Concert reviews

The Sacconi Quartet combined the music of traditional string quartets with more modern classical music. Bringing together the quality of a group who naturally feel the music, as a group they embraced the breadth and depth of the possibilities of stringed instruments. The variety of techniques associated with stringed instruments (pizzicato, strumming, full range bowing […]

For a programme centred on George Gershwin, the references in Lizzie Ball and James Pearson’s concert at the Cavendish Hall were wide and impressive. Fritz Kreisler, Leonard Bernstein, Astor Piazzolla, Aaron Copland, Maurice Ravel, Stephane Grappelli, Sergei Rachmaninoff and a few others were incorporated in a sparkling performance which brought a packed audience to its […]

Having never been to a concert by a wind quintet before, I was unsure what to expect of the Haffner Wind Ensemble’s appearance at the Cavendish Hall. Happily, any expectations I might have had were overwhelmingly exceeded and, judging by their rapturous applause, the large audience felt the same way. The combination of oboe, clarinet, […]

Given that his more usual venues include the Royal Festival Hall, London, Alice Tully and Carnegie Hall, New York, and the Musikverein Vienna, it was quite a coup for the Peak Music Society to entice the celebrated pianist, Paul Lewis CBE, to perform at the Cavendish Hall, Edensor, on 11th October. In fact, he was […]

The new Peak Music season opened with a superb performance by the mixed instrument chamber ensemble, I Musicanti with Tamás András. This excellent concert which featured a distinctive programme of Beethoven, was chamber music at its finest creating a delight for the audience to enjoy. Well known international double bass virtuoso, Leon Bosch, founded I […]

The Queens’ Six, an a capella group whose members make up part of the Lay Clerks of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, gave an outstanding vocal performance to the Peak Music audience at the last concert of this season. Demonstrating the highest musical standards that would be expected of a group who regularly sing […]

Peak Music’s fifth concert of this season featured the Metamorphoses Trio, a truly international grouping of British-American clarinettist, Jean Johnson, Dutch viola player, Roeland Jagers and Russian pianist, Ilona Timchenko. Whilst their musicianship was without doubt excellent, the programme choices perhaps, like themselves, painted a picture of these challenging times with its blend of harmonious […]

“It brought tears to my eyes” was the reaction of one long-standing Peak Music Society member to Kammerphilharmonie Europa’s exquisitely performed Bach’s much-loved Double Violin Concerto, with soloists Pavel Zuzanski and Andrei Sur passing the baton seamlessly as each in turn took the lead.  It’s been a long time since the formality of white tie […]

Peak Music’s last offering of the year was an absolute humdinger. Four young postgraduates (soprano Julia Mariko Smith, mezzo-soprano Naomi Rogers, tenor Philip O’Connor and bass Peter Lidbetter) from the Royal College of Music, together with their accompanist, Christopher Pulleyn, gave a memorable gala performance of mostly well-loved favourites that would have been familiar to […]

The exciting classical quintet ZRI demonstrated their superior craftmanship to Peak Music audiences playing with an exquisite intensity rarely seen. The quintet, which takes its name from Zum Roten Igel (or The Red Hedgehog), the legendary Viennese venue in the times when Brahms and Schubert were alive, delivered a very technically demanding program of Brahms […]