Weekend 1

Friday March 28th 4pm to Sunday March 30th 3.30pm
At Frensham Heights School, Nr. Farnham, Surrey. U.K

Weekend 2

Friday April 4th 4pm to Sunday April 6th 3.30pm
At Woldingham School, Woldingham, Surrey, U.K.

The second of the Le Page Ensemble’s series of six recitals, devoted to the small scale chamber works of Bach and Mozart, took place in Henley’s Chantry House at the Church of St Mary the Virgin. These would not have materialised had David Le Page not chanced upon the Chantry House during a recital visit to Henley and discovered a potentially perfect setting for small-scale chamber music.

The outcome is a suite of programmes, each comprising one of Bach’s six Partitas for unaccompanied violin and other compositions by Bach or Mozart for up to five instruments. For music purists, and particularly string players, these recitals are something really special, bringing together masterpieces by two of the worlds greatest geniuses, professional musicians of the highest quality and an intimate, timber-framed, 14th century hall with near perfect acoustics.

Last weeks event began with Mozart’s Duo in B flat major KV 424 for violin and viola, described by David Le Page as ‘inventive and full of wit’. It is thought to have been dashed off by Mozart in support of his friend Michael Haydn, struggling to meet a commission deadline. Despite the time constraints, Mozart exploited the opportunity to show off his virtuosic capabilities, whilst not compromising on attention to detail. The opening Adagio/Allegro starts as a musical conversation, operatic in character, evolving into a perfectly constructed example of Mozart’s writing at its best.

The second Andante Cantabile movement is more wistful - a serene opening violin subject followed by a more chromatic second subject, technically complex at times and full of harmonic surprises. The last movement, a six-variation Andante Grazioso, is at times ornate, complex and busy, weaving a surprisingly rich texture out of the limited resources of two instruments. One could sense Bach and even an anticipation of late Beethoven in the myriad of contrapuntal lines and harmonies that meshed so intensively together.

Throughout, the playing of David Le Page and violist Catherine Leech was controlled and sensitive, and they showed great awareness, both of each other and the music. David, in particular, produced a an exquisitely pure, soft violin tone from extremely light bow strokes, reserving just enough power for the contrasting fortes.

The Mozart duo was followed by Bach’s violin Partita No 1 in B Minor, a piece exemplifying Bach’s compositional skill - four large or eight smaller movements (depending on how you look at them) each with variations. This time, deferring to the 18th century, David applied minimal vibrato and a lighter baroque -style bow stroke. His deceptively relaxed style belied a wonderful technique, rhythmic urgency, subtle phrasing and a really deep understanding of where the music was going. The effect was simply magical in the intimacy of the Chantry House. I was not alone in feeling that what we had heard was probably as pure as Bach had intended.

The duet was then joined by another player of great quality, cellist Christopher Allan. His technical mastery, awareness and perfection of touch introduced a further dimension as the trio took on Mozart’s Divertimento in E flat Major KV 563. Mozart’s writing does not get much better than this - neither does the playing. Very few trios were reputed to have been written in the wake of this work because it was just too good to follow. After hearing it one can hardly contest the theory. Six cleverly constructed movements, all beautifully played, with each performer given ample scope to lead and project, the violist in particular coming in to her own in the dance-like second minuet. The final movement provided the best exhibition of the three players’ ensemble technique, as the music switched constantly between major and minor, musical questions and answers, and virtuoso runs that ricocheted from player to player.

The audience was left in no doubt as to the quality of what they had experienced. Henley is clearly fortunate to have attracted such consummate professionals and through them to have access to some of the world’s finest chamber compositions.

The Le Page Ensemble, led by the brilliant young violinist David Le Page, played Haydn and Schubert quartets with such poise and balance that the audience were spellbound. In between, David Le Page played one of the Bach Sonatas for solo violin - rarely played because of their technical difficulty - and managed to exploit the excellent acoustics of the church to the full with playing of extreme virtuosity, variety and sensitivity.

Rarely do we experience music of this quality outside London. Yet here we have a wonderful venue and I hope we can continue to attract musicians who perform to the highest level.