(Preview) Music at Paxton 2023
Music at Paxton, the Scottish Borders’ summer festival of chamber music takes place this year from Friday 21st July until Sunday 30th July. As ever it punches above its weight in terms of the quality of performers that it attracts to the small but perfectly-formed Picture Gallery in Paxton House, and one of the enduring delights of the festival is being able to see and hear top class musicians at close quarters.
This year the Festival showcases two outstanding keyboard players. Paul Lewis plays three Schubert Sonatas in the first weekend, a concert which is part of his return to playing Schubert, 20 years on from his first immersive series. Coming back to Schubert, he says, “you see things in a different way, in a different balance.” Melvyn Tan specialised in his earlier career in historic keyboards – I heard him memorably accompany Anne Sofie von Otter many Edinburgh Festivals ago on a forte-piano. Now he works mainly on piano and his Paxton concerts focus on Beethoven Sonatas. On 26th July he plays Beethoven’s final three piano sonatas, very different from each other, but together giving a unique insight into the composer’s last musical ideas. On the previous evening he and cellist Guy Johnston provide a rare opportunity to hear all five of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Cello and Piano in one evening. On 27th July Melvyn Tan is holding a Masterclass, and amateur pianists of all ages have been encouraged to apply.
Two song recitals are on offer this year, both with rising stars on the operatic and concert stages. The first on 23rd July features soprano, Rowan Pierce and pianist, Christopher Glynn in a special programme which replicates domestic musical entertainments in grand and more humble homes, and includes music from Thomas Arne to Noel Coward. Later that week Rowan joins the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in their Proms performance of Elijah. On 28th July, BBC New Generation Artist, bass William Thomas, who represents England in this year’s Cardiff Singer of the World, is joined by Scottish pianist, Malcolm Martineau described in the programme as “possibly the most sought-after recital partner on the world-stage today” in a concert of Lieder by Schubert, Wolf and Richard Strauss.
Two young string quartets make their Paxton debut. The Piatti Quartet, winners of the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition open the festival on 21st July with works by Purcell, Mendelssohn and Smetana, and the Scottish premiere of ‘Iorsa’, by Charlotte Harding which evokes a glen on Arran. A family concert the following morning will show another side of their talents. The Consone Quartet play two concerts in the second weekend. They are BBC New Generation Artists and are Music at Paxton’s new Associate Ensemble. They play on period instruments and their first concert includes quartets by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Schumann, while their lunchtime concert features works by Sibelius, Mozart, Puccini and Fanny Mendelssohn. We look forward to getting to know their work over the next two years.
Two concerts instrumental duos make up the classical programme. On 27th July the Katona Twins on guitar play music ranging from Handel to Maxwell Davies and Piazzola, including a piece written by Peter Katona, entitled ‘Scandal.’ Chloe Hanslip, piano, and Danny Driver, violin, bring the Festival to an end on 30th July with three elegiac works by 20thcentury Czech composers as well as a Schubert Sonatina and a Richard Strauss’s Violin Sonata in E flat.
Traditional music, as ever, has its place in the Paxton programme. Clarsach player, Siannie Moodie has a lunchtime recital on 23rd July, while, in association with Live Music Now Scotland, there are concerts featuring Breanna Wilson, fiddle, and Sophie Joint, keyboard, on 22nd July, Miguel Girao, guitar, and Amy Laurenson, keyboard, on 29th July, and Ruaridh Geddes, fiddle, and Neil Sutcliffe, accordion, who play Traditional Tunes for Tiny People on 25th July.
Music at Paxton offers an ambitious programme with high standards in a lovely setting. Artistic Director, Angus Smith, General Manager, Elizabeth Macdonald and their associates have worked hard to retain their audience in the tricky post-pandemic period, and, with prices maintained at the same level, should look forward to another successful season.
For full details of the programme see www.musicatpaxton.co.uk
