Review: Sean Shibe meets Dunedin Consort

Stellar guitarist Sean Shibe held court at the Queen’s Hall this April 14th, his collaboration with Edinburgh’s baroque treasures, the Dunedin Consort proving very fruitful.

Opening the concert alone on stage with his lute, Shibe set a soothing, pastoral tone with a selection of lute manuscripts from Straloch and Rowallan. The result was a peaceful, melodious sound fit for a gathering of philosophical Scottish hobbits accompanied by copious tankards of cider. Shibe’s touch is remarkable, every note plucked with a surgical precious, but shaded with kaleidoscopic colour.

There was a touch of showmanship in the transition to the next piece, the ensemble gathering behind him as he plucked a heartfelt rendition of John Dowland’s Lachrimae – 1. Lachrime antique. From there, the gathered musicians impressed in various combinations of guitar and strings, giving some lullaby-esque Purcell, and the gentle folk-touched The Last Time I came o’er the Moor from Geminiani, before Shibe stunned with a gorgeously soulful interpretation of MacMillan’s meadow-fresh From Galloway.

“Shibe’s touch is remarkable, every note plucked with a surgical precious, but shaded with kaleidoscopic colour.”

No concert with Shibe would be complete without a detour through David Fennessy’s Rosewoods, written in response to the young guitarist’s love for the first rosewood (2010). Delicate, dreamy and colourful, these pieces gave way to the ‘new baroque’ of Linda Catlin Smith’s Sinfonia. A polyphonic reimagining of old soundscapes, it certainly brought the concert closer to the cutting edge of modern composition, and provided the assembled Consort an opportunity to demonstrate their harmonic mastery.

“…and provided the assembled Consort an opportunity to demonstrate their harmonic mastery.”

The concluding piece, and very much the main event of the evening was the premiere of Chanter, a new work by London-resident Canadian, Cassandra Miller. A abstract, yet romantic ode to the grace note, emulated by a an evolving motif picked with possessive conviction by Shibe, it was enthusiastically received by a captivated Queen’s audience. One wonders if any pipers were in the house to provide more expert feedback!

My only criticism of the concert is one of brevity, the whole shebang running shy of 90 minutes and the longest piece, the last, running just under 25 minutes. The result threatened to be a little piecemeal, but the strong folk-inspired curation of the programme, and the surpassing skill of Shibe as lead guitarist transcended those concerns in the most part.

A cool customer, Sean Shibe seems destined to be the next superstar of the classical guitar. One hopes to see him on stage again in his home town of Edinburgh, and I would particularly welcome an even grander collaboration between he and the ever splendid Dunedin Consort.

Sean Shibe meets Dunedin Consort was presented by the Dunedin Consort.

Featured Image: Iga Gozdowska