the second Victor Hugo festival, a set of four pieces for violin, harpsichord, cello and percussion. Camera Obscura, the contemporary music ensemble David formed in 2002, will appear on the CD with regulars Graham Instrall (percussion), David Ayre (bass) and Matthew Sharp (cello).

Premiere of Paul Patterson Double Violin Concerto

David will premiere a new work by Paul Patterson with the Orchestra of the Swan this month in Stratford, Shipston-on-Stour and Southam. The commission is a concerto for two violins and orchestra entitled 'Allusions'. His co-soloist will be Catherine Leech. They will also be performing the Bach Double concerto and David will play the D minor Partita. Please see the concert diary for further information.

Review of the Stratford upon Avon Concert in the Birmingham Post

'Swan hits the heights'

Mar 16 2007
Orchestra of the Swan at the Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon
Review by John Gough

The Orchestra of the Swan has a warm and intimate relationship with its audience, and this concert was further illustration of its care for communication. There were spoken contributions from the stage at various points by conductor David Curtis, violin soloist David Le Page, and composer Paul Patterson, whose 60th birthday year this is, and from whom OTS commissioned a new work, his Allusions for two solo violins and strings.

This substantial and accessible piece was a virtuoso showcase for the orchestra and the two soloists, Le Page, and Cathy Leech. The Allusions of the title were to three operatic characters, each given an appropriate musical characterisation. Fittingly for Stratford, the first movement depicted Sir John Falstaff; the darker second movement featured Don Giovanni, while the finale moved to the affirmative world of Mozart’s Figaro.

The Verdian opening had great dynamism and excitement, creating a vivid picture of its Shakespearian hero. The introspective central movement, with its sustained dark opening chords on muted strings, gave an atmosphere reminiscent of Bartok’s night music as long solo lines intersected to provide lyrical moments of heartfelt beauty, along with a sinister harmonic tension. By the end we knew something profound had happened, but what?

The witty finale quoted directly from Figaro in an athletic chase. Here was impressive quiet playing as motives were nonchalantly tossed between all sections of the orchestra, no sooner a Mozartean shape identified than it was gone, replaced by another in scampering pursuit.

The OTS played with a palpable sense of enjoyment at this new gift they had been given, and at the end of the evening I found myself haunted by the enigmatic beauty of the slow movement. I hope to hear it again soon.

Review of Hagley Festival concert

April 29 2007
Review by Chris Morley

Just up the road another North Worcestershire festival has been going on this weekend, with its main base the charming St John's Church at Hagley Hall. This is a lovely venue, with a warm, comfortable acoustic, and Sunday's concert from the Orchestra of the Swan (young musicians who so obviously take joy in playing) provided a memorable finale to this biennial event.

The theme of self-quotation underlying The Music Makers was continued here in Mozart's piano concertos K414 and 415, two of a triptych where material refers both backwards and forwards in the composer's output, as well as bouncing between each other.

David Curtis conducted a neat little orchestra, and soloist Mark Bebbington, though not entirely spotless in K415, articulated crisply and phrased eloquently in these delightful works.

And there were further Mozartean references in Paul Patterson's Allusions for two violins and orchestra. David le Page and Catherine Leech brought bustling wizardry to their solo parts in a work which should be added to the canon of English string orchestra works without delay.

The Band With No Name...are currently looking for a name. David spent three days at the Young Vic Theater working with composer/pianist/accordianist Tim Sutton, cellist Matthew Sharp, flautist Hannah Conway, percussionist Graham Instrall and sound designer Paul Arditti. The aim of the project was to explore the role of music in relation to theater and to devise new ways of presenting it in this setting. Performance was explored through improvisation using text, film and sound enhancement. The process was recorded by Paul and as a result many of the improvisations were committed to tape. Towards the end of this period of exploration a theatrical element was added using ideas from the autobiographical book 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' by Jean-Dominique Bauby. There was a feeling throughout the process that the six participants would like to work together on future projects. The groups first performance took place in the The Cut Bar (situated in the foyer of the Young Vic). The group still has no name. Any suggestions will be gratefully received...