Category: Reviews

Edinburgh Fringe 2023: Soloists of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra series – Su-a Lee with Hamish Napier

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An absolute gem in this year’s Fringe, this concert showed what fun can be had through creativity and musical collaboration, particularly when the musicians have such admiration and respect for one another as these two: Su a Lee, Assistant-Principal Cellist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, well known for her versatility in many genres of music and Hamish Napier, whom she introduced as one of Scotland’s most talented folk musicians and a composer, who also happens to be her husband.

On Saturday afternoon in a packed Northesk Parish Church in Musselburgh, Su-a and Hamish brought us a melding of different styles of music. Scottish folk songs and Hamish’s original compositions were interspersed with the six movements of Bach’s first cello suite.

Su-a Lee opened the concert with a piece for solo cello – an arrangement of Burns’ Ae Fond Kiss by the late Kevin McCrae, her fondly remembered friend and colleague from the SCO, who had introduced Su-a to Scottish traditional music, many years ago. After beginning simply, Kevin’s arrangement weaves the melody into an undulating line, reminiscent of the Prelude from Bach’s first suite. Su-a followed this with that prelude, playing with a wonderful lightness of touch and an airiness in the phrasing.

Hamish then joined the stage at the piano to play two strathspeys with Su-a, including one of his own. The strathspey is a traditional dance style originating from Hamish’s beloved Speyside, where he spent his childhood and now lives. He explained how the landscape of this area inspires many of his compositions. Hamish too, is a versatile musician: singer, pianist and flautist. I was struck by his eloquent voice in Burns’ Silver Tassie and his flute playing in another of his compositions, a hornpipe called The Wee Plank which came with a story involving a stash of cash hidden under a floorboard!

As the programme unfolded, we were drawn into their world as they described their home in the Cairngorms National Park where they lived during lockdown. We heard about the Scots pine under which Su-a played her cello and made several recordings. She chose a piece which Beatrice Harrison famously played outdoors accompanied by nightingales for BBC broadcasts in the 1920s: Songs My Mother Taught Me by Dvorák. The concert had been introduced as ‘impossible to categorise’ but it was still surprising to hear this romantic piece, deliciously played by the duo.

When it came to the Bach Sarabande, Su-a played unaffectedly and finished with a little run at the end that led into to Hamish’s compositions inspired by Scotland’s native trees. And then, as Su-a played the Minuets, Hamish joined in at the piano subtly at first before introducing some lush chords that would have made Bach smile. The final Bach movement for me was perfection, as Hamish seamlessly switched instruments so that flute and cello danced the Gigue together. Genius!

The audience loved it and were treated to two encores with Su-a playing … the saw (!) accompanied by Hamish at the piano. The first was a tribute to their mothers, who were in the audience, and then a piece they had played outside every week during lockdown: Somewhere over the Rainbow. This was astonishing – that a saw can produce such a musical sound – well it can when Su-a is playing it.

The whole programme was crafted so well and played so beautifully, the rapport between them shared so generously that you couldn’t help but come away smiling almost as much as Su-a!

Edinburgh Fringe 2023: Bach’s Cello Suites performed by Anne-Isabel Meyer

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Anne-Isabel Meyer’s Bach is still playing in my head, days after her performance of the six suites for solo cello last week. On her annual visit to the Edinburgh Fringe, she performed the complete suites on three consecutive days in the beautiful setting of St Cuthbert’s Parish Church. On the fourth day, she performed the prelude and gigue from each suite, giving the audience a taste of the entire work. 

Meyer went to the heart of each suite, conveying its character, exuberant or sombre, contemplative or joyful. The pairing of the C major with C minor (3 and 5) and D minor with D major (2 and 6) leaving G major and E flat major (1 and 4) for the opener, gave us a great contrast of mood in each concert.

This is the first chance I have had to hear Anne-Isabel Meyer since 2019 and her rich tone seemed even warmer than I remember. It was hard not to well up at the raw beauty of her Sarabande from Suite no. 5. The undulating phrases with open string pedal notes in the first and third preludes built momentum each time her bow touched the open strings and in each movement, she allowed the melodies to sing out freely whilst the underlying harmonies resonated throughout the church.

For me, the beauty of Anne-Isabel’s playing is that the music makes complete sense. Is it because the rise and fall of her phrasing and subtle dynamic contrast sound so natural or because she understands the structure of the whole and never loses sight of it? Whatever it is, I felt uplifted by her lively rhythmic dance movements and at other times felt profoundly moved.

Hearing this music live is good for the soul, it is life affirming and Anne-Isabel Meyer’s performances filled me with optimism, as I stepped out into the bright daylight of the bustling city.

To play the complete Bach cello suites is physically and mentally demanding. Speaking to her afterwards she explained how for her, it comes from the core: the centre of the body. She explained how her Pilates practice enables her to focus on the music rather than the fingers. 

Her gigue from Suite no. 6, full of energy, is playing in my mind right now so although I am inspired to find my core* and resume my own journey with the suites, I’m still enjoying the gorgeous rich sonorities she created. 

*Note to self: look up Pilates classes!

Anne-Isabel Meyer plays Bach at Edinburgh’s Fringe

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For three weeks every summer, you can feel Edinburgh buzzing as the International Festival and the Fringe take over the city. Just yards from the noise and bustle of the street, I found a gem of serenity in St Cuthbert’s Church, at the West End: a recital of all six of Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello performed by Anne-Isabel Meyer, over three consecutive days.

Despite the grandeur of its ornate decoration, St Cuthbert’s feels like an intimate setting for unaccompanied cello. Its acoustic is resonant but clear and Anna-Isabel Meyer obviously loves playing here. This London-based cellist has a calm demeanour and she played with a warm tone. Each day, I felt even more privileged to hear how she allowed Bach’s music to speak with precision and clarity – no adornment or over interpretation here. Throughout the performance, the intricate melodic patterns of the preludes flowed freely, as did the dance-like quality of the allemandes, sarabandes, minuets and gigues. The famous bourrées of the third Suite just danced for joy.

Her performance of the Sarabande of Suite 5, for me, epitomised her sensitivity to Bach’s score. The music of this movement is apparently simple, no chords, no accompanying figures, trills or dotted rhythms. Meyer simply let the natural rise and fall of the phrases create their own meaning, allowing us to make what we would, of Bach’s perfectly crafted melody. I found it profoundly moving.

The sixth suite, written for a five stringed cello, truly tests the cellist. Playing this on a four-stringed cello, you have to create the higher sounds using the thumb in place of the extra string. She explained to the audience how at first this is painful and can lead to a blister on the thumb – I’ve had that blister too! Watching closely from the front row, I observed her meticulous technique, as she created the chords and inner harmonies and allowed the melodies to dance above them.

“Playing Bach’s cello suites is like going on a journey” Anne-Isabel Meyer tells us, “and next time it may be completely different.”

Here is a cellist with a deeply musical sensitivity. I look forward to joining her next year when she returns to St. Cuthbert’s to make that journey with the Bach Suites once again.