Millfield Musicians perform in second Evening Recital concert of 2020

Amongst our thriving calendar of events, our fifth event in nine days saw our second Evening Recital. After having an enjoyable concert last Monday, this concert featured an array of students playing some remarkable repertoire to reflect the immense talent these students inhabit, as well as the mere popularity of performance opportunity within the music department.

From closing the previous Evening Recital to now opening the second, Year 11 Xanthe performed the highly regarded Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G Major; performed with great technique and control, Xanthe again provided an exceptional performance. Next up was Upper Sixth Emily performing Sonatina by Nikolai Kapustin on the piano. A brilliantly performed and highly enjoyable rendition of this jazzy piece, even more impressive that Emily also had her grade 8 exam the following day, what a great way to prepare!

Moving onto calmer jazz, Upper Sixth Honey followed singing George Gershwin’s Blah Blah Blah; a playful and elegant interpretation of the piece. From her two performances from the previous Evening Recital, Lower Sixth Jo returns to the stage performing an arrangement of Richard Rodgers’ My Favourite Things on the harp. As one of the most ethereal instruments, Jo provided a wonderful performance, showing great skill and musicality, this was sure a performance to remember. Up next saw lower sixth Maddie performing Prokofiev’s third movement from his Flute Sonata Op. 94; a striking yet complex piece with the continuous moving melodies in the lower range of the flute, contrasting with the higher tones, Maddie delivered a highly skilled and controlled performance.

Up next was Year 9 George playing a piano piece entitled Sarah by Thomas Peter-Horas, a simple yet delicate piece of music, George provided a relaxed and controlled performance. Year 10 Jenny followed with a vocal performance of To Daffodils by Madeleine Dring; another great performance, sung with elegance and character. Following this saw Year 11 Kai Kai playing Chopin’s Nocturne in G minor Op.37 No.1, capturing the romantic-like characteristics within Chopin’s piano writing from the melodic embellishments to the rich harmonic chords, Kai Kai gave a dexterous performance. Lower Sixth Eloise was up next performing the third movement, Poco agitato from Brahms’ Violin Sonata No.3 in D minor. A huge piece to be performing with its many difficult and forceful passages, Eloise performed with determination and control throughout. Back to the piano, Year 11 Solomon performed Rachmaninov’s Elegie Op.3 No.1. A very romantic and rich piece, Solomon performed with pronounced musicality throughout, showing great ability to resonate the lush chords and melodies within this piece.

Onto the final four acts of the evening saw Upper Sixth Annabella performing Lassú from Rhapsody No.1 by Bela Bartok. This was an outstanding performance on the violin, echoing the drama and intensity this piece inhabits, Annabella showed great virtuosity and high calibre musicianship. Following this was Year 10 Grace performing Danse de la Chèvre for unaccompanied flute, a meticulous performance and a wonderful piece to allow the beautiful tones of the flute to reverberate in the concert hall. The penultimate performance saw Upper Sixth Woon Ngee performing The Presentiment movement from Janacek’s Sonata 1.X.1905. This piece is a tribute to the death of a worker, Frantisek Pavlik who was tragically killed in a Czech university demonstration, Through the medium of music, Janacek conveyed his disapproval of this violent death towards the innocent carpenter. Woon Ngee delivered a highly emotive and astonishing interpretation of this impactful work. To conclude the evening, Year 11 William took to the stage and performed Scène de ballet by Charles-Augustus de Beriot; a highly virtuosic violin piece, William delivered a dynamic performance, played with great projection, lyricism and technicality, a splendid way to round off the evening.

View more photos from the evening here and watch the full concert again here.