Rossano Sportiello

The Society was very pleased to welcome back the Jazz pianist, Rossano Sportiello, to play for us at the opening concert of the 23-24 season in the Auld Kirk, Kirkcaldy. Signore Sportiello trained as a classical pianist – but his first love was Jazz. He has played with many of the Jazz “Greats” on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as having a successful solo career. He is now based in New York where he performs and works as an educator and teacher. He regularly returns to Europe to play. This concert was part of his Scottish tour and was well attended by Society members and Jazz-loving guests. He gave a highly original concert to the Society pre the Covid19 Lockdown, and it was a delight to hear him again. His concert was entitled “The Art of Jazz Piano Improvisation through the Great American Songbook”. He wanted to surprise us with his interpretations of these classic songs and intentionally did not provide a programme choosing his starting point where the mood took him. He began with Jerome Kern’s “ All the Things You Are.” He then asked us to pick out the song titles from his “Star Medley “. The audience enthusiastically took up his “Name That Tune!” challenge and identified – Stars Fell on Alabama, Stardust, A Handful of Stars and Stella by Starlight. Improvisations by George Gershwin followed. Embraceable You, Strike Up the Band and Someone to Watch Over You - which magically morphed into a Bach Prelude and took us up to the interval. He started his second set with one of his own compositions – “That’s It “.This was followed by a “Moon Medley,” comprising Moon River, Blue Moon, Moonglow and How High the Moon. He then paid homage to Duke Ellington and finished with Cole Porter – improvising on their best known songs. An appreciative audience applauded loudly and brought him back for an encore – Errol Garners’ “Pastel.” His technical mastery of the keyboard and clever tuneful improvisations (which never strayed too far from the melody) delighted even the most devout traditionalist of the society. A thrilling virtuoso performance. A real treat! Rennie Urquhart

Aaron Akugbo & Zaynep Oszuca

On 15th November KMS welcomed Aaron Azunda Akugbo (trumpet) and Zeynep Ozsuca (piano). They are already established on the international scene, performing at the highest level as soloists and in ensembles. The trumpet and piano combination is relatively rare, but their bravura performance in the Old Kirk revealed the rich potential in the pairing and whetted the appetites of their audience for more. In an attractively mixed programme which ranged through the twentieth century, Zeynep's skills and sensitive engagement enhanced the startling range of trumpet effects created by Aaron. Familiar classics were given new life, alongside pieces all the more pleasurable because they came fresh to the listeners, while Aaron's witty commentary throughout educated as well as entertained the audience. The vibrant opening “Intrada” by Honegger led on to Poulenc's more lyrical “Metamorphoses.” The duo's performance of the two typified all that followed, with intimate mutual understanding managing challenging changes of pace and mood. In what followed there were many highlights. Among them, in Maxwell Davies's “Farewell to Stromness” lovely passages of unison flowed seamlessly into perfectly modulated solos. Lightning finger-work and brilliant timing by both players dazzled the audience in Kitsch's “Four Variations on a theme by Domenico Scarlatti.” In an unorthodox pairing, Rodgers and Harts' “My Funny Valentine” flowed into Enescu's “Legende” in a very effective interplay of moods. Works by Halsey Stevens and Florence Price had enriched the mix before the finale, in which Pilss's “Sonata for Trumpet and Piano”gave space to both players to express themselves fully, with a vibrant final movement delivered with verve and individual virtuosity. It was a memorable recital which widened their listeners' sense of what the world of music may offer, delivered by two brilliant exponents. David Reid

Zemlinsky Trio

The Zemlinsky Trio (Clarinet, Cello and Piano) played a program of music by Fanny Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Cecile Sarah Hartog and Brahms. Each piece was introduced by a member of the trio. Cellist Evva Mizerska told us a little of the history of the music of Fanny Mendelssohn. The evening started with the her delightful and melodic Fantasia in G minor and the Capriccio in A flat major – both for cello and piano. Fanny was as talented as her brother Felix, but due to the constraints placed on 19th century women of her class- failed to reach her full potential as a composer and performer. Expected to run the household and bring up the children, she was discouraged from performing in public, often having to publish under her brother’s name and to compose in secret. The Mendelssohn was followed by the Beethoven Clarinet Trio in B flat major. The final movement of which consisted of 8 variations on a popular opera aria and had us all humming the theme during the following interval. After the break Peter Cigleris (clarinet) explained how he is always looking for new repertoire for his instrument. One of his methods is to look at old concert programs. In this way he has brought to the light several forgotten gems – including the piece played this evening – Cecile Sarah Hartog’s Chateaux en Espagne nos 1 and 2. The concert concluded with the Brahms Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in A minor Op 114. Emma Abbate (piano) talked us through the piece and the circumstances of its conception. The trio is a late Brahms work, written after he had effectively retired. He had written to his publisher to tell him not to expect anything further from him. He was affected by a weariness of spirit and felt that he was finished with composing. However, he was so impressed with the clarinet playing of his friend Richard Muhlfeld that he subsequently wrote four works especially for him. The trio is one of these. A heartbreakingly beautiful but melancholic piece reflecting the composer’s state of mind. The trio were warmly applauded by an appreciative audience. A very enjoyable concert. Rennie Urquhart

Ivan Hovorun, Piano

KMS hosted this extra concert to their published 23/24 Season, when the Ukrainian pianist Ivan Hovorun offered to perform for us. He is currently touring the country raising funds for musicians from his Homeland affected by the ongoing war. The Society accepted his offer, and what a treat it was! Eighty Fifers braved a dark, dank, depressing January evening to attend the Old Kirk to hear him play. Mr Hovorun, every inch the concert pianist, with his saturnine good looks, bow tie and dinner suit, - explained to the audience that all aspects of life, including musical life, have been affected by the war in his country. A whole generation of artists have had their education and studies disrupted. The donations he generates through his free concerts will help support young Ukrainian musicians both at home and abroad. He then attacked the piano with a technical mastery, sensitivity and flamboyancy that delighted his audience. He played an accessible program which he told us varied from concert to concert depending on his mood. He started with a Rondo by Beethoven (Op 129) in the Hungarian style. (Rage over a lost penny). This was followed by a lovely, gentle piece, alternating with frenetic series of Bagatelles, by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. He took us up to the interval with Schumann's Kreisleriana (Op 16). A piece which Franz Liszt had advised - should never be played in public! Well. What did he know? After the interval Liszt was rehabilitated. Ivan played his Op 162 Venezia and Napoli (S162), a post script to his 2 books of music inspired by his years of travel Consolation No 3 (S172) by the same composer. This was followed by Chopin's Polonaise Fantasie, Op 61. Ivan finished his program and sent us home to bed with a gentle Berceuse (Lullaby), also by Chopin, Op 57. It's a long time since I have heard foot stomping at the end of a KMS concert- but such was the case on Wednesday evening. The audience were most appreciative, and dare I say it, ecstatic. A passionate performance and a thoroughly enjoyable concert. That piano will need retuning at the very least, if not restringing , after the hammering it took on Wednesday evening. Well worth it. Donations of over one thousand pounds were received to support Ukrainian musicians. Rennie Urquhart

Baker-Watkins-Goldscheider Trio

The Baker-Watkins-Goldscheider Trio ( Violin, Piano, Horn) played a varied programme for an audience of 72. They started with Mozart's delightful Horn Quintet K407, arranged for Trio. This was written for Mozart's friend Ignaz Leutgeb. In a change to published programme order we heard Huw Watkin's Horn Trio. The audience were fascinated by the alternating rhythmic and slow, contemplative passages. This was written for Goldscheider and there is a Horn Concerto in the pipeline.

The second half started with a homage to the friendship between Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms. Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano were interspersed with two Piano pieces, Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, Op 62 No 1, and Brahms Intermezzo Op 117. This is such a delightful work. If you don't have a recording, find it on You Tube, close your eyes and let it wash over you! The concert finished with Brahms Horn Trio Op 40. This standard work for Horn Trio demonstrated the virtuosity of the players, and the audience showed their appreciation with sustained applause. In the afternoon the Trio had given a workshop at the High School for pupils studying music and this had proved so successful that some of the pupils attended the concert.

Douglas Paton

The Society wishes to thank a pupil of Kirkcaldy High School, Kelsey McAndrew for taking the 2nd photgraph at the workshop

Amy Strachan & Daniel Peter Silcock

This St Valentine's Day recital was given by Soprano Amy Strachan and pianist Daniel Peter Silcock; two young Scots really going places. The programme opened with three of the beautiful songs from Cantaloube's Songs of the Auvergne. Daniel's colourful rippling opening (who needs an orchestra) was a perfect platform for Amy's soaring cantabile and expressive singing in La Pastoura als campo and in the more famous Bailero. The last of these songs, No 3 of Trois Bourres where two lovers are on opposite sides of a river, gave Amy the chance to display her ability to play different characters and moods. The audience was now completely in her hands! Daniel then played Stephen Hough's beautiful arrangements of the Seal Songs, so gently and expressively. He seemed to caress the notes with his fingers and share with us his love of the music. Amy and Daniel performed his arrangement of the gloriously rippling Afton Water then Daniel played Brahms's Intermezzo in A major so delicately and lovingly and the first half finished with Schumann's song cycle A Woman's Love and Life, some of Schumann's most expressive writing performed here with utter dedication. Sadly halfway through the cycle Amy had to stop due to a virus she had a few days before, but Daniel calmed the desperate moment by playing the closing postlude of the cycle where the piano recalls the opening moments of first love. After the interval Daniel explained that Amy was recovering and hoped to sing some of the Four Last Songs by Strauss but meanwhile he would play some pieces to take us into the mood of the Strauss. He flicked through the enormous repertoire on his I-Pad and soothed us all with his playing of Chopin's Nocturne in B major and Sibelius's Spruce. To our delight Amy returned to sing the second and fourth Strauss songs most wonderfully and again there was no need for an orchestra and those gentle fluttering birds are still in my ears. Amy was so upset but I think we all cherished, even more, the moments of her glorious voice that we heard. This extraordinary evening closed with My Love is Like a Red Red Rose with Daniel improvising the accompaniment and the rapport between these two means that Amy just launches out trusting whatever Daniel fancies to play, and it's not straightforward, but the result is brilliant.

Mairi Rolland

Hugh Mackay & Junyan Chen

Pianist Junyan Chen and Cellist Hugh Mackay are rapidly rising stars in the classical music world and they brought the Music Society's 23/24 season to a triumphant conclusion with a vibrant performance of four major cello/piano sonatas. In Debussy's Sonata in D minor the duo revealed the strengths which characterised their whole recital. The contemplative cello opening was suddenly overtaken by a combined release of powerful energy, leading on through a series of shifting moods in which the players individually and in combination maintained a dramatic tension through vibrant passages of power alternating with moments of the utmost delicacy. Sizzling fingerwork on both instruments drove the piece to its climax. Two great Russian composers dominated what followed. In Shostakovich's Sonata, also in D minor, composed during the most terrifying period of Stalinist Russia, the duo made the most of all the contrasting elements of a piece which reflected the insecurities of its time. No mood was constant as we sensed the composer striving to create beauty in the face of turmoil, but Chen and Mackay brilliantly controlled the shifting dynamics. Sensitive individual passages, duets both intimate and pulsating with energy, sometimes expressing wild abandon but always controlled, led to a breathtaking conclusion. In contrast to Shostakovich, Rachmaninov lived in the USA throughout the Stalinist years, but never completely adjusted to life in the west, or lost touch with the Russian romantic tradition. His Sonata in G minor composed in 1901 is deeply romantic, with extended lyrical passages, but also with forces of darkness which are ultimately put to flight in a joyful conclusion. Placed between the two Russians, contemporary composer Sally Beamish's Sonata celebrates the individual qualities of four friends, herself included, employing different styles and influences to reflect their characters. Mackay and Chen's response to the musical characterisations brought a fresh aspect to the recital as a whole. From start to finish the recital was characterised by an electric intensity, generated by a startling interplay of power and delicacy by two performers who fearlessly took on a programme of complex, major works and rose to the challenge superbly. Individually or together, the future looks exciting for Junyan Chen and Hugh Mackay. Thanks to Kelsey McAndrew again for the photo

David Reid

AGM & Recital by Sophie Rocks (Harp)

The AGM of the Society was held in the Old Kirk. After last year's minutes were read and approved, the Chairman reviewed the past season which had continued the high standards we have come to expect. The Treasurer presented the accounts which showed a small deficit. The Office Bearers and Committee Members were re-elected and the Programme Plans for 24-25 were announced. After the AGM we had a very enjoyable recital. The performance by harpist Sophie Rocks showed why this highly talented and engaging performer has won a number of awards and is increasingly in demand. Through a cleverly conceived programme she explored the rich variety of effects and moods the harp can deliver, playing with exquisite dynamic control and communicating her intimate relationship with the instrument. She began and ended with two contemporary pieces from her native Shetland, by Tom Anderson and Catriona McKay, which evoked the intertwined musical and maritime traditions of the islands. In between, her selection ranged from the classics of Puccini and Debussy, through jazz and into the present day, with a particular highlight being contemporary composer Romy Wymer's profound and complex The Mysterious Garden. Sophie interspersed her performance with a highly informative and witty running commentary in which her own pleasure in her instrument was infectious. Credit is also due to Carol Main and Live Music Now, who facilitated Sophie's contribution. After the recital, there was an opportunity to socialise, with drinks and nibbles available.