Strathearn Music Society Review – Escocia Duo

Wed 10th January 2024

Looking back on the archive of recent Strathearn Music Society concerts one doesn’t have to search far before encountering a glowing review of the Gaia Duo (Katrina Lee, violin and Alice Allen, cello) who played for SMS as recently as March 2022. The Escocia Duo has a guitar instead of a cello but its violinist is the same Katrina Lee, paired for this combo, however, with her husband Roberto Kuhn Versluys – and it’s another winning partnership.

Unsurprisingly, many of Gaia’s virtues were echoed by Escocia too, but the programme content was far removed from the violin and cello repertoire of 2022. Part of the “new vibe” might well have been down to the added warmth and intimacy of marital music-making but the major factor here was the injection of a fascinating selection of South American flavours to the recipe (guitarist Roberto is Chilean and plainly played a major part in planning the menu). Elements of folk and jazz were never far away in a sequence of mostly short but richly presented cameos which quickly persuaded the audience to adjust their listening perspective to tune in to the often visceral and in-the-moment emotions of the performance. Every piece was delivered with intensity, passion and joy in what seemed at times an unbroken line of pure music, starting with Paganini in engaging mood, leading into a delightful Caledonian episode (Wild Mountain Thyme, Farewell to Stromness and a quirky contemporary hornpipe by Chris Stout), wending its way through Brazil, Puerto Rico, Chile and Bolivia and finally winding up in Argentina where inevitably Astor Piazzolla and the tango took centre stage, providing a reassuringly familiar finale.

There is a broad view of chamber music on offer here and it’s entirely complementary to the more established world of string quartets, piano recitals and lieder. Put simply, there is just so much music “out there” waiting for curious small groups like this who are prepared to search beyond the usual boundaries and share the rewards of their quest with others. The Escocia Duo are clearly committed to putting their considerable talents at the service of unfamiliar composers and persuading us of their worth. Horizons are broadened and, on the evidence of this concert, spirits lifted in the process. This is the kind of event that leaves you wanting more – excellent!