Classical: Let music be the food of lunch

Published on Tuesday 15 September 2009 18:59

AS WE settle back into the sad old winter routine, and the chickens come home to roost from that costly summer holiday in the midst of economic recession, the thought of splashing out on regular concert tickets in the coming months might not be as appealing as it was in rosier times.

But like every other area of purchase these days, there are bargains to be had: look no further than the various universities dotted around the country and you'll be surprised how much live music there is out there, much of it for free. I've been trawling through the bargain basement and, believe me, cheap doesn't have to mean second-rate.

OK, the bulk of these events are at lunchtime, so they won't suit everyone. But rather than sit with a crummy sandwich at your desk, why not vote with your feet and escape for a moment of free musical therapy?

If you're in Edinburgh, for instance, there are two centrally-located oases of lunchtime calm: on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Reid Concert Hall, with the odd diversion to either the St Cecilia's Hall (with its world-famous historical keyboard collection) or the Glass Arcade at the university's King's Buildings.

These are 50-minute recitals (1:10pm-2pm), so are manageable even to the busy professional. There may be something slightly institutional in their long-standing tradition and gracious main location – they have long been an intrinsic part of Edinburgh University's public face in the city – but the music and artists are far from stale or unimaginative.

Friday programmes tend almost always to be organ recitals on the Reid Hall's glistening instrument, with sturdy programmes that suit its baroque voicing. But once or twice the rigidity is shaken with, say, a harpsichord recital at St Cecilia's Hall. On 16 October, for instance, John Kitchen performs some of the eccentric Handel transcriptions he recently recorded on his excellent new CD for Delphian Records.

Tuesday recitals concentrate more on the intimate, ranging from regular visitors the Edinburgh Quartet – who kick off the new session on 29 September with string quartets by Scots composer Thomas Wilson and Dohnanyi – to a solo recital by the adventurous young pianist Simon Smith (6 October), who tackles two major works by a former music professor at Edinburgh, Kenneth Leighton.

Then there's a rare opportunity to hear Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, the seminal – some would say crazy – song cycle which ruptured the late-Romantic stranglehold and thrust classical music headlong into the modern age. The Auricle Ensemble is joined here by soprano Alexa Mason on 20 October. Look out too for the lighter side of 20th century music, in the Boreus Reed Ensemble's programme the previous week of music from William Walton's Faade and by Hollywood composer John Williams. All in all, there are 20 free university lunchtime recitals up to early December.

Over at Glasgow University, the story is much the same, though it helps to be near the city's west end to capitalise on them. (City centre dwellers might find the RSAMD's long-standing Fridays@1pm and new Mondays@1pm series a lot more convenient, and the programmes are excellent, however there is charge nowadays).

No money changes hands at the University Concert Hall, though, where Thursday recitals (1:10pm-2pm) remain a traditional fixture, along with a further series of Tuesday organ recitals in the adjoining University Chapel.

Nor is the calibre any less. Opening the Thursday series on 1 October are Concerto Caledonia in a Homecoming programme that explores links between Scotland and Canada, where Cape Breton fiddle music rubs shoulders with 18th century art music. Other highlights include performances of Haydn and Takemitsu by the Fujita Piano Trio (15 October); and Sax Ecosse, who direct their gritty ensemble towards music by Gershwin and Glasgow composer Edward McGuire. But here's a strange one – a two-piano version of Holst's The Planets, played in its entirety by pianists Katharine Durran and Kirsteen Kelly (8 October). Refreshing oddities like tend to set these series apart.

In slightly further-flung university towns, lunchtime is equally popular for quick-fire music on a budget. St Andrews University Music Society promotes a weekly Friday series in the city's Younger Hall, which may only last half an hour (1:15-1:45pm) and focus mainly on in-house or local musicians, but refreshments are thrown in with the attractive free package.

Dundee has also published its latest line-up, again a Friday half-hour quickie (1:20pm-1:50pm in the University Chaplaincy at Cross Row) of mainly local groups and individuals, including the unlikely promise of a solo tuba recital. That series opens this coming Friday with a song recital by tenor David Meek and pianist Judith Wilkes.

The message from all this? If music be the food of love, and it doesn't cost a penny, have it for lunch.

• To find out more about lunchtime concerts around the country, visit www.music.ed.ac.uk/newsevents/concertdiary.html (Edinburgh); www.glasgow.ac.uk/musicintheuniversity (Glasgow); www.st-andrews.ac.uk/music (St Andrews); www.dundee.ac.uk/music (Dundee).