Marsyas Trio – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds

This is a typical example of the ambition and enterprise shown by Opera North’s planners for the Howard Assembly Room. The Marsyas Trio, Ensemble in Residence at the University of Leeds, prepared a programme of music, including world premieres of two commissions, to be linked to Julian Hand’s video projections and Alannah Halay’s narration. This, supported by Smeaton 300, was a celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Leeds-born engineer. And finally the afternoon performance was designated a ‘relaxed’ performance, with the audience (which contained a large number of children and even one babe in arms) seated at tables and encouraged to walk about, go to the toilet, etc.

Unfortunately the event could be described as merely a partial success. Halay’s narration – telling how John Smeaton opened the door for the women engineers who succeeded him – was probably over the heads of many of the audience and the more modern music was too often repetitive and seldom melodic, though it managed at times to chime with Hand’s video which had its moments of beauty in with the plans and engineering drawings.

As for the Marsyas Trio, their playing, in a programme which ranged from Haydn to the famously eccentric George Crumb, was exemplary. Pianist Olga Stezhko cued in all the pieces with regard to the video and maintained perfect timing. Helen Vidovich, in addition to playing three different flutes, joined Valerie Welbanks on her cello to beat out a two-hander before switching to piccolo: this piece, Middle Ages by Laura Bowler was one of the more accessible recent pieces.

The programme began with a movement of Haydn’s Trio, played with elegance and panache, before two pieces by Eugene Goossens, The Water Wheel especially attractive. Then the next four pieces were all by living composers which rather unbalanced the programme, though Alannah Haley’s contribution was imaginative and lively. Finally came a work by the late George Crumb, based on the life of the whale, with whistling, triangle-like percussion and an investigation of the innards of the piano. Now this was fun – and also echoed the sound of the whale.

This was a bold programme, a very interesting way to spend just over an hour, if not wholly satisfactory.

Reviewed on 23rd November 2024