Martin Stacey
Review in Spalding Guardian on 8 March 2001
Concert a pleasure to attend
by TIM CLARK
On Saturday South Holland Concerts offered as part of the 17th season its first organ recital.
The recital in the Parish Church of St Mary and St Nicolas, which despite the snow and cold was well attended, was given by Martin Stacey, a first class honours graduate of the Royal Academy of Music.
The programme demonstrated a divers range of musical genres from the high Baroque of JS Bach's fugues, to the early and late Romantics, Mendelssohn, Schuman, and Reger via the classical era of Mozart.
The programme finished with Stacey's own arrangement of five lively exciting Spanish Dances by pianist Moszkowski.
The programme demonstrated the versatility of both the performer and of the fine instrument in the parish church.
The dramatic and strident opening chords of the first harmonies of Max Reger's variations on God Save the Queen were in stark contrast to the barrel organ effect of the Mozart Andante, originally composed for a musical clock.
The variety of texture and registration available to an organist were clearly maximised while the use of CCTV and a large screen allowed the audience to watch the performer's hands and feet at work and to see the dexterity with which he leapt between the three manuals.
This concert was a pleasure to attend and I should recommend the next season, starting in September to all music lovers - especially since it will have the added advantage of the luxurious seating of the South Holland Centre.