(Preview) Music at Paxton 2024 19th-28th July
Music at Paxton, the Scottish Borders’ ten-day festival, returns from 19th to the 28th July with concerts in the fine acoustic of Paxton House’s Picture Gallery. This year’s programme features internationally established musicians, violinist Viktoria Mullova and tenor Mark Padmore, and notable emerging artists, mezzo Helen Charlston, and pianist, Alim Beisembayev. We can also look forward to the return of the Consone Quartet as the festival’s resident ensemble, other exciting chamber concerts, an imaginative range of folk-inspired music, events for children, and the first ever festival walk.
The opening concert on Friday 19th July features violinist, Viktoria Mullova, playing with Scottish pianist, Alasdair Beatson, in two Beethoven violin sonatas, which they are currently recording. The following evening the Consone Quartet join forces with mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, whose recent performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra I have much admired, in a programme of songs by Schubert and Brahms. Mark Padmore sings on Friday 16th July accompanied by Jocelyn Freeman in a wide range of repertoire from !9th century Lieder by Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms to 20th century songs by Rebecca Clark and Britten’s setting of Thomas Hardy’s ‘Winter Words.’ The closing concert is given by Alim Beisembayev, the winner of the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition, in a programme of Schubert, Debussy and Chopin.
Artistic Director, Angus Smith, says he is pleased to be able to expand the range of works and events that Paxton is presenting this year. On Sunday 21st July, the Consone Quartet, augmented by Francesca Gilbert, viola, and Alexander Rolton, cello, play the Scottish premiere of ‘The Bridges of Königsberg’ a sextet by experimental composer, Gavin Bryars, who will be interviewed by Angus Smith earlier that afternoon. Midweek, on the evening of Wednesday 24th July and the morning of Thursday 25th, the pianist, Cordelia Williams and violinist, Tamsin Waley-Cohen play in a series of three concerts, entitled Dusk, Night and Dawn. The last concert takes place in Duns Parish Church - thankfully a bit later than dawn – at 11.30 am - and will be preceded by a walk round Duns starting at 10am. Walks have proved an attractive addition to Buxton and Aldeburgh Festivals, and this looks likely to be a popular innovation.
Also during the week there are concerts by baroque quartet, the Hesperi Ensemble playing music popular in early 18th century London, and the Kosmos Ensemble, a string and accordion trio in a programme influenced by many genres of world music. In one of their three concerts in the second weekend, the Mithras Trio play a Shostakovich Trio, with readings by Scots actress, Gerda Stevenson from a Chekhov short story between the movements.
Young artists from Live Music Now Scotland continue to be a welcome presence with concerts by Beth Malcom (2022 Scots Singer of the Year) and guitarist Heather Cartwright on the first Saturday, and the following Saturday, The Fountaineers – a big hit in their Usher Hall Emerging Artists concert in January - playing their unique brand of Bluegrass. Midweek, after Roo Geddes, fiddle and Neil Sutcliffe, accordion, present two performances of Traditional Tunes for Tiny People, Roo collaborates with Mexican musicians Lavinia Negrete, vocal/guitar and Morgan Szymanski, guitar, in a programme devised after Roo’s recent visit to Mexico. This concert, supported by the British Mexican Society, is free.
LMNS also arrange three ‘taster’ concerts in Paxton House in the months before the festival. Lark Duo, whose excellent Usher Hall concert I reviewed in January, clearly enjoyed the Picture Gallery acoustic. A highlight of the programme was violinist, Lisa Robertson’s recent composition, ‘Old Ardtornish Gathering’, whose gorgeous evocation of nature was enhanced rather than diminished by the gale whistling in the chimney! Free tickets are available online for concerts by pianist, Matthew Shiel, playing popular classics and film music on Sunday 5th May, and the Silver Keys Clarinet Quartet on Sunday 2nd June.
Public Booking for Music at Paxton begins on Monday 22nd April. Top ticket prices are £32/£26 for full-length evening events, with other concerts priced from £10 - £25. Concessionary tickets are available for people with a disability and their companions, students, unemployed people and under 18s. There are free tickets for under 26 year olds for some concerts – see the programme here for details of booking.
