A VERY wet and rather dismal day was transformed by pianist David Gibson and violinist Becky Else’s performance of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 Op. 30 in G major for piano and violin.

This youthful duo again demonstrated the very high quality of musicianship consistently achieved by students at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and how fortunate we are to be able to benefit from their relative proximity.

The opening of this Beethoven sonata positively rockets skywards with sheer joy, and Else and Gibson did it full justice with their youthful energy and musicianship.

The second movement of the sonata is a graceful little minuet, and the whole is rounded off with another jolly allegro vivace. This is a beautiful work, and the rich tone of Else’s fine 17th century violin made by Francesco Ruggieri of Cremona enhanced the experience.

It lifted the spirits to hear Beethoven at his happiest when we remember that he took life very seriously, and was by all accounts a difficult, temperamental character, often troubled, and worried by the onset of deafness.

The second item in the concert, Prokofiev’s Five Melodies, combined strong, gentle, sad, sweet themes all flowing together in a magic mix of musical effects, the second movement being a combination of all of these. Throughout the piece the piano keeps the beat, a vital function while each "melody" has its own character, finishing with a noticeably different mood from its beginning, rather pensive and reflective.

The final performance – Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13 – opened on a very strong, plangent note which quickly changed to an allegro vivace. This work by Grieg is very expressive music, rich in mood and effect, demanding a very high degree of accomplishment by the musicians, which was achieved superbly by this talented young duo.

They responded to an enthusiastic, if smaller than usual audience, with an encore of a melody from Orpheo by Gluck.

Hopefully, the reduced audience was due to the exceptionally bad weather, but these local performances which enrich our lives depend on continuing support or we shall lose them.

The next Classical Cleveland event is on Thursday, October 29, in Stokesley Methodist Church at 7.30pm featuring Sarah Sweeting and Eddie Muliau in Autumn Melodies, extracts from favourite operas and the West End stage. Tickets are £12.50 in advance from Browns Newsagents, Stokesley, or £14.50 at the door.

Irene MacDonald