Songs of Travel 2016Co-production
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Brian Bannatyne-Scott (Bass) and Walter Blair (Piano) will performed two recitals, one in st Andrews and one at the Festival Fringe.
There was a fine variety of songs relating to travel, parting ,voyaging and separation by Borodin, Haas, Scott, Burns and Schubert, with two great song cycles book-ending the rest.
They started with Beethoven's astonishing "An die ferne Geliebte," a cycle of songs from a lover to his distant beloved, and we end with Vaughan Williams masterful cycle of songs set to the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Walter Blair has been one of Scotland's finest accompanists and organists for several decades, and his music making now is of a deep-rooted maturity that is hard to find. These are the first major recitals the two artists have done together.
The Byre is a splendidly intimate setting for these marvellous songs, and has been improved accoustically to give a very good audience experience. Why not make a day of it and visit St Andrews before the concert. So much to see, and so many good restaurants and pubs!
As for the second recital,this will be essentially the same concert as the 19th July in St Andrews minus the Beethoven cycle "An die ferne Geliebte" as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. There is an hour limit on most concerts in the Fringe, hence the shortened programme.
There was just time for an encore at the Fringe, and it was an especial treat to hear Brian singing Gremin's aria from Eugene Onegin.
The church was built in 1784 and is the first with an elliptical plan in Britain. A perfect venue for listening to music, and a good audience attended.
