SeatonMusic presents concerts for young and old

Review by Peter Dawson

SeatonMusic welcomed nearly 100 primary school children from the local area to The Gateway Theatre, where they were enthralled by a special piano concert.

The zany-looking title of the musical duo gave a clue what to expect – B!z'art, pronounced like bizarre – something out of the ordinary but somehow familiar.

Geoffrey Baptiste and André Roe are pianists who trained at the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels, and they regularly present concerts for children, travelling widely in Europe and further afield.

They thrilled their audience at The Gateway in Seaton with a lively hour's light-hearted music, backing up their music with images on the big screen. Perhaps the light-hearted tone concealed the extraordinary technical and musical skill of the pair.

The musicians showed off their skills again in their evening concert with a programme of music dating from the end of the 19th and the 20th centuries from France and the USA.

Some of it was written for children – Ravel's Mother Goose Suite (evoking fairy tales) Fauré's Dolly Suite (some which is well-known to all who grew up with the BBC's Listen with Mother).

The programme opened with Eric Satie's Eccentric Beauty, a parody of music hall clichés, with the odd sub-title of A Serious Fantasy. The second piece again fitted the description of 'out of the ordinary but somehow familiar'.

The Shaker tune Simple Gifts is well-known, but not so this set of variations by Aaron Copland which they played with (deceptive!) simplicity and sensitivity.

Other pieces further extended the range of moods and feelings - the evocation of opulent pre-war New York in Samuel Barber's Souvenirs, the humour in Chabrier's Souvenirs of Munich, the dreamy nostalgia and bizarre dance rhythms in Gazebo Dances by the modern New York composer John Paul Corigliano.

The evening was rounded off with an arrangement of well-known tunes from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story and, for an encore responding to the audience's enthusiastic calls for 'More!', a vigorous Tango by Piazolla.

Thanks to SeatonMusic for bringing such a talented and entertaining duo to Seaton. It was an impressive range of styles, and artistry – something for everyone.

There is more great music in this, SeatonMusic's 72nd season, on Thursday, April 20, when renowned pianist Martin Jones plays works by composers including Liszt, Debussy and Grainger.

Tickets are £17 and can be purchased on the website www.seatonmusic.org or at the door by cash or card. Admission is free for under-19s and full-time students.