Caroline Palmer, Arisa Fujita and Richard Bayliss, Kendal Town Hall

Kendal Midday Concert Club recently extended its proud history of promoting fine concerts. Caroline Palmer (piano), Arisa Fujita (violin) and Richard Bayliss (horn), in their programme of music by Schumann and Brahms, like many of their predecessors, had to pit their skills against the town hall’s ever-capricious acoustics.

The horn and piano duo can sometimes be as perilous to tame as a bucking broncho. Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro Op 70 exploits the horn’s full range and, at times, the most powerful of pianistic support, but Richard and Caroline (she sometimes tending to over-pedal) are both strong and sensitive artists, and were mostly safely in their saddles. Caroline, playing two of Schumann’s Fantasiest?ke, brought to the fore all the poise, grace, intimacy and energy demanded by these solo pieces.

Brahms’s C minor Scherzo received a powerful performance from Arisa and Caroline. Both, in equal measure, imparted a true Brahmsian rhythmic vigour, as well as a sensitive lyricism, to their performance.

That composer’s Horn Trio combined to a splendid degree, the three players’ musicianship, finesse, technical dexterity and true understanding of the work’s structure.

Brian Paynes