Category: Music

Les Cris De Paris, Ensemble Clément Janequin, Wigmore Hall, 20 May 1999

Janie and I both loved this concert. We weren’t previously familiar with the works of this Renaissance composer, Clément Janequin, nor this eponymous Ensemble.

But by the end of the concert we were familiar with both and had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. All that despite it being a Thursday evening at the end of long working days for both of us and ahead of long working days to boot.

This was the Ensemble’s 20th anniversary programme:

  • Nous Sommes de l’Ordre de Saint Babouyn by Loyset Compere
  • Tant que Vivray / Au Joly Boys / Je ne Menge Point de Porc / Vien Tost by Claudin de Sermisy
  • N’As tu Poinct Mis ton Hault Bonnet / Mon Amy M’Avoit Promis by Ninot le Petit
  • Bransles d’Ecosse / La Romaine by Guillaume Morlaye
  • Mille Regretz / Faulte d’Argent / Douleur Me Bat / El Grillo / Nymphes des Boys / Scaramella by Josquin Desprez
  • Les Cris de Paris / Qu’est-ce d’Amour? / Il Estoit une Fillette / Au Verd Boys/Le Chant des Oyseaulx by Clement Janequin
  • Fantaisie by Albert de Rippe
  • Or Vien Ca / O Mal d’Aymer / Ung Jour Robin / L’Amour, la Mort et la Vie / My Levay Par Ung Matin / La Guerre by Clement Janequin

Twenty years after that, they looked and sounded a bit like this:

The above piece formed part of the concert we heard. The following one did not, but is lovely.

Here follows a video of a whole gig post 2020, which includes several of the works we heard in 1999. Renaissance music never goes out of fashion:

Janie, Me & MTT At The Barbican, 18 April 1999

As if being spotted by Elvis Costello at the theatre wasn’t enough celebrity stuff for one weekend…

Plenty by David Hare, Albery Theatre, 17 April 1999

…we also went to The Barbican Hall to see Michael Tilson Thomas, at the behest of Josh Robison, Michael’s partner/business manager and latterly husband. Janie had started to treat those two a year or so earlier.

MTT more recently

It seemed only polite to go, not least because there was to be a reception after the concert etc.

We heard:

  • Symphony No 21 in A, Joseph Haydn
  • Viola Concerto, Bela Bartok
  • Symphony No 2 in D Major Op 43, Jean Sibelius

We hoity-toitied a bit after the show at the party. I got to meet Josh but only saw MTT from afar.

All good stuff.

Unfinished Business With Schubert & Bruckner, London Symphony Orchestra Under Lorin Maazel, Barbican Hall, 28 February 1999

Another Sunday evening, another trip to the Barbican to see a cracking concert.

Janie thinks that one of her generous Lebanese clients gave us the tickets to this concert and the one the week before, because she had been called away at short notice. Sounds plausible and also most fortuitous, as I might well have chosen both concerts myself.

Schubert’s Symphony No 8 in B Minor, “Unfinished” followed by Bruckner’s Symphony No 7 in E Major.

London Symphony Orchestra under Lorin Maazel.

This was a terrific concert.

The Schubert would have sounded a little like this – a live recording of Lorin Maazel conducting Sonorum Concentus:

The Bruckner would have sounded a bit like this – a live recording of Maazel with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra:

Thanks again to the lovely lady who kindly gave us her tickets.

Resurrection With Myung-Whun Chung & The London Symphony Orchestra At The Barbican Hall, 21 February 1999

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 2 in C Minor “Resurrection” to be precise.

This was a very good concert. I hadn’t heard of Myung-Whun Chung before I booked this concert but was mightily impressed with what we heard and saw.

It possibly looked and sounded a bit like the following – Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by that chap:

Rick Jones in The Standard lauded it…

Myung-Whun Chung StandardMyung-Whun Chung Standard 22 Feb 1999, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…while berating the fact that the hall was far from full. Lorin Maazel was coming later in the week, which might have held some people back.

We most fortuitously got to enjoy a bit of both…

…see next!

Steuerman Does Goldberg At The Wigmore Hall, 11 February 1999

Unusual for us to go to a concert on a Thursday evening in those days. I don’t think I’d yet heard The Goldberg Variations live and was keen to do so.

Jean-Louis Steuerman, that boy can sure tinkle the ivories.

Take my word for it.

Actually, no need for you to take my word for it – here’s that very chap playing that very aria:

I told you he can play.

Kontrabande At The Wigmore Hall, 6 January 1999

25 years ago, Janie and I decided to party like it’s 1999 at the start of 1999. What better to do that than a concert of baroque music at The Wigmore Hall.

These are the pieces we heard/saw:

  • Cantata “Cessate Omai Cessate”, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
  • Sinfonia to Cantata BWV 49, Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Concerto for Oboe d’Amore BWV 1055 (also transcribed Harpsicord), Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Cantata BWV 82 “Ich Habe Genug”, Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Concerto for Viola da Gamba and Recorder in A Minor, Georg Philipp Telemann
  • Cantata BWV 170 “Vergnugte Ruh”, Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Standard previewed the concert thusly:

Standard Kontrabande 6 Jan 1999Standard Kontrabande 6 Jan 1999 06 Jan 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Perhaps there was a change of programme or perhaps my notes missed out the Handel by mistake. I’ll check back to the programme when next I can face the thought of an archaeological dig into my programme collection.

For sure we saw the small chamber ensemble, Kontrabande, with Charles Humphries doing the counter-tenor bit and Clare Salaman on the baroque violin. Sadly, I learn that Clare, who was an expert on strange and ancient instruments, didn’t make it to the 25th anniversary of this Kontrabande concert.

Here’s a video of Clare playing a strange and ancient instrument – the nyckelharpa – I don’t believe I have ever seen this instrument played live:

Here is an audio YouTube of Charles Humphries singing one of the Bach arias we heard, vergnugte Ruh, accompanied by Kontrabande:

While here is the Bremer Baroque Orchestra (similar scale to Kontrabande if I remember correctly) playing the very Telemann concerto we heard back then:

Homage To Marc Chagall, Wigmore Hall, Chagall Trio & Samuel West, 25 October 1998

Sunday night at “The Wig” to see this concert by the Chagall Trio, peppered with readings from Marc Chagall’s autobiography delivered by my old schoolmate, Samuel West.

We heard:

  • Dmitri Shostakovich – Piano Trio No 2 in E Minor, Op 67              
  • Philip Grange – Homage to Chagall       
  • Igor Stravinsky – Rag-time for Eleven Instruments         
  • Aaron Copland – Vitebsk – Study on a Jewish Theme    

Janie is partial to a bit of Chagall, visually, and is fascinated by Chagall’s life story, so the whole idea seemed to tick a lot of boxes for us. It was indeed a super concert that pleased us.

Nash Ensemble At The Wigmore Hall, 13 October 1998

I think we must have been experimenting a bit at The Wigmore Hall for this one, as I don’t think of this music as being Janie’s taste. Perhaps I was especially keen to encourage her to hear the Richard Strauss songs…or at least i was keen to hear them performed live. Olaf Bär certainly gave them some baritone oomph.

We heard:

  • Ludwig van Beethoven – Trio in B Flat Op 11 for Clarinet, Cello and Piano         
  • Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder for Voice and Ensemble     
  • Richard Strauss – Five Songs    
  • Arnold Schoenberg – Verklarte Nacht Op 4 for String Sextet.

I sense that I enjoyed this concert more than Janie did.

Haydn & His English Friends, Wigmore Hall, 20 September 1998

Another Sunday evening concert at the Wigmore Hall, this time to explore the church music of Haydn and his contemporaries with Peter Holman, Psalmody and The Parley of Instruments.

We heard:

  • Joseph Haydn – Three Psalms from Improved Psalmody (Ps 31, Ps 41, Ps 69)  
  • Charles Burney – The Dialogue Hymn: Tell Us, O Women          
  • John Stafford Smith – Horrible is the End of th’Unrighteous Generation             
  • Joseph Haydn – The Emperor’s Hymn: Poco Adagio from the String Quartet in C Major, Op 76/3
  • Joseph Haydn -Give to God Our Thankful Songs
  • William Gardiner of Leicester – Give to God Our Thankful Songs            
  • John Foster of High Green, Yorkshire – The God of Gods the Lord Hath Call’d  
  • Johan Arnold Dahmen – Three Songs from Eleven Sacred Songs           
  • Johan Arnold Dahmen – Two Psalms from Improved Psalmody
  • Samuel Webbe Senior – Where, Lord, Shall My Refuge See      
  • William Shield – My God, My King with Joyful View        
  • Thomas Greatorex – This is the Day the Lord Hath Made            
  • Samuel Webbe Junior – Variations in A Major on “”Adeste Fideles”
  • Joseph Haydn – Three Psalms from Improved Psalmody (Ps 61, Ps 26, Ps 50)

Jolly good it was too, in the hands of these experts.

Alpine Symphony Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 5 September 1998

We took The Duchess (Janie’s mum) with us to this one – the only Prom we did with The Duchess that year. She was partial to youth orchestras, so this Saturday evening concert was the obvious pick for The Duchess that year.

Janie and I lived to tell the tale.

Here is the BBC Proms stub for that concert.

We heard:

  • Andrew March – Marine – a Travers les Arbres
  • Alban Berg – Seven Early Songs
  • Richard Strauss – An Alpine Symphony, Op 64

I don’t think the pre-interval pieces went down so well with us, but we were all there really for The Alpine Symphony.

Hillevi Martinpelto gave the songs some proper soprano wellie.

It was a joy to see Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the European Union Youth Orchestra.

Here is The Telegraph review of that visit:

Prom 63 1998Prom 63 1998 07 Sep 1998, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com