2022-23 Concert Reviews

Roderick Williams, OBE, has the reputation of being one of the very greatest baritones on the world stage. His concert at Shrewsbury’s St Chad’s showed exactly why: partnered by pianist Susie Allan, he gave us an evening of nineteenth century German songs, all delivered in their original language.

The evening of the last day of March was a dank, dreary time – far too much rain and darkening too early. Once inside Prestfelde School’s Blackburn Theatre, however, the mood lifted as soon as the Mēla Guitar Quartet took to the stage. These four young, hugely talented musicians held their audience spellbound with a wide ranging programme, much of which was of music arranged for their ensemble rather than written for a guitar quartet. The four acoustic instruments they play were all hand-made by the same luthier; they all produced an exquisite sound.

For their third and final concert in the “Connections” series, the Carducci Quartet were joined by Stephen Johnson for a programme about Dmitri Shostakovich. Mr Johnson, an author, broadcaster and composer is a well-known voice, often heard on BBC Radio 3. The programme, which examined letters and documents to, from and about the great Russian composer had been compiled largely by cellist, Emma Denton.  A powerful programme – part of Shropshire Music Trust’s enterprising concert season.

In the elegant simplicity of Shrewsbury’s Unitarian Church, Miloš Milivojević delighted his capacity audience with an hour of virtuosic accordion playing. His career has taken him around the world and unsurprisingly won countless awards.