Christopher Morley looks forward to a bumper start to the new season of chamber music.
Lovers of chamber music are witnessing a bumper start to 2012, societies all around the region swinging back into action after the festive break, with all kinds of attractions.
On Friday (January 13), the University of Warwick’s resident Coull Quartet perform string quartets by Haydn, Shostakovich (the late Quartet no.14 in F sharp major) and Beethoven.
The programme is called “The Russian Connection”, easy enough to understand in the case of the Beethoven E minor Quartet Op. 59 no2, one of the set dedicated to the Russian Count Razumovsky; but not so immediately obvious with Haydn’s G major Quartet Op.33 no.5.
In fact the set of six Opus 33 Quartets was dedicated to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia, who later became Emperor Paul II (Helen Martin Studio, Warwick Arts Centre Coventry 7.30pm, details on 0247 652 4524).
Warwick School is the venue on Sunday afternoon for a visit by the Lawson Piano Trio. Their programme in the comfortable Bridge House Theatre includes works by Mozart, Debussy and Brahms, as well as The Long Way Home by the composer, pianist and conductor David Knotts, who first came to prominence with the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1994.
There is a family concert Dance around the World at 11.30am, and a pre-concert talk at 2.10pm before the concert itself at 3pm (01926 776438).
The Coull Quartet are in action again Friday week, when they are joined by pianist Mark Bebbington for the latest in Bromsgrove Concerts’ current series in a particularly mouthwatering, all-English menu.
They begin with Britten’s witty, youthful Three Divertimenti, and continue with a selection from Edward Cowie’s Birdsong Bagatelles. The rewarding Leamington-born composer Robert Simpson is represented by his String Quartet no.7, and Bebbington brings his famous expertise in John Ireland to that composer’s Piano Sonata.
The programme ends with the attractive Piano Quintet by the Worcester-based composer Ian Venables (the Artrix 8pm, details on 01527 577330).
Birmingham Chamber Music Society has announced that this will sadly be its last season, but seems determined to be going out with a bang. On Sunday, January 22, it entertains a talented trio of performers – Sarah Williamson (clarinet), Pauline Lowbury (violin) and John Reid (piano) – in a programme which seems to offer something for everyone.
