CONCERT REVIEW FOR EVENING HERALD

Mean Time with The Greenwood Consort: Voice Flutes

Plymstock Church, Plymouth, Devon.

Mention recorders to most people, and it usually brings back memories of primary school days, with whole classes often producing excruciating squeaks in the name of music!

Had they been at the agreeably sunlit venue of Plymstock Church, in the company of Mean Time and The Greenwood Consort, they would probably all have been converted to Early Music on the spot. In a delightful programme of Renaissance and Baroque vocal and instrumental music, they could hear exactly how the recorder was meant to sound, in the skilled hands of Pat Mahon, Jenny Mitchell, Chris Hartland and Mark Bennett. Moreover, they would have seen that the much-maligned school descant is a far cry from the variety of instruments on display here, faithfully used to create the exact sound-stage of the period.

However this was far more than a mere concert. The programme notes already contained a wealth of background information about contemporary performance practices, but which multi-instrumentalist and baritone, Mark Bennett, illuminated to great effect, so efficiently combining his skills as pedagogue and Thespian.

With secure support from Ian Hiscock (harpsichord) and Mike Edwards (viola da gamba and Baroque cello), this was a thoroughly enjoyable evening where, if there was a particular highlight, it would be the vocal contribution from Pat Mahon, who negotiated the difficult coloratura passages in Handel's "Mi palpita il cor" with consummate ease and real panache.

PHILIP R BUTTALL

03/06/06