How do you fill a concert hall? This question is asked despairingly of venues across the globe, usually in one those gloomy articles which heralds the death of classical music with barely restrained glee. The Wigmore Hall does not seem to suffer from empty-seat syndrome, however Director John Gilhooly has struck on a smart solution to ensure that this malaise never strikes: diversification. Gilhooly approached one of the world’s most popular and respected jazz pianists, Brad Mehldau, and invited him to ‘curate’ a series of concerts, half of which would feature the maestro himself. Yesterday evening Mehldau was joined by Chris Thile, the man who plucked the mandolin from its twangy bluegrass origins and turned it into a virtuoso instrument at the cutting edge of jazz performance.
Thile first appeared onstage alone to perform The Louvin Brothers’ hit Broad Minded in his inimically extrovert style, alternating displays of technical brilliance with simple accompaniment to his expressive vocals. As a demonstration of his versatility, this was followed by the three inner movements of Bach’s D Minor Partita for solo violin. Both Thile and his mandolin may have sprung from bluegrass beginnings; however they have both achieved the level of accomplishment where any musical style is ripe for the plucking, if you’ll pardon the pun. Thile’s Bach was confident and musical, the mandolin sounding curiously appropriate, like a harpsichord with the added advantage of a greater range of dynamics and colour.