Review: Violinist Lucy Russell and harpsichordist John Butt at St John’s Church, Buxton

These two distinguished musicians gave an impressive performance . Their programme .mainly consisted of JS Bach.

John Butt played Preludes and Fugues from the Well Tempered Clavicord with great skill.

Lucy Russell played the world premiere of a modern work for solo violin on her Baroqueviolin, seven short scherzi by John Woolrich. She played this twice, with an explanation after the first performance and it was worth repeating.

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Yet the highlight of the concert was the two Bach sonatas for violin and harpsichord (BWV 1019 and BWV 1015): they really captured the symmetry and the lucidity of the composer. Their joint performance was sustaining and brilliant.

I bought the CD and played it driving home across the Peak District.