Perth Festival Hebrides Ensemble St John’s Kirk, Perth Keith Bruce four stars NOT only had the long-established Hebrides Ensemble not previously performed at the Perth Festival of the Arts during the event’s half century, but it has taken five years for Festival Director Helen Band to rectify that odd anomaly, with Covid 19 a major part of the reason for that. This was, however, a superb iteration of cellist Will Conway’s chamber group making its belated debut – every one of the players on stage , including RSNO principal flute Katherine Bryan, BBC SSO first clarinet Yann Ghiro and Irish Chamber Orchestra leader Katherine Hunka, stars in other facets of their musical life. The septet, completed by harpist Sharron Griffiths, violinist Siun Milne and Jessica Beeston on viola, came together only for the final work, Maurice Ravel’s delicious Introduction and Allegro, when the fullness of the ensemble sound in St John’s resonant but clear acoustic was matched to a brilliant rhythmic sensibility in a propulsive closing flourish.
READ MORE 'Ah’m wabbit an’ truckled wi’ life' - The Magic Flute in Scots Review: Bearsden Choir, City Halls, Glasgow - their boldest to date The other French music , in a concert celebrating that nation’s “Auld Alliance” with Scotland, came from Claude Debussy, whose Danse sacrée et danse profane was composed as a harp showcase but has equally fine writing for string quartet, Jean Francaix, with a movement from his Clarinet Quintet.
