By Spencer Allman

FRANZ Schubert (1797-1828) wrote a series of masterpieces in the last few years of his life. Among them are the soul-searching string quintet and his last sonatas for piano.

It was his very last three piano sonatas that made up the programme given on May 7 by Christian Blackwood at Hellens House in Much Marcle. This was the first of three evening concerts included in this year’s Hellensmusic Festival. The festival, which started three years ago, brings together acclaimed artists from all over the world.

Christian Blackshaw is the festival’s Artistic Director and is a celebrated performer in his own right.

The three works run the gamut of emotions – from exuberance to despair. They call for a particular sensibility, and the audience at Hellens was not disappointed.

The first sonata, in C minor, set the tone for the evening. Blackshaw brought the subtleties of the piece alive, meeting its daunting technical challenges head on.

After the interval, the first of two that evening, we heard the A major sonata, with its quirky opening theme and its heart-breaking slow movement. The work’s delicate nuances held the audience in rapt attention, in a hall that was almost filled to capacity. Possibly the highlight of the entire recital.

The last work, the sonata in b flat, is a masterwork for solo keyboard. Its subdued and slightly eerie first movement engaged listeners from the start. Schubert lived in virtual penury when he wrote it, and was suffering the agonies of a wasting disease that would shortly take his life. Nevertheless, the sonata ends with a light-hearted finale, though with that hint of melancholy that seems to underlie almost all this composer’s music.

A highly appreciative audience left the auditorium for the warmth of a spring evening.

It was only to be hoped that the rest of the festival – chamber works by Mozart, Dvo?ák and Franck, plus a masterclass concert on Sunday 10th – would be such an unqualified success.