Saturday 29 June 2013

A positive cornucopia - the Kings Place festival

Kings Place Festival 2013 logo
The sixth Kings Place festival runs from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 September with over 100 concerts spread over the weekend. Over a third of the shows are free and the rest cost £4.50 if you book on-line. As ever, there is a bewildering array of things available from cake making and Indian dance to cutting edge contemporary music and jazz played by a distinguished restaurant critic.

Members of the Aurora Orchestra (resident orchestra at Kings Place) perform a programme of chamber music by Brahms, Berg and Bartok (13/9, 6pm). French composer pianist Thierry Huillet and Romanian violinist Clara Cernat, present The Little Prince a musical painting by Huillet based on Saint-Exupery's book suitable for families (14/9, 9.45am), and at the same time (in another part of the building!) there is a ukelele workshop for anyone wanting to learn and practise the ukelele.

The Dante Quartet (who recorded Kodaly's quartets earlier this year) perform Schubert and Kodaly quartets (14/9, 1.30pm). Cellist Alexander Ivashkin and pianist Andrew Zolinsky perform a programme inspired by Benjamin Britten's friendship with Mstislav Rostropovich including the Suite no. 3 for solo cello which was dedicated to Rostropovich alongside Britten's two cello sonatas (one written in 1961 and dedicated to Rostropovich the other dating from 1926) (14/9, 3.30pm).

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment presents a programme of Bach, Mozart and Franz Xaver Richter (Mozart's contemporary), including Mozart's Musical Joke and his Horn QuIntet in E flat. (14/9, 5.30pm). The Vida Guitar Quartet brings together four guitarists in a programme of fascinating music by Malcolm Arnold, Benjamin Britten, David Crittenden and Gershwin (14/9, 7.30pm)

Maryon Davies and principal players of the Aurora Orchestra will be presenting a family programme entitled Storytelling with Debussy (15/9, 9.30am). More for adults, the Nosis Trio and Oliver Janes (clarinet) will perform Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time (15/9, 12pm). The three flute players of the Tempest Flute Trio present a remarkably variet programme including Debussy and Bach alongside Duke Ellington and Chick Corea. (15/9, 2.45pm). The Brodsky Quartet are performing two Copland rareities for string quartet plus string quartets by Barber and Dvorak (15/9, 3.30pm)

Soprano Ruby Hughes and guitarist Christoph Denoth perform Dowland solos and lute songs alongside Schubert arrangements and music by Albeniz and Falla. (15/9, 5.30pm). The New London Singers, conducted by Ivor Setterfield, perform Tippett's spirituals from A Child of Our Time, plus music by jazz legend George Shearing and John Rutter (7.30pm, 15/9). At the same time (choices must be made), the London Sinfonietta performs Britten's Lachyrmae in a version for viola and piano, plus music by Berg, Colin Matthews and Edmund Finnis. (15/9, 7.45pm). London Sinfonietta are back at 9.30pm with a programme of experimental music by James Tenney and Morton Feldman (15/9, 9.30pm)

The a cappella ensemble, the Song Men perform a programme which journeys from folk and spirituals through 1920's jazz and 1980's sould to pop, with many of the arrangements by the group themselves. (14/9, 11.45am)

The Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner will be performing jazz piano with Pat Gordon Smith, vocals, Robert Rickenberg, double bass and Dave Lewis, saxophone, in a Food themed programme (13/9, 10.30pm). More directly food related, there are cake decorating workshops run by chefs from Kings Place for the young and young at heart, and there is also a Chocolate Tasting.

World music performers include the London Klezmer Quartet (13/9, 10.15pm), Akademi Indian Dance bringing a programme of Northern Indian classical dance (14/9, 11.45am), Monooka's Caravan belnding Ottoman and Greek influences with Jewish music and Wallachian gypsy music (14/9, 1.45pm), Kaviraj Dhadyalla on santoor and Upneed Dhadyalla on tabla playing Indian classical ragas (14/9, 5.45pm), the Romany Diamonds, three generations of a Gypsy Roma family (15/9, 5.45pm)

The Belles of London City will perform on the Canalside Terrace at 4.45pm on 15/9, they are an all female morris dance group, who perform wearing corsets.

One talk stands out. For lovers of Patrick Leigh Fermor's writing, Artemis Cooper will be talking about Patrick Leigh Fermor's unfinished final volume to his trilogy describing his walk across Europe in the 1930's.

Further information from the Kings Place website.

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1 comment:

  1. Hi. Unfortunately my contribution to the terrific King's Place Festival has had to be cancelled due to circumstances which could have been foreseen if my office were only a little more organised. Sorry about that.

    Jay Rayner

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