United Kingdom Edinburgh International Festival 10: Queen’s Hall. (SRT)
19.8.2025 – Rising Stars of Voice, James Baillieu, Edward Leung (piano).
Emily Christina Loftus, Maryam Wocial (sopranos), Nancy Holt, Camilla Seale (mezzo-sopranos), Euan McDonald, James McIntyre (tenors), Peter Edge, Luke Terence Scott (basses) – See below for music performed
20.8.2025 – Belcea Quartet (Corina Belcea, Suyeon Kang [violins], Krzysztof Chorzelski [viola], Antoine Lederlin [cello])
Mendelssohn – Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81, Nos. 3 & 4
Beethoven – String Quartet No.16 in F, Op.135
Mozart – String Quartet No.19 in C, K465 ‘Dissonance’
The Belcea Quartet are no strangers to Scotland, and they have been regular guests at the Edinburgh International Festival over the years. This, however, is the first time they have visited since the death of Laura Samuel, their founding second violinist, who died last November. Samuel hasn’t been part of the Quartet for 15 years, and she is better known to Scottish audiences as the leader of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. However, the quartet’s violist, Krzysztof Chorzelski, spoke movingly at the end of the concert about how much she meant to them, and how much her spirit still pervaded the quartet.
This concert, therefore, was their tribute to her, though it is a shame that their encore – the wiry slow movement of Webern’s Op.2, which they dedicated to her – was a bit of a mood-killer after the upbeat optimism of the rest of the programme, all of which spoke eloquently of tight ensemble, virtuoso playing, and an uncanny way of plugging into the music’s spirit.
The Fugue from Mendelssohn’s Four Pieces for String Quartet, for example, was full of understated poignancy, no academic exercise, while the Capriccio was full of dark intensity with none of the jollity that the title would suggest, followed by a searching, dramatic fugue that made you wonder what the composer was going through when he wrote it. Beethoven’s final string quartet also managed to capture a wide gamut of moods, the opening sounding like a question-and-answer being tossed around the quartet, with a mischievous scherzo and a finale that felt incisive but always with one eyebrow raised. Next to that, however, came the serene benediction of the slow movement, which seemed to hang in mid-air radiating calm beauty.
The strength of the Belceas is that they are composed of four virtuosos but you never hear ego in their playing, which is always perfectly blended. The eternally strange opening of Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet, for example, seemed to unfold equally from all four instruments, but with a gorgeous cantabile top line from first violin, Corina Belcea, which sang out over the uncanny harmonies and prepared the way for a main Allegro that made you believe that all was right the world. There followed a slow movement of soft, relaxed beauty, a vigorous Menuet, and a finale that was led by one of those heart-filling melodies that conveyed life and optimism but where you could always hear the music’s engine whirring underneath. If this was a tribute to Samuel then I am sure she would have loved it.
The previous morning saw a Queen’s Hall showcase for members of the festival’s ‘Rising Stars’ series, in this case the Rising Stars of Voice. The programme exists for talented up-and-coming artists to get a performance opportunity and thus, hopefully, to build long term links with the festival for later in their careers. All of the eight singers showcased this year showed massive potential, with energy and beauty to their voices. None is the finished article yet, but baritone Peter Edge came pretty close with a lovely performance of Michael Head’s Limehouse Reach, full of regretful beauty but sung with vigour. Mezzo-soprano Nancy Holt wasn’t far behind him, with an entrancing performance of Jonathan Dove’s All You Who Sleep Tonight, full of narrative energy and spellbinding focus, along with a filigree piano accompaniment from Edward Leung. Maryam Wocial showed a rich, full soprano, who had a great way with the French language in Fauré’s Les roses d’ispahan, and contralto-ish mezzo-soprano Camilla Seale understood perfectly the genre conventions for Weill’s scabrous Surabaya Johnny.
The group were mentored by pianist and accompanist James Baillieu, who joined with Leung to play the four-handed keyboard in Brahms’s Op.52 Liebeslieder Waltzes, eighteen focused distillations of love that always seem to have one eyebrow raised, but which all eight singers sang with richness of character and focused blend.
Simon Thompson
The Edinburgh International Festival runs at venues across the city until Sunday 24th August. Click here for further details.
Music performed by Rising Stars of Voice:
Maryam Wocial (soprano) –
Gurney – Tears
Fauré – Les roses d’ispahaJames McIntyre (tenor)
Orr – Shy Geordie
Francis George Scott – The Sauchs in the Reuch Heuch Hauch
Brahms – Versunken
Nancy Holt (mezzo-soprano) –
Jonathan Dove – All You Who Sleep Tonight
Grieg – Sechs Lieder, Op.48, Ein Traum
Peter Edge (baritone) –
Michael Head – Limehouse Reach & A Vagabond Song
Camilla Seale (mezzo-soprano)
Kurt Weill – Surabaya Johnny
Luke Terence Scott (baritone) –
Traditional – Yon The Castle Wa’
Tchaikovsky – Don Juan Serenade
Emily Christina Loftus (soprano) –
R. Strauss – Beim Schlafengehen
Euan McDonald (tenor) –
Burns – Ca’ the yowes
Hahn – L’heure exquise (7 Chansons Grises)
Frank Bridge – Love went A-Riding
All –
Brahms – Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op.52