Rochdale Music Society Concert: Jill Crossland

Jill Crossland

This was the last of the three concerts in the society’s autumn series, which has already displayed the breadth of musical experience which is one of the hallmarks of Rochdale’s concert promoting venture that began back in 1980.

When you go to a Rochdale Music Society concert you can be sure, as on this occasion, that you will experience a wealth of artistic delight as well as the very best in musical performance – as this demonstration of pianistic skill by Jill Crossland on 18 November amply displayed.

In the first half of the programme, Jill made playing Bach’s opening four Preludes and Fugues from his Well-Tempered Klavier Book 1 sound almost too good to be true! Her technical ability to produce clearly differentiated parts in the fugues while sustaining the overall coherence of Bach’s writing was a model of execution.

So, too, was the playing of the several movements of Bach’s English Suite in A minor.

In the second half of her programme Jill produced impressive accounts of some Chopin Nocturnes, with very convincing accounts of Schumann’s somewhat rambling Arabeske Op.19 and Chopin’s Polonaise in C sharp minor and his Berceuse in D flat.

The final item in her concert was Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A flat which, like the other three Ballades, presents many technical and interpretative challenges in performance to which Jill face up with the great assurance of one who knows what the music is saying and is fully equipped to convey its meaning to an audience.

The Music Society’s 2023-24 season will resume on Saturday 16 March 2024, when St. Michael’s Church, Bamford, will be the setting for a jazz session with the internationally acclaimed Dutch violinist, Tim Kliphuis, backed by Nigel Clark, guitar, and Roy Percy, bass. This trio will thrill the audience.

Details of ticketing are to be found on the society’s website: www.rochdalemusicsociety.org

Graham Marshall