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Monday 12 August<\/span><\/p>\n Stephen Disley may still be recovering from a recent wrist injury but there was little sign of this in his fluid articulation throughout his All Saints concert. The only slight indication was the shorter second half and the larger number of short pieces which allowed brief times of recovery between works.<\/p>\n He opened with Charpentier\u2019s familiar Prelude to a Te Deum<\/i> with extrovert reeds in play, a fitting contrast to the relaxed but finely ornamented reading of Bach\u2019s Air on a G string <\/i>which followed. <\/i>The more demanding exigencies of Bach\u2019s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV537 were given an impressively steely organo pleno<\/i>, before the more relaxed short works by Fiocco. The last of these, he admitted, was not actually by Fiocco but proved twinklingly pretty nonetheless.<\/p>\n Liszt\u2019s Consolation<\/i> seemed rather lost amidst the brightness around it, but Daquin\u2019s Le Coucou<\/i> raised the temperature again. Guilmant\u2019s March on a theme of Handel<\/i> sounded far more like Mendelssohn than the baroque master, but the fiery fugue had the Willis working at full capacity.<\/p>\n The second half opened with Karg-Elert\u2019s Nun Danket<\/i> before a wonderfully English rendition of Thalben-Ball\u2019s Elegy. <\/i>This floated gently in a post-Elgarian haze with rich cathedral-like registration.<\/p>\n Bach\u2019s Piece d\u2019Orgue<\/i> brought possibly the finest playing of the evening before Guy Bovet\u2019s tongue-in-cheek Le Bolero du Divin Mozart. <\/i>The final from <\/i>Langlais\u2019 Triptyque<\/i> brought the evening to a close. The work may be more demanding on the ear but the quality of articulation and registration was, as it had been throughout, captivating.<\/p>\n A brief Tudor dance served as an encore to a thoroughly satisfying concert.<\/p>\n Next week Charles Andrews from All Saints, Margaret Street, will give the seventh concert in this 25th<\/sup> anniversary season. BH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday 12 August Stephen Disley may still be recovering from a recent wrist injury but there was little sign of this in his fluid articulation throughout his All Saints concert. The only slight indication was the shorter second half and … Continue reading