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Cherubini, Beethoven, R. Strauss, Messiaen, Saint-Saëns and Schumann: Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn) and Matthew Schellhorn (piano) The Town Hall, Seaton, Devon,  UK 13.11.2008 (BK)

Cherubini  Horn Sonatas 1 and 2 in F major
Beethoven Sonata in F Major, Op.17
Richard Strauss  Andante, Op, posth
Messiaen Appel interstellaire (from Des Canyons aux Étoiles), for solo horn
Messiaen Préludes for solo piano:
2. La colombe
2. Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste
8. Plainte calme
Saint-Saëns Romance Op. 36
Schumann  Adagio and Allegro Op.70

 

The sheer professionalism and stamina of today's jobbing musicians should never be under-estimated. The published programme for this concert featured the tenor Adam Tunnicliffe in addition to Alec Frank-Gemmill and Matthew Schellhorn but had to be changed on the day, because Adam Tunnicliffe succumbed to a throat infection. This meant that different works replaced no less than five of the seven scheduled items and that a huge burden was placed on the horn soloist Alec Frank-Gemmill. Instead of contributing to three items including the spectacularly difficult Appel interstellaire by Olivier Messiaen, he ended up playing that and five other pieces, an immense tribute to his embouchure and to his and Matthew Schellhorn's adaptability. And if  this wasn't problem enough, in the concert's first half the host organisation Seaton Music's famous Steinway piano developed a fault  - possibly a sticking key - which had to be speedily repaired during a slightly extended interval.

No matter. Despite the slight disappointment of being unable to hear the world premiere of Jeremy Thurlow's Unbidden Visions and missing out on some Britten including his Canticle III, this was a fine evening of music making which fortunately retained the Appel interstellaire from Des Canyons aux Étoiles and a selection of Messiaen's Préludes for solo piano.

If there's a more punishing piece for the horn than the Appel interstellaire then I'd be hard put to name it, except maybe for some sections of Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Messiaen asks the horn player to make indeterminate sounds on occasions, by raising or depressing the instrument's keys half way and there are also fearsome lip trills and other special effects permeating the work.  It all adds up to a ravishing array of colours and sound inspired by the landscape of Utah. If, as Messiaen is reported as having said, Bryce Canyon was "truly the most beautiful thing in the United States" then this horn call to the cosmos above it, is surely one of his most inspired and spiritual creations. Played with enormous technical skill and emotional expressiveness by Alec Frank-Gemmill, in itself  this performance would have been reason enough for attending this event.

But there was more. Matthew Schellhorn is a Messiaen specialist, so gifted in fact that the composer's wife Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen,  described him in 2005 as “an excellent pianist and an excellent exponent”, and praised his performances as “wonderful in every detail ... everything is played as Messiaen wanted it”. It's impossible to better such an endorsement of course, but his performances of the Préludes in this concert certainly confirmed it. What impressed more than anything was indeed the wealth of musical detail revealed by Matthew Schellhorn's playing. He clearly loves every note of the music and understands every element of its subtlety but his technique is also so assured (and so apparently effortless) that not a nuance was left unexpressed, not a silence given less than its due importance, not an emotional pivot-point neglected. Only  a very few other pianists may interpret Messiaen more acutely than Matthew Schellhorn does just now. And this will soon change in his favour, I suspect.

The Cherubini sonatas and the romantic music that completed the rest of the evening were  delivered with great care and professionalism by both artists much to the enjoyment of a surprisingly large audience. But  Messiaen's music remained the high point for me.

Bill Kenny


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