Duo in fine form

The JKL Duo, (Jacopo Lazzaretti (guitar) and Kerry Lynch (flute) were in fine form at Cowal Music Club’s concert last Sunday in Dunoon’s Burgh Hall.

Jacopo comes from Rome but has lived in Scotland for over 6 years, during which he has gained an M.Mus degree in music performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in Glasgow, and was prizewinner in several international competitions. Kerry is a Scottish flautist, who performs all across Scotland and teaches in Glasgow at their ‘JKL Studio’ in Glasgow’s West End.

In an unusual but very interesting programme, Sunday’s audience enjoyed very high-calibre music-making, with the two young players performing together with remarkable assurance and infallible ensemble playing. In fact one critic wrote recently that “The word ‘virtuoso’ is often overused, but the musicianship and rapport of the JKL Duo deserve it fully”.

The Duo excelled in presentation and performance of their innovative album (recently appearing on CD) entitled “The International Poet”, - which is made up of 9 commissions relating directly to Burns Songs, but written by present-day composers – some Scottish, others Italian, Indian, Chilean, and Russian – an amazing array of creativity! The Burns melodic lines were frequently recognisable, but equally frequently presented in quirky, sometimes jazzy, and always imaginative ways, as exemplified in the Auld Lang Syne Samba, Aye fond kiss (Chilean style), and The Deil’s awa’, - to name only a few. The first piece in the selection, called a Breton Fantasy proved a very congenial and lively start to the collection, and John Anderson with its pseudo Indian style was also very memorable.

All of this was the more substantial part 2 of the programme, the shorter part 1 having consisted of 6 pieces for Solo Guitar, expertly played by Jacopo. Highlights from this included 2 Preludes by the celebrated Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, Northern Lights (with its very effective use of tremolo) by Belgian composer/guitarist Jan Depreter, and Koyunbaba (meaning ‘sheep father’) with its impressive rapid passages and ostinati by the Italian Carlo Domeniconi. For this piece Jacopo had to re-tune his guitar, - the result bringing out different sounds and tone colours.

The Duo were warmly applauded at the end of their excellent performance, and are looking forward to more concerts and other musical activites across Scotland in the future.

Cowal Music Club’s next concert will take place on November 19th, when Baba Yaga (Harp & Saxophone) will perform.