Maki Sekiya, St Anne’s Camerata chamber orchestra deliver a memorable evening

The Common Room in the Radcliffe Observatory was filled to capacity on Friday 31 May for a concert featuring pianist Maki Sekiya, Green Templeton College’s Musician-in-Residence, together with St Anne’s Camerata chamber orchestra, conducted by Dr John Traill.  

The first half of a highly adventurous programme was devoted to solo works by Beethoven (his Opus 109 sonata) and Liszt’s Campanella, after which came Mozart’s piano concerto no.14. 

Maki made light of this varied and challenging repertoire, holding her audience in thrall with the clarity and dynamic range of her interpretations. The concerto was a beautifully balanced dialogue between soloist and the Camerata. 

The audience spent the interval climbing the next flight of the Radcliffe Observatory’s long curving staircase for a second half in the wonderful acoustics of its second floor Tower of the Winds.

Here, the Camerata played Spring, a gentle piece composed by Martyn Harry of St Anne’s College, and then Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss. This major work of 1945 portrayed the torture of the war years and drew an emotionally charged performance from the young players of St Anne’s.

The discovery of the Observatory’s second floor as a superb venue for music-making will undoubtedly ensure that more concerts will take place there in the future.

The partnership of Maki Sekiya with John Traill and the Camerata made for a truly memorable evening.