City of Portsmouth Centenary Recital

 City of Portsmouth Centenary Recital, Menuhin Room, May 9

Andrew McVittie and Valentina Seferinova's little black books must have been well thumbed as they assembled the cast for this starry, celebratory gathering. Portsmouth being a city for a hundred years is as good a reason as any to celebrate its vibrant musical community. If the programme couldn't quite accommodate the whole directory of locally-based talent, it represented a generous helping of it.

Whereas it might be usual for any perceived 'star names' to appear later by way of a climax, it's a great thing to get on first and have one's performance done and out of the way in order to relax and enjoy everybody else except Valentina and Karen Kingsley were to re-appear throughout after their piano duo setting of the Pomp & Circumstance no. 1 in all its wordless glory, and hope. So the first to relax was actually Sara Deborah Timossi whose Legende by Wieniawski, accompanied by Valentina, was soulful and poignant in all its Jewish heritage and maybe the performance I'd most like to hear again.

Karen then returned in solo mode to make Reginald Jevons's The Sea ripple and build, at which point I'd better apologize for these rather peremptory comments but so much was packed into such a seemingly short time if nowhere near as short as advertised. It literally, and inevitably, overflowed. 

The much-loved piano team, Kate Burrows and Helen Morris, were gorgeous in the meditative lilt of Rachmaninov's Vocalise before Angela Zanders was beautifully phrased, possibly with hints of rubato, in her Chopin Polonaise. Up to the interval Amanda Fox accompanied Melanie White's flute in her own The Wind in My Mind, an in memoriam full of longing delivered with a soaring, full tone at its climax.

Immediately impressive once we were seated again was Narina Dalali, brave enough to play more Rach within earshot of Angelina Kopyrina, a Moment Musicaux that was all waterfalls and executed with great clarity.

Melanie brought her flute back to play Deep Blue by Ian Clarke with Kate Ham's champagne harp, exquisite and spellbinding with elements of whale song, bringing together Portsmouth's centenary with that of David Attenborough.

I don't know how much Ian Schofield's Danza Eccentrica owes to Sarasate but it was definitely semi-Satie and quite possibly technically challenging although you wouldn't know that when it's Valentina back on the piano stool.

Some debate about the word 'stalwart' as applied to Karen and her partner in both music and life, Rob Blanken, seemed to be nervous about any connotations of age it brought with it but I travelled there by bus pass and I don't think the Kingsley-Blankens are qualified to do that yet so they are, thus, young. James Walker's Sonatina, in three movements, had them skipping together, then moodier and nocturnal before the final breezy rhythms.

By way of some elegant calm before the storm, Andrew, as ever the debonair soul of wit but today in his element and so more so as compere, contributed Phamie Gow's War Song, elegiac and reminiscent of the Maxwell-Davies Return to Stromness that he has so memorably performed before.

And then, not least because she is a hard act to follow, Angelina Kopyrina dominated the stage and the whole auditorium with the Liszt Mephisto Waltz. Heard it all before but it retains all its dazzling blast and blasting dazzle before and after its breathless midway contemplation each and every time and, each and every time she plays I think, nah, she's had plenty of standing ovations out of me, I'll take this for granted. I can't, though, and there I am again like a jump jockey unseated by their horse.

Except, Karen and Angela did follow, with Piazolla's Libertango. Very much not a favourite composer of mine but by then happy to be convinced by anything which Angela's expansive top end of the keyboard over Karen's angular inflections were completely successful in doing.

What a stunning occasion, what an impressive line-up to put together, what a joyous celebration and what a privilege to be there. It matters nothing to me whether Portsmouth is a city or not or how long it has been so. But it matters much more than most things that its musicians can put on a such a show for the love of it. If such events were put on more often they would, by definition, become more routine than special. On the other hand, what happened around these parts in 1927, I wonder. Something, surely. Don't worry. It was announced that Angela has plans to mark 200 years since Beethoven departed this life. It's good to have things to look forward to.