Last Friday a large audience filled the church of St Mary’s, Old Amersham for the first of four concerts of the Amersham Festival Winter Series all featuring the Festival’s own chamber orchestra, conducted by Iain Ledingham.

The programme began with the concerto for two keyboards in c minor by J S Bach, which is much better known in its form for two violins. Originally, the work would have been played with two harpsichords but the audience was treated to a performance with two grand pianos. These were positioned opposite each other which allowed the performers (Iain Ledingham and Irene Alfageme) to communicate visually with each other throughout the performance.

They gave a very lively and spirited interpretation of the first movement and there were some beautiful contrasts in the more lyrical sections with lovely legato playing. The well-known melody of the slow movement was superbly played by the two pianists with a good balance between the two instruments.

The orchestra’s accompaniment was very sensitive and there was some excellent sustained playing. The final Allegro was very brisk and energetic with wonderful interplay between the two soloists who succeeded in maintaining the feeling of nervous excitement right to the end of the movement.

This was then followed by Bach’s first Brandenburg concerto. Nowadays it is unusual to hear Baroque concertos with piano continuo but the piano gives a much more sonorous sound to the bass line.

The second movement featured some beautiful oboe playing from Christopher Hooker who certainly made the most of Bach’s melodic lines as did the leader of the orchestra, Charlotte Edwards in the soaring lines for solo violin. The orchestra gave a lovely, brisk performance of the third movement and credit should be given to the two horn players who coped so splendidly with the fast passages. In the fourth movement the central section for the trio of two oboes and bassoon was charming with excellent ensemble playing.

The second half of the concert began with Mozart’s concert aria “Ch’io mi scordi di te”

This is an unusual and very special work which combines the characteristics of an operatic aria with those of the piano concerto – two forms in which Mozart excelled. This was beautifully sung by the Mexican soprano, Ana Schwedhelm who expressed the poignant details of the text with great sincerity and clarity and showed herself more than equal to the exceptional vocal demands of this extraordinary work. She was well supported by the strings and woodwind players of the orchestra and by Iain Ledingham at the piano.

As in the Bach concerto, Iain Ledingham directed the orchestra from the piano in Mozart’s concerto for two pianos. There was some wonderful interplay between the two soloists in the first movement and they were ably supported by the orchestra. The final Allegro began very energetically and the two soloists delighted the audience with great displays of virtuosity in Mozart’s numerous scalic passages. A charmingly light-hearted cadenza with much interplay between the two pianos brought the movement to its conclusion and the soloists received rapturous applause.

The two pianists gave the audience a further treat with an encore for two pianos L’Embarquement pour Cythère “ by Poulenc.

The second concert of the Amersham Festival Chamber Orchestra’s winter season will be on Friday 27th November , continuing their sequence of the six Brandenburg Concertos with concertos 3 and 6 amongst other delights from the baroque era. The other concerts in the series are on Friday 15th January (Italian Baroque Concertos for the New Year) and Friday 12th February (Brandenburg Concertos Nos 2, 4 and 5 along with works by Handel and Vivaldi). These concerts are extremely popular and early booking is advised.

By Tony Burkhardt