To Kings Place on Saturday for the concert by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as part of their 5 day Baroque Contrasted season. The concert was called A Restoration Spectacular, though the only Restoration music was Purcell's The Fairy Queen, the remaineder was from the later Baroque, but who cares when presented with such a lovely string of masterpieces.
First on the agenda was Handel's Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No. 10, in a fine muscular performance led from the violin by Matthew Truscott. There were 16 musicians on stage, just strings, theorbo and harpsichord; rather strikingly of the 16, only 3 were men.
After the Handel we got a long sequence of movements from Purcell's Fairy Queen, the highlights of which was Julia Doyle's exquisite singing of See, even the Nightingale, and I am come to lock all fast and The Plaint. Singing with a fine, pure tone, Doyle's account of these 3 was magical.
The second half opened with Bach's Double Violin Concerto played by Truscott and Alison Bury. This had its beautiful moments, though the outer movements sometimes seemed a little too brisk for their own good. More worryingly the balance between the two violins was less than equal, with Bury playing with a far more muscular, weighty tone. This wasn't some much a question of volume as style and weight and I have to confess that I preferred Bury's approach.
Finally Doyle returned for 3 beautifully turned Handel arias, Ombre pallide from Alcina, Ritorna, o caro from Rodelinda and Da Tempeste from Giulio Cesare. Doyle's slim tones negotiated the passage-work with ease, creating some beautiful and moving moments. She included the recitative which prefixes Ombre pallide which was welcome. I did worry about the lack of wind instruments, though without referring to the scores I am not sure what Handel actually wrote for these arias. Finally we were treated to an encore from Rinaldo. A treat all round.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Costume design for Asteria in Handel's Tamerlano by Rachel Szmukler When Cambridge Handel Opera Company 's production of Handel'...
-
Fretwork & SANSARA at St John's Smith Square's Easter Festival (Photo Nick Rutter) Pärt: Fratres , Solfeggio , Summa , Stabat Ma...
-
Luke Styles On 4 July 2021 at Cheltenham Music Festival , conductor George Vass and Nova Music Opera will premiere composer Luke Styles ...
-
1984 - New European Ensemble, Mihkel Kerem George Orwell, Mihkel Kerem 1984 ; Edward Snowden, Joseph Thompson, Willem Stam, New European...
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
-
Mark Vuorinen & the Elora Singers performing in the Barn at the Elora Festival The Elora Singers might be described as one of Canada...
-
Feodor Akimenko [Fedir Yakymenko] With his Voices from the East series at Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO), conductor Kirill Karabits h...
-
This week, counter-tenor Jakub Józef Orliński's new album is out on Erato. Having recorded albums of (often rare) Baroque repertoire, h...
-
National Youth Jazz Orchestra Norfolk & Norwich Festival opening weekend - FANFARE 250; James Batty, Cameron Biles-Liddell, Ninfea Crutt...
-
Holst: Sāvitri - Kathryn Rudge & Pagrav Dance in rehearsal - Britten Sinfonia (Photo Milly March) Grace Williams: Sea Sketches , Britt...
No comments:
Post a Comment