Badinage at the Purcell Room adinage,
n, [Fr., from badin, facetious] Light or playful discourse: also
the name of a group of musicians, founded twenty-one years ago by Sally Civval
and Paul Carroll, who play music by Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann and other 18th
century composers. Yesterday evening they performed at the Purcell Room, a
(relatively) small concert hall adjoining the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's
South Bank. This was the
programme:George Frideric Handel Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Antonio Vivaldi Flute Concerto in D, RV.426 Johann Sebastian Bach Concerto in F for 2 recorders and harpsichord, BWV.1057 Antonio Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto in D minor, RV.481 Antonio Vivaldi Flute Concerto in G, RV.436 Tomaso Albinoni Concerto in F for 2 oboes & strings, Op.9 No.3 Antonio Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto in F, RV.490 Georg Philipp Telemann Concerto in E minor for recorder and flute The performers were: Paul Carroll baroque flute, bassoon, oboe & recorder Gerrard McDonald baroque flute, oboe, recorder David Rowland harpsichord Kirra Thomas and Emily Ward violins Stefanie Heichelheim viola Sally Civval violincello The concertos are all quite short by modern standards, about 10 to 12 minutes each. The items were separated by brief (about a minute) readings from comtemporary diaries and reports, which gave interesting glimpses into the period and provided useful punctuation between the pieces. Recorders, which are the simplest form of pipe, can sound boring but these had a richness of tone which contrasted well with the flute in the Telemann. The other woodwind instruments were period versions (or copies) with few keys compared with the modern complex Böhm system; they have a distinctly different tone, the bassoon being more foggy and the oboes more pawky in tone than their modern counterparts. Some virtuoso playing was called for, as well - the Bach demanded some extremely fast harpsichord fingering, and the Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto required an agility no normally associated with the instrument. All in all an entertaining evening of the 18th century sense of order and civilization. Posted: Fri - November 10, 2006 at 08:46 AM by Roger Wilmut |
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Total entries in this category: Published On: Mar 11, 2016 05:00 PM |
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