BLISLAND church played host to what is hoped to be the first of many concerts of beautiful music from Krysia Osostowicz, who is due to move to the village in December, writes Charles Whitehead.

The concert, in aid of the community shop, was put together at very short notice and has raised in the region of £4,000. Like all village shops, Blisland’s is having tough times, but the future looks good now that a new committee is in place, determined to make it work.

In a recent visit, Krysia met the treasurer for the Blisland Community Association, Beth Cauldwell, and expressed her desire to help. Within a week, the concert was put together and performed.

Six local artists also donated works of art to be auctioned after the concert, and this alone made £1,635. These artists have been thanked for their generosity.

The concert opened with JS Bach’s second Partita in D minor for solo violin. The five movements have a range of tempos and light and shade, but it is for the final movement, the Chaconne, that the piece is justifiably famous. Said to have been written as a tribute to his wife after her death in July 1720, this piece shows a huge range of emotions that one can associate with such a loss and at times of grief, is truly raw.

This side of Bach, the composer from the classical period, is rarely seen and it just shows his skill as a composer. It also brings out the best of skills in the performer and has been performed on flute, organ, piano, cello and guitar, as well as solo violin.

Krysia’s performance left the audience breathless, such was the intensity of the final movement coupled with the genius of her playing. The wonderfully mellow sound of the famous Matteo Groffiler violin, which she almost lost just recently, enhanced the magic of her performance.

The second piece of the concert, ‘Ferdinand the Bull’, with Krysia playing and husband Simon narrating the story, was from the other end of the musical scale.

The story is by Arthur Munro and the music by Alan Ridout, and tells the tale of Ferdinand, who unlike his fellow bulls, prefers to sit under the trees and listen to the birds and the smell of the flowers whilst the others are butting and fighting amongst themselves. That is until the day when the bullring recruiters come to visit and Ferdinand sits on a bee. This causes him to kick about in a frenzy, and is then recruited for the bullfight. On the day, with all the ladies with flowers in their hair, the inevitable happens and Ferdinand sits down to smell the flowers and is a bit of a disappointment in the ring.

Simon’s narration of this pretty story was complemented by Krysia’s wonderful playing, and the piece was greatly appreciated by all.

The shop committee has extended thanks to everyone who came and gave so generously to the cause, and to all the volunteers who helped on the evening, and to the helpers who provided the delicious after performance eats.

lBLISLAND?Community Association announced following the concert the £7,500 needed to enable the shop to continue trading has been achieved.

The association is planning the next concert with Krysia, which is hoped will go ahead in spring 2017.