OAE TOTS
My weekend started with a visit to Acland Burghley School with my three year old grandson and his dad for ‘Mozart chased the cat’ – the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s latest offering for children under five.
A goodish number of the orchestra were already there, just waiting to chase Mozart and his cat through Symphony Number 40 in G minor. Led by their lovely double bassist, Cecelia Bruggemeyer, we sang welcome songs, were introduced to the various instruments and the sounds that they make – and to Mozart and his cat. Then off we set chasing the cat up hill and down dale each little adventure being illustrated by an extraordinarily apposite excerpt from the symphony.
Given the age of most of the children, they were remarkably receptive. Even after a good 45 minutes when the orchestra played a five minute section of the symphony to end the show, there was a certain amount of jumping around and general distraction – but many of the kids (including our three year old) still sat quiet and attentive up to the very last note!
For our next expedition we are ‘Sailing way’ with the orchestra on March 15th. For more information or to book check in to the OAE’s site.
Colin Currie Quartet at King’s Place
If, like me, you are a percussion nut you will probably already be a follower of Colin Currie and may even have been at King’s Place on Saturday where he was performing with his quartet.
Two extraordinary pieces by Andy Akiho involved a multitude of instruments and mind bogglingly complex rhythm structures. A world premiere by Joe Duddell, This place, These People, was ‘loosely formed’ on the moving lives of three people who had taken part in the King’s Cross Voices oral history project. Four Marimbas (my least favourite percussion instrument) by Kevin Volans proved totaly mesmeric and the concert ended with Steve Reich’s iconic Drumming Part 1. It is really hard to believe that there are four different musicians up there playing those instruments, so perfectly aligned and attuned are they to each other.
If you want to know more, check in to Colin Currie’s site – and if you want to hear Drumming, navigate to ‘About – Colin Currie Quartet’ where you will find a video.
And finally on Sunday – back to the OAE – and more Mozart
This was his Clarinet concerto at the QEH with the utterly delightful Katherine Spencer.
Many of you will already have met Katherine, known to all as Waffy, at one of our or the Vauxhall Band’s basset horn concerts. But she is also principal clarinet of the OAE and a serious number of other UK and European chamber and period orchestras.
Sunday night’s concert, which included music by Mozart’s contemporaries Juan Arriaga, the ‘Spanish Mozart’, and Michael Haydn, was all about ‘launching’ Grace. Grace is Waffy’s new basset clarinet, a gloriously crafted boxwood basset clarinet with all the charm of its forebears plus a few improvements devised by Waffy and Grace’s maker, Guy Cowley.
Between them they blew the QEH audience away. The sheer joie de vivre of the first and third movements – the floated notes of the melting slow movement during which audience literally held its breath. A truly stunning performance. Another one please….
And a busy February…
First up – our Shakespeare in Music fundraiser on 14th February
The players of Bloomsbury Baroque and the Painted Fall will give us a taste of the April Shakespeare in Music Festival while Martyn Bond, chair of Trustees will be telling us all about what will be happening. There will be wine and cheese and tasty snacks – and we hope that you will be so enthused that not only will you book for many of the events, but you will support the festival by signing up as Friends!
For more details see this post – if you would like to join us on the 14th, please email me.
Nathaniel and La Pompadour on February 26th
Nathaniel Mander and his delightful spinet, La Pompadour, will be back on February 26th with music from the court of Versailles. I am afraid that this concert is already booked out but if you would like to put yourself on the waiting list, there is always the chance of some returns.
And then into March…
First up – 11th March – Beethoven String Trios
Reprising their lovely Coffee Concert at the Islington Festival last year, Joana Ly, Kirsten Jenson and Dorothea Vogel will be playing Beethoven’s Trio in G, opus 9, no.1 and Trio in D, opus 9, no.2.
For more details and to book go here.
March 23rd – Noel Coward – The Master
William Godfree (last seen in Hampstead Lane as Donald Swann in our Flanders and Swann evenings) will be singing Coward’s best loved songs while telling us something about his star spangled life.
For more details and to book go here.
And then into April……
April 28th – From the aulos to the oboe, the lyre to the concert harp – with Melinda Maxwell and Hugh Webb
For more details and to book go here.
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