I had forgotten the heavenly sound of a flute in a church. Rachel Smith's playing was warm, compelling and relaxed.
Beginning with the challenging Sonata In C Major by Bach, she sailed through it, with the intricate phraseswapping between her instrument and Paul Gregory's guitar as entertaining as it was moving.
The Three Solo Diversions,written for her by Paul Lewis, who was present, though beautifully performed, was too angularly unmelodic for my taste - and his Piccolo Polka raised some painful resonances from the building.
Gregory's own Sonatina Blue again, while beautifully performed, was similarly angular - a shame, as part of it was a lullaby for a future daughter. The duo finished with a bravura reading of Pujol's Suite Buenos Aires which was so rapturously received they gave a short encore.
Selfishly, I am glad they are not yet world class because they play superbly but are still available for this type of intimate concert.
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