Regular readers of these posts will know that I can never resist an event at Stone Nest, the brick built Victorian chapel tucked behind Shaftesbury Avenue – and that I am rarely disappointed. So when I saw that Figure, who staged a wonderful reworking of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater there last March, were again performing at Stone Nest, I didn’t even bother to check what they were playing – I just booked.
It turned out to be an engaging programme called Side by Side interleaving four baroque pieces (by Corelli, Handel, Vivaldi and Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer) with four contemporary pieces (by Edmund Finnis, Caroline Shaw, Freya Waley-Cohen and Joanna Ward).
Such pairing fits well into Figure’s mission to ‘break free from traditional formalities’, playing in venues which offer the possibility of an intimate connexion with their audience. By bringing an historical performance approach to music from any era their aim is to ‘immerse audiences in the context, atmosphere and original passion of the music.’ Certainly this worked extremely well for the pieces they chose for this programme.
And I have great hopes of their next programme at Stone Nest on March 22nd –
Rhythm of the Seasons – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Reimagined as a Concerto for Percussion with percussionist James Larter.
‘By reimagining the original composition, this performance transforms Vivaldi’s vivid depictions of the seasons, blending the texture of strings with an array of pitched and unpitched percussion instruments.’
Shocking for Vivaldi purists – but definitely intriguing…. See you there?
Saraband in the Kenwood House Music Room
And on Sunday afternoon I enjoyed another delightful ‘historically informed’ performance – this time in Kenwood House’s magnificent music room.
The performers were Saraband, Sarah Bealby-Wright and Henrietta Wayne – violins, Johan Löfving – theorbo/guitar and Jacob Garside – cello/viola da gamba. Saraband is an early music group, who specialise in ‘music that would have been heard in the grand houses, sitting rooms, coffee houses, taverns and streets of the 17th and 18th centuries’.
But Saraband do not just play the music but they set it in its time – and today’s performance, Painted Ladies, in the music room entirely surrounded by portraits of both the great ladies and the successful actresses and singers of the time, was pitch perfect.
Did you know that in the eighteenth century, female actresses often earned more than their male counterparts and were shrewd business women who maximised their careers, supported large families and provided themselves with comfortable retirements. Mrs Jordan, for example, who underwrote the spendthrift Duke of Clarence while simultaneously bearing him ten children and continuing her acting career. Or the tragedienne Sarah Siddons whose management of her celebrity image would be admired by many of today’s successful ‘influencers’.
Mrs Jordan as Viola in Twelfth Night
Saraband are supported by the wonderful Continuo Foundation and if you would like to experience their especial brand of historic performances, they will be at Kew Palace on Sunday May 4th at midday.
You will not only be able to hear the group but the earliest surviving chamber organ in the UK which is housed in Kew Palace.
And what is more, the concert is FREE with admission to the gardens.
And have you booked for….
Sunday – March 9th – 6.30pm – Hampstead Lane
Harpist Hugh Webb, violist Bridget Carey and flautist Nancy Ruffer play Debussy and Paul Archbold.
£30 to include buffet supper and wine. ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT. Book here.
Sunday – 23rd March – 12 noon.
The four hands of Viola Lenzi and Isabella Gori will play jazz and folk at the Highgate Society lunchtime concert – book here.
Tuesday 15th April – 6.30pm – Hampstead Lane.
Classical/jazz singer Dani Sicari and guitarist James Girling offer an intimate take on their Easy Rollers jazz septet in a stripped-back duo: Easy Rollers originals, jazz-age classics – and, maybe, a glimpse into their classical practice.
£30 to include supper and wine – for more details and to book go here.
For future happenings in at Hampstead Lane and elsewhere – see our Upcoming Events page.
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