The quaint, attractive market town of Buckingham is situated in North Buckinghamshire. It played host to a rather special performance which was held at the Radcliffe Centre earlier this week. The centre was formerly a splendid church. It’s attached to the University of Buckingham and has been tastefully refurbished and renovated. The centre caters perfectly for recitals and lectures. The venue presents a popular concert series and is a flourishing arts and cultural centre.

I’ve written before on this blog about my love for the combination of words and music. I had the good fortune to perform melodramas and recitations for several years with the recently deceased raconteur John Amis. I regularly observed the audience’s favourable reactions. They became captivated by the sheer beauty, emotion, and profundity this alliance provides.

The relationship between Frédéric Chopin and his lover George Sand is explored thoroughly in this fascinating programme aptly entitled ‘Divine Fire’. Actress Susan Porrett narrated and wrote the prose. Her mellifluous words transported us on a journey through Chopin’s turbulent existence. The journey marked both his musical achievements and often chaotic personal life. Chopin, a shy, spiritual soul, who died at the untimely age of thirty-nine, spent nine years with the rebellious, feminist writer, Sand. This unlikely union began with promise, hope, romance, and passion. It then descended slowly into misery, jealousy, and despair, ending ultimately with Chopin’s demise. Seemingly neither ever recovered from their final separation. A love story for the end of time. This searing chronicle was moving and expressive. It was effectively punctuated by many of the composer’s well-known piano compositions elegantly performed by pianist Viv McLean.

Viv presented a wide range of Chopin’s works opening with the small-scale yet poignant Prelude in A major Op. 28 No. 7; not an obvious choice, but it was played with precision, poise and colour. The Nocturne in E flat Op. 9 No. 2 and Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 45 were equally effective; restrained and contemplative yet devoid of any sentimentality. The interweaving of dialogue and piano music was beautifully judged with renditions of Chopin’s First and Third Ballades (Op. 23 and Op. 47), metamorphosing the reflective mood into an impassioned and dramatic aura.

Larger works such as the thrilling Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor Op. 39, ever popular Fantasie Impromptu in C sharp minor Op. 66 and Polonaise in C sharp minor Op. 26 No. 1 were juxtaposed with the Nocturne in C sharp minor Op. Posth. and the Mazurka in A minor Op 17 No. 4.

Performed with consummate mastery, this Mazurka’s pervading improvisatory semblance exuded a trance-like quality.  As one of Chopin’s later compositions, the chromatically adventurous Polonaise Fantasie in A flat major Op. 61 afforded a fitting conclusion, and complimented the utterly tragic and desolate narrative enthralling conveyed by Susan. The script cleverly integrated a mixture of the two lovers’ letters. It included accounts and descriptions from friends and relatives. This allowed their personalities to permeate powerfully.

Chopin and Sand were indeed present at this concert, appearing as ethereal apparitions on a large screen placed high above the performers. Sands’ painting dominated at the beginning, her piercing dark brown eyes illuminating the tempestuous character beneath. Chopin’s ghostly haunted image, which featured in the second half, was of a man whose spirit had been totally crushed, thoroughly consumed with sadness. The evening was an intense tour de force fully demonstrating the irresistible charms of words and music.