Music on Thursdays
Eva Caballero, flute & Renaissance flute Merlin Harrison, recorders Graham Davies, harpsichord |
Supported by: Leatherhead Concert & Arts Society |
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Breathing purity of limpid tone,
Awash with pearls of melancholic voice: Recorder and flute project such vibrant rhythm, Ornamented with figures of their choice. Quickly or slowly, haunting melodies compel, Underpinned by sublime harmony; Eva and Merlin weave their magic spell. Treacherous the keys beneath his fingers: Home-made harpsichord dimensions test Unseats Graham's composure only briefly – Rises to the challenge, plays with zest. Simplicity conceals exacting skills; Dancing rivulets of sound we hear. Attenuation rapid, vivid, crisp, Yields us rich reward from Higher Sphere. Peter Horsfield 15/8/2013 Inspired by lunchtime concert performed at Leatherhead Methodist Church on 15th August 2013 by Eva Caballero, Merlin Harrison, and Graham Davies. |
Vecchia Trattoria will be selling sandwiches, cakes and drinks in the church after the concert.
Eva Caballero, Renaissance flute
Originally from Spain, Eva Caballero was awarded a spanish government scholarship to study at Trinity College of Music. Later on she specialized on early flutes at Royal Academy of Music.
She performs with historical flutes in chamber music ensembles and a variety of orchestras; she has recently performed with Gabrieli Consort & Players, The Sixteen and Dunedin Consort.
Eva has just finished a two-years course in France with Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, an orchestral and chamber music training course in classical and romantic repertoire on period instruments playing under conductors such as Langrée, Minkowski, Herreweghe, Lonquich and Malgoire. While in JOA she received a scholarship to participate in the Tafelmusik Baroque Academy 2010 in Toronto, where she had lessons with Claire Guimond.
As a chamber musician Eva has won numerous awards in the UK and Spain including XIII Paper de Música de Capellades, Premi Ciutat Manresa, IX Pòdiums de St. Joan de Vilatorrada and the Anglo-Czech Trust Competition.
She has given recitals at the Handel House Museum, Wallace Collection, Dulwich Picture Gallery and St. Martin-in-the-Fields among others. Her festival appearances include The Early Music Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival (England), Portello River Festival (Italy), Festival de Saintes (France), Eilat Festival (Israel) and Haydn Festival (Eisenstadt, Austria).
Merlin Harrison, recorders
Merlin Harrison, with fellow members of The Flautadors
Merlin Harrison studied the recorder at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig. Merlin took up baroque oboe lessons and now finds himself in demand as a “doubling” musician. He has also taken part in numerous masterclasses and summer courses led by the likes of Philip Pickett, Dan Laurin, Gerd Lünenbürger, Katharina Arfken and Alfredo Bernardini.
He has performed at some of the UK’s most prestigious concert venues including the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, LSO St Luke’s, St John’s Smith Square and Snape Maltings and for several period ensembles including the English Concert, Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra and Ludus Baroque. He has also worked with some of the leading specialists in early music; Sir Charles Mackerras, Richard Egarr, Harry Bicket and Rachel Podger to name a few.
Merlin’s has performed at the Europaïsches Musikfest Stuttgart and at the European Recorder Festival in Feldkirch, Austria where he was also a junior adjudicator at the competition for solo recorder. He has also played at several prominent European festivals including the Aldeburgh Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Urbino Early Music Festival, Ensemble-Akademie Freiburg and Les Chants de la Dore in the Auvergne.
During the coming year, Merlin will join Theatre of the Ayre, a new period ensemble that will tour the UK with performances of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. You can also hear him on disc, playing with David Daniels and the English Concert on a recording of Bach arias for countertenor (2008 Virgin Classics).
Click here for The Flautadors website
The Cairns 1984 Harpsichord
The one-manual harpsichord Graham Davies is playing was built in 1984 by Anthony Cairns, from a Sandy Rogers kit designed by Mark Stevenson. It is based on two original Italian harpsichords in the Victoria & Albert Museum dated 1521 and 1574. The light construction of Italian harpsichords gives them a vivid sound but a shorter reverberation time than Flemish, French or German harpsichords. This suited their function of accompanying voices and chamber groups, or playing dances.
The harpsichord is tuned to the Vallotti temperament (1754). The modern piano, with its pure tone, has all keys equally (slightly) out-of-tune. The bright tone of the harpsichord demands purer intervals, and meantone tuning (in pure thirds, e.g. C-E, with D halfway between them; G# to Eb was unbearable) was in general use until composers wanted to use remote keys like Ab, as well as usual keys like E. Vallotti's six perfectly tuned fifths from B, plus six tempered fifths from F, make harpsichord music sound acceptable in all keys.
Music on Thursdays are grateful to Anthony Cairns for the loan of the instrument for this concert.
The harpsichord is tuned to the Vallotti temperament (1754). The modern piano, with its pure tone, has all keys equally (slightly) out-of-tune. The bright tone of the harpsichord demands purer intervals, and meantone tuning (in pure thirds, e.g. C-E, with D halfway between them; G# to Eb was unbearable) was in general use until composers wanted to use remote keys like Ab, as well as usual keys like E. Vallotti's six perfectly tuned fifths from B, plus six tempered fifths from F, make harpsichord music sound acceptable in all keys.
Music on Thursdays are grateful to Anthony Cairns for the loan of the instrument for this concert.
