Classical Duo Elegance & Friends Concert for Three Violins St Nicholas Priory Friday 31 May 2019

Classical Duo Elegance - & Friends
Piano: Ekaterina Shetliffe
Violin: Oxana Militsina
Violin: Yulia Northridge
Violin: Sergei Emelianov
St Nicholas Priory Friday 31 May
(photography: Lee Shetliffe)

Sergei Emelianov
Concert Master Tatarstan State Orchestra

Four very special musical visitors were in Exeter last Friday. The familiar Classical Duo Elegance of Ekaterina Shetliffe and Yulia Northridge (piano & violin) were joined by two superb violin virtuosi. Making a special visit from Russia was the Concert Master of the State Symphony Orchestra of Tatarstan, Sergei Emelianov, together with a former fellow student at the Kazan State Conservatory, Oxana Militsina.

Violin: Oxana Militsina

Ekaterina opened the concert in the upper room of St Nicholas Priory with Antonio Vivaldi's rousing Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. Sergei leapt into action with the violin opening, echoed at every turn by Oxana. Having perfectly set the scene, the two violinists were then joined by Ekaterina on the piano. It was a very special treat to hear these two great violinists from Russia playing such rousing and beautiful music, and in such an atmospheric setting.

St Nicholas Priory
Mint Lane, Exeter

The Priory is arguably the oldest existing building in Exeter. Founded in 1087 as a Benedictine monastery, the building became a tudor town house for Tudor merchants following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536. Now lovingly restored, with replica furnishings, it pre-dates by far the baroque music of Vivaldi. The sense of timelessness equally suited the rest of the programme which was all music composed in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century.


Yulia and Oxana took turns to play music by modern composers including:

"Salut d'Amour" and "Chanson de Nuit" by Sir Edward Elgar
"Adagio and Allegro in Pugniani Style" by Fritz Kreizler
Musical Theme to "Schindler's List" by John Williams
"Montecci & Capuletti" from "Romeo & Juliet" by Sergei Prokofiev
Nocturne for "Olga Sergeevna" by Mikael Tariverdiev
Polka from "The Golden Age" by Alfred Schnittke
and finally a very popular and well-known show tune,
"Smoke Gets in your Eyes" from "Roberta" by Jerome Kern

The first half of the programme ended with two magnificent virtuoso pieces played by the wonderfully talented Yulia Northridge. First she played Pablo Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" (Gypsy Airs). Initially slow and deliberate, the tune switches to a wild csárdás reminiscent of Ekaterina and Yulia's signature tune by Vittorio Monti. How cleverly Ekaterina and Yulia lulled the audience in a sense of restful calm before launching into that spectacular cadenza. What a wild Hungarian dance they led us on. The liveliest music you could wish to hear.

That was not all. Yulia also brought back a piece she has played before at concerts which, if anything, is even more exhilarating than the Gypsy Airs. This 1950's hit by Florian Zabach is called simply "Hot Canary". Once that bird took flight, there was not stopping Yulia. Even though she gave a brief demonstration of how it was played before starting, when she got into full flow the incredible intricacies of Zabach's music were almost impossible to follow. Singing, fluttering its wings and swooping around the fingerboard of the violin, that canary amazed everyone - even Yulia who seemed equally captivated by its antics.

Roger Hendy &  Tirke Linnemann
Musical Director and Principal 'Cello
Isca Ensemble

Thank you to all four musicians for a wonderful evening of music. Sergei Emelianov will be Concert Master at next week's Isca Ensemble concert at Sidmouth Parish Church, where Luka Okros will play the Mozart Piano Concerto in C. Roger Hendy will be Musical Director and he and the Isca Principal 'Cello Tirke Linnemann were at Friday's concert to hear Sergei in action. They were not disappointed!

Classical Duo Elegance
Piano: Ekaterina Shetliffe
Violin: Yulia Northridge

Ekaterina and Yulia will return to St Nicholas Priory on Saturday 22 June for a performance involving the pupils of Creative Llama Music School at 5.30pm.  They will also be at St Stephen's Church in Exeter High Street on Friday 29 June at 6pm to perform "Vocal and Insturmental Masterpieces" by Mozart and Rossini with operatic mezzo soprano Iryna Ilnytska.

Later in the year the Classical Duo Elegance will be at St Mary's Church Totnes for a coffee morning concert on Saturday 12 October - with the promising title of "Baroque Delights"! Finally this year they will be at Lupton House in Churston Ferrers to play "Instrumental Music from The Movies" at 6.30pm on Sunday 15 December. Ekaterina would also like to find a suitable venue in Exeter to give a second performance of that concert. Any suggestions?

Isca Ensemble

Luka Okros

Sidmouth Parish Church

Saturday 8 June 7.30pm

LUKA OKROS - MOZART
Musical Director: Roger Hendy
Guest Concertmeister:
Sergei Emelyanov, violin
(State Symphony Orchestra of Tatarstan)
Ludwig van Beethoven: 'Coriolan' Overture
W A Mozart: Piano Concerto 21 in C K467
(Piano: Luka Okros)
P I Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 4
Tickets: Side Aisles £12 (student/U18 £6)
(Central Nave - Sold Out)
Paragon Books: 01395 514616
Online Booking: TicketSource