A special violin recital by the extremely talented young violinist Emmanuel Bach accompanied by his mother, the South African pianist, Jenny Stern, took place in Sidmouth Parish Church last Sunday in the presence of a capacity audience.

The concert was coordinated by Roger Hendy to celebrate his 50th year of involvement with orchestras, festivals and choirs in Devon and abroad.

The imaginative programme contained a very rich selection of some of the most brilliant pieces from the violin repertoire, including works by Kreisler, Brahms, Prokofiev, Debussy, Wieniawski and Paganini.

Playing with absolute assuredness and immaculate technique, Emmanuel enchanted the attentive audience with his most exquisite playing. The blend of the piano playing by Jenny Stern and Emmanuel was superb with both artists paying scrupulous attention to the range of complex scores.

The opening brilliance of the Kreisler Corelli variations was followed by a beautifully crafted rendition of Brahms’ Sonata Op 100. ‘Sevilla’ by Isaac Albeniz charmed the listeners, Debussy’s ‘La Plus Que Lent’ transported them, only to be uplifted at the end of the recital with Emmanuel’s wonderful interpretation of Paganni’s ‘I Papita’ which was played with great virtuosic style and panache.

This was a most memorable professional recital of the highest calibre and is surely indicative that Emmanuel’s mature playing will now enable him to carve out a wonderful musical career. He has recently been invited to play with the London Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The violin recital also raised £875 for Save the Children by generous donations of the audience.

Roger Hendy returns to Sidmouth on November 25 for the start of another exciting season of orchestral concerts with the popular Isca Ensemble. Concert-goers will then be treated once more to the exquisite tones of Emmanuel’s playing when he performs the violin concerto by Jean Sibelius with the orchestra.

Details of this and other concerts can be found at www.iscaensemble.org.uk.

JEB.