I’m a big fan of this troupe. This is, I think, the third time we’ve seen them perform live, by which I mean we’ve seen them at least twice before…
…most recently at one of those late night concerts about three years ago…
…and before that a wonderful concert at the end of the last decade, at which I bought one of their CDs, Words Of The Angel, which we listen to quite often and which I thoroughly recommend:
Fragments – A Worcester Ladymass, Trio Mediæval, Wigmore Hall, 13 December 2009
But back to the here and now – this 2018 lunchtime concert. This is one of those BBC lunchtime jobbies, so we were in the extremely capable hands of Sara Mohr-Pietsch. Sara stewards these lunchtime concerts with such gentle, kind authority and efficiency, it makes one wonder whether she should be running the country. I suppose the country is a slightly tougher gig, but it could sure use some of the positive characteristics I have just described.
I have previously introduced Trio Mediæval as the Bananarama of mediaeval girl groups. Much like that 1980s pop trio, Trio Mediæval (a product of the 1990s as it happens) seems to have two stable members plus one newbie each time we see them.
The consistent pair are Anna Maria Friman (from Sweden) and Linn Andrea Fuglseth (from Norway), whereas the newbie this time was Jorunn Lovise Husan.
If Anna Maria and Linn Andrea were to pair up with a couple of Swedish blokes, I could start describing them as the Abba of mediaeval vocal music, which might be an even more marketing-friendly epithet. A thought for the girls to ponder, no doubt.
And thoughtful they are. They sing with smiles on their faces. They sing like people who absolutely know and love what they are doing. You sense that there is deep scholarship about mediaeval music in their work, yet also the willingness to adapt, experiment and make the music accessible to modern audiences.
This concert was a mixture of early English chants and motets, plus traditional folk songs from Norway and Sweden. It reads like an odd mix but actually worked very well. It has, each previous time, been a joy to attend their concerts and this one was certainly no exception.
Lulled into a blissful sense of security, Janie lulled me into a gentleman’s outfitters afterwards, helping me to spend far too much money upgrading my rather tired wardrobe. Anyone fancy some second hand jackets and trousers from the Bananarama and/or Abba era?
But I digress.
Here is a link to the Wigmore Hall resource for this concert.
If you want to listen to the whole concert and are hitting this page within 30 days of the broadcast, you are in luck. Here is a link to the BBC iPlayer recording.
If you have missed it or only want to here a snippet or two, here is some of the Worcester Ladymass material we heard:
…and here is a link to a Scandinavian folk song, although not one they sang at this concert:
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