Richard Ingham and Mary McCarthy
Sunday 3 May 2009
Pennan Village Hall [Map]
From Pennan to Penang was an extraordinary event. One felt oneself in the
company of truly skilled musicians, Richard Ingham on saxophone and Mary McCarthy
on accordion, who manipulated their instruments to reflect every colour and movement
of life in their response to travels made in 2002 to Scotland, Ireland, England,
France and Malaysia. A total fusion of styles — slow, quick, quirky, melancholy,
jaunty — this was a programme that encapsulated every emotion and drew the
audience into a unique experience.
Picasso and The Temples of Penang took us on a whistlestop car journey through
the streets of Penang. Now a crowded street, now an exotic temple, then Chinese
shophouses, incense, food, people. Every change in the music pace brought an instant
change of scene displaying Ingham's total mastery of pace and fingering techniques.
This was also highlighted by McCarthy's superb evocation of Fog at Whitsand Bay
in Cornwall, a solo accordion piece, which showed her exceptional handling of the
music's shifting modes from a gentle homage to Debussy to a jazz waltz.
Kuching and Two Boats At Oysterhaven formed a perfect contrast to
the more uptempo, sometimes frantic pieces, Postcard for Peter and Singapore
— Moments with the Golden Tortoise, with their minimalistic and soothing
movements respectively, the latter vividly evoking the gentle, almost lulling action
of the boats bobbing on the waves.
Overall, one was in complete awe of the sheer talent on display and as the opening
event on the 3rd of May, it took a lot of beating.
Catriona Yule
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