.jpg)
With pieces by Carl Nielsen, Francis Poulenc, Mozart, Fauré, and Saint-Saëns, this very talented duo played for almost an hour. Ms Roberts also brought with her her cor anglais, whose sounds I found mesmerising; Saint-Saëns’ composition about Southport’s finest chippy, «the Swan», was the piece I liked best— a piece that was adapted to the cor anglais by Thomas Stacy. As a side note, I do keep track of how frequently any composer is played any given season in Christ Church, and frenchman Saint-Saëns was tied for first this past summer programme, which I find fantastic for us aficionados of his style, one that is pure technicality dressed in simple garments.
Christ Church last saw Ms Roberts in April 2024, when she played the oboe in the «Manchester Reed Trio», of which many of us still dearly remember a whimsical rendition of «Lass of Richmond Hill». Then, I remarked on Ms Roberts charisma and loquacity, traits that, as proven by her very informative and easy-to-follow introductions, she has kept.
Next week it will be Chetham's young prodigies on stage— probably the last time many of them will be playing at affordable prices, so do try to catch them on Wednesday.
Originally published the 22 of January