United Kingdom Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 (6) – Schubert at Teatime: Peter Foggitt and Robin Green, Trinity Trio, Huw Wiggin, Thomas Atkins, Somi Kim, Over-Seas House, Edinburgh, 22.8.2014 (SRT)
The HQ of the Royal Overseas League, at 100 Princes St, is the place to come to in the Fringe to hear young musicians who are just starting off, and their themed concerts present some exciting talents, some of whom have great futures ahead of them. This was an eclectic hour of Schubert and Strauss, which I enjoyed hugely.
Peter Foggitt and Robin Green played Schubert’s famous Marche Militaire extremely well, considering that, as they told us, they had met only 10 minutes before the performance. The Trinity Trio finished the concert with a lovely rendition of the D899 Notturno, all flowing lines, and in between there were songs and, excitingly, an arrangement of the first movement of the Arpeggione Sonata for saxophone. It sounds mad but, played by Huw Wiggin, it was actually bizarrely attractive. He showed very impressive breath control, and played the line with mellifluous fluidity, something which worked even better in his strangely haunting playing of the songs Du bist die Ruh and Nacht und Träume.
Tenor Thomas Atkins gave us three songs from Die Schöne Müllerin. His voice had a slightly nasal quality at the beginning, and he had to hike himself up to some of the top phrases on “Dein ist mein Herz”, but he grew into something much more impressive for Strauss’s Zueignung, and his voice has a lot of potential. Somi Kim’s accompaniment was rather stompy for the Schubert, but suited Strauss rather better.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe continues until 25th August at a range of venues across the city. For full details click here.
Simon Thompson