The church of St. John's, Greenhill was the perfect venue for Thursday 14th of June's lunchtime concert, performed by Felicity Vincent, on the cello, and Dominic Saunders, on the piano. The church has been holding this series of fortnightly lunchtime concerts for thirty-two years. Admission is free to every concert, though there is a retiring collection at the end of the concert to cover costs. Snacks were also available from 11h45 on the day of the concert.
After a brief moment following the end of the opening prayer preceding the concert, and a brief announcement from the concert organizer, on came Felicity Vincent followed by Dominic Saunders. The concert was aptly named in the programme notes as "The Lure of Paris", as the programme was all drawn from composers and works inspired by the French capital.
The duo started with the Elegie by Gabriel Faure. Ms Vincent immediately showed a warm lyrical tone to her playing, and a chamber-music interaction with her pianist, the splendid Dominic Saunders, whose warm French sonorities and obvious involvement in the music could be felt throughout the church. If there was have a small quibble, it was that Ms Vincent's beautiful tone did not carry across the church hall with the same strength and potency that it could have done had she taken a more soloistic approach to the work. Though the dynamics were marked at piano and pianissimo in the score, the sound still needed to carry through, and one found oneself having to strain one's ears to hear the cello's beautiful and intimate tone through the wonderful flowing chords of the piano.
The Sonata in D minor by Claude Debussy followed. This sonata is well-known for its plucking and strumming challenging moments in the cello, and Ms Vincent rose to the challenge well, tackling the pizzicati passages adeptly. Dominic Saunders at the piano continued his superb display of musicianship by showing a masterful command of the different colours the piano can produce, especially in music such as the one written by Debussy, with a beautiful tone that carried effortlessly throughout the hall, and by a wonderful musical communication and support with Ms. Vincent at the cello.
The last work before the interval was the Sonata in one movement by Frederick Delius. Ms. Vincent mentions in her programme notes that, whereas Debussy's Sonata is based primarily on plucking, strumming and staccato bowing, the Delius relies on long singing lines. This sonata was the highlight of the first part of the concert, insofar as it seemed to suit Ms. Vincent's propensity for beautiful, warm, lyrical long lines much more than the technicalities of the Debussy. Set free to soar, her sound flew effortlessly throughout the church, matched by a beautiful and mature support and musical dialogue from Dominic Saunders on the piano.
After a short interval, the duo returned to perform Faure's Sonata No. 2 in G minor. This was a no-nonsense, professionally-delivered performance, with Ms. Vicent's playing superlatively matched by the superb Dominic Saunders again. His wonderful and sensitive playing, his obvious in-depth appreciation and enjoyment of the works he was playing, and his ability to convey their hidden secret beauties to the audience was the perfect foil and support for Ms. Vincent's quiet, introverted musicianship, which eschewed frills in favour of musical substance.
They returned to great applause to play Faure's Sicilienne as an encore, which was played in a beautiful and relaxed manner to the wonderfully warm and responsive audience of St. John's Church.
Ms. Vincent is playing on a 1750, Venetian cello attributed to Dallacosta, the maker who famously made Leopold Mozart's violin. Ms. Vincent and Dominic Saunders have been playing for only three months together, having met through mutual friends. Their future plans include adding the Chopin Sonatas to their repertoire and concert programme.
A beautiful concert as part of the St. John's Church, Greenhill's free lunchtime concert series, and a wonderful duo partnership between the lyrical, warm and intimate tone of Felicity Vincent's cello playing and the soaring, superb, world-class musicianship of Dominic Saunders at the piano. The next concert as part of this series will be the Niel Du Preez piano recital on the 28th of June.
