“The classically-minded listener is in for a real treat with Matthew McAllister’sBach & Brouwer, which cleverly juxtaposes the very well-known J.S. Bach Suite No. 1 with a lesser-known work, Suite No. 2 by Leo Brouwer (b. 1939). The works, though separated by centuries, share interesting similarities in structure and harmony, and seem an absolutely natural pairing.

The same musical sensitivity which likely led McAllister to couple the Suites is equally present in his playing. For example, it is easy to tell that McAllister truly savors Bach’s slow Sarabande — here, as throughout the entire work, he pays careful attention not only to the notes and ornaments, but also the space in between: a consideration that is so vital to an effective and affecting performance of Baroque music, but so often forgotten.

The somewhat lighter Brouwer Suite is delightfully and deftly performed, while McAllister’s final selection, Brouwer’s “Canción de Cuna,” is a dynamic and affecting capstone to the album.”

Ryan Fark

NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND ****

Maelasta – Feargus Hetherington & Matthew McAllister

“PART of the enduring fascination with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is the darker, more melancholic side of his nature, which he often soothed by playing the violin.

The violin and guitar duo Maelasta shed some tantalising light on what music Holmes might have listened to, as well as what, and how, he might have played, with violinist Feargus Hetherington performing on the Sherlock Violin.

This had been carved by local violin maker Steve Burnett out of wood from a tree in the garden of the Edinburgh house where Conan Doyle grew up.

The mellow, earthy tones of the instrument were well suited to the quicksilver preludio from JS Bach’s Partita in E major. Apparently, Holmes preferred German music to French and Italian, particularly in his more introspective moments. He was also partial to long discussions with Watson about Paganini over a bottle of claret.

Guitarist Matthew McAllister pointed out that Paganini was also a superb guitarist, and his Cantabile for guitar and violin reveals a tender, less flamboyant side to the virtuoso.

The telepathic, dance-like interaction between the two musicians is not unlike the relationship between Holmes and Watson.

This close attunement was particularly apparent in the duo’s exquisite arrangement of Ronald Stevenson’s A’e Gowden Lyric, after Hugh MacDiarmid’s poem, with a nod to Burns along the way.

This series of free concerts organised by Live Music Now Scotland, performed against the backdrop of the National Gallery of Scotland’s stunning collection of paintings, is one of the capital’s best-kept secrets.“

Susan Nickalls

Here are two videos from a recent concert with the Organist Stuart Muir.

The footage is taken from their first ever concert together, the venue is The Caird Hall, Dundee, where Stuart is the City Organist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOz-1UkalTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWirgOVzIBk

Muir & McAllister

“The only problem I have about a “brunch” is that it always leaves me wanting more of the same. That was exactly my feelings after yesterday’s lunchtime concert in the Caird Hall. Titled “Baroque for Brunch” it was a succession of tasty baroque morsels served up by Stuart Muir and Matthew McAllister, on organ and guitar respectively. Much more of the same would have gone down a treat.

The programme was simple in form but excellent in performance, four works by Handel interspersed with transcriptions for organ and guitar, all of which were heralded by one of the most familiar organ works of all, Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary.

Read More

Frevo Quartet’s recent album Histoire du Tango is reviewed in Classical Guitar Magazine.
 

The debut performance of the Kelvin Trio was the subject of much excitement and enthusiasm at St Paul’s Cathedral on the 19th of May. The trio performed sonatas by Bach, Telemann & Vivaldi in the popular lunchtime concert series.

The members of the Forfar Arts Guild were treated to a wonderful recital on Thursday 24th January, given by the cellist Robert Irvine and the guitarist Matthew McAllister.

The Meffan Hall, liberally decorated by many portraits and other pictures, was an admirable place for such an event, much appreciated by the large number of members who attended.

It was very thoughtful of Robert to give an introdution before each piece played; some pieces were fairly familar, such as the “Valse Sentimental” by Tchaikovsky or the “Swan” by Saint-Saens, but some, I reckon, were totally unknown to most. How many knew of composers called “Zenamon” or “Domeniconi”, for instance? Robert did mention that some of these lesser-known works were obscure in the extreme, and not at all easy to follow, but nevertheless they were well worth listening to. And they were!

Throughout the whole recital, both Robert and Matthew displayed not only very high levels of musicianship, but quite excellent togetherness; they clearly relished playing. But as well as playing together, they gave three “solos” – Robert played part of one of the very well-known solo cello suites by Bach, and Matt played various guitar pieces, one in particular known to be a favourite piece of Segovia’s.

One of Robert’s introductions was just before they played a sonata by Vivaldi; he mentioned that the cello that he was using was made at about the very time that Vivaldi was writing the sonata (probably in the 1730s), which surely enhanced his devotion to that piece, and indeed to all of Vivaldi’s works.

How lucky the Guild is, to be able to have such distinguished musicians playing for us; but not only that, they clearly relished being with us!

Hilary Foxworthy The Courier

Read the Classical Guitar Magazine review of the Agnew McAllister Duo’s concert in the Ilkley Manor House.

Matthew’s recent solo performance in the lunchtime concert series at St Bride’s of Fleet Street London has been reviewed in the August 2008 edition of Classical Guitar Magazine.

“Recital is a CD where two musicians, Matthew McAllister (guitar) and Aisling Agnew (flute) play a very wide variety of music, from Bach (his sonata BWV1034) to very modern works by Dave Heath, Greg Caffrey and David Fennessy – with plenty of works in between! I found the whole CD quite enthralling, wonderful individual musicianship and yet quite obvious “togetherness”. It was simply amazing how much just these two instruments could achieve, and how much they could put over to the listener. To say it is worth listening to is putting it very mildly! Whether it is the variety of flute-playing demonstrated, or the continuo of the guitar (in the Bach sonata particularly), every note is well worth repeated playing!

I had never heard some of the modern works, but their impact is tremendous, whether it is the power of “Pluck, Blow” (Greg Caffrey) or the mystery of “Continuity Error “ (David Fennessy), and one can easily listen to “Gentle Dreams” (Dave Heath) again and again. These three form the middle part of the whole performance, after that we are back to more well-known music, a 
wonderful arrangement of “Carmen Fantasie” by Francois Bome, followed by Poulenc’s “Mouvements Perpetuels” and finally Maurice Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante defunte”. All in all a delightful programme, quite superbly played.

For an introduction to the wide variety of music played by just these two instruments, this CD is excellent in every aspect – thoroughly recommended.”

H L Foxworthy (President of the Forfar Arts Guild)

“Last night saw the final concert in the latest season of University evening concerts, presented by flautist Aisling Agnew and guitarist Matthew McAllister, a combination that never disappoint. Although their programme consisted of only four items, there was never any hint of the audience being short-changed. The content and diversity of each, and the style of performance, was extremely satisfying.

J.S.Bach flute sonatas, adapted for guitar accompaniment, are works that make the perfect entree to any concert. The sonata in E is fairly typical example, but its Andante stands out as a particularly beautiful movement, with a following Allegro that needed both players to be on their toes.
Aisling took the larger share of the technical challenges in Francoise Borne’s Carmen Fantasie, particularly the variations of the Habanera. This work is the perfect vehicle for a flautist of her stature, and although I had heard her perform it before, it was still as captivating.

An interesting contemporary work by Greg Caffrey, an Irish composer known to both players, started the second half of the programme. Pluck Blow demonstrates the extremes each instrument can achieve, at the same time giving each player a thorough examination, a test both emerged from with flying colours.

Astor Piazzolla’s works are becoming increasingly popular in concert programmes. I have heard some of his Histoire du Tango before but the work as a whole is superb. The composer’s metamorphosis of the tango from its early roots to its modern popularity is beautifully constructed and last night’s performance by the Agnew / McAllister duo was equally excellent.

The Chaplaincy Centre has had more than its fair share of excellent performances. This was another to add to the list, and it made a fine ending to an excellent series of concerts.”

Gary Fraser The Courier

“Works 300 years old and 3 years young: A musical partnership of gentle contours.”

Click here to read Tobias Fischer’s review of The Agnew & McAllister duo’s album Recital.

In other news The Agnew & McAllister Flute and Guitar Duo have been invited by the Tunnell Trust to take part in an eight-day residency in Strathgarry, Perthshire.

For the past fourteen years this very special and important chamber music showcase week, for talented Young Musicians at the start of their professional careers, has taken place in the Perthshire hills.

“Summer seems to be lingering on, and if anyone has a special reason for wanting it to continue for a few more weeks it’s Dundee University music co-ordinator Graeme Stevenson. Last night in the Chaplaincy Centre saw the first in his four-part series of Music For A Summer Evening. Graeme might be on to a winner here, because the audience was significantly bigger than the usual mid-week concerts he organises. The choice of performer might have something to do with this because guitarist Matthew McAllister is well-known to Chaplaincy audiences. Apart from some quality playing, he has a nice laid-back style of presentation which did much to make the evening an extremely enjoyable one. 

These concerts are more condensed than normal, but Matthew certainly did not leave the audience short-changed. Two Dowland pieces opened the concert and although I have heard the Frog Galliard many times, it still makes excellent listening, as did the sombre Mr Dowland’s Midnight. A quick switch to the Twentieth Century was engineered through three delightful works by Ralph Towner, of which the second Green And Golden appealed to me the most. 
Matthew almost apologetically paid tribute to the anniversary of Mozart’s birth with Fernando Sor’s Variations on a theme from the Magic Flute. I am glad he did include this in the programme for this a lovely work, cleverly written in the Classical style and performed splendidly. 
Added to that two movements from Sergio Assad’s Aquarelle Suite and you had a programme that was wide and varied and played with complete competence and assurance.”

The Courier 

“There will soon come the time where I will once again be asked by some curious music lover what classical guitar CD I recommend they buy in order to introduce themselves to the instrument. When that time arrives, Matthew McAllister will be the name that will spring to mind. In his recent release, entitled “Merula,” McAllister has produced a disc that features a careful selection of works that serve the dual purpose of complementing each other and representing a variety of composers, time periods, and styles of composition. With the exception of a world premiere recording of Douglas Whates’ “Old Photo” and two Ralph Towner pieces, the CD is a veritable “Best of the Classical Guitar”, featuring some of the most enduring compositions for the instrument. His interpretations of works such as “Choros No.1” by Villa-Lobos, “Julia Florida” by Barrios, and the notorious and anonymously written “Romanza” are carefully and naturally executed. McAllister is more daring in his performance of the popular “Asturias” by Albniz, in which he occasionally sacrifices accuracy in order to push the drama to the limit of his abilities. For anyone interested in experiencing the music of the classical guitar, I recommend this disc as it offers an appealing cross-section of the repertoire as well as Matthew McAllister’s pleasant interpretations.”

Read Tobias Fischer’s insightful review of Matthew’s 2004 debut solo album Merula

Click here to read the review.