Tag: Emma Kirkby

Pergolesi And Vivaldi, Florilegium, Wigmore Hall, 23 May 2010

A simply delightful concert at the Wigmore Hall. Mostly Pergolesi with a bit of Vivaldi thrown in for good measure.

Janie is especially partial to the Pergolesi Stabat Mater. His less well-known Salve Regina and the instrumental pieces were beautiful. In fact the whole concert was utter tonic for our ears.

Florilegium always look as though they enjoy playing together…for all we know they might be masters of deception on stage and like a nest of vipers in the green room…but we suspect that they are as they seem – a serene, coherent unit.

They were promoting their Pergolesi CD at that time and nearly coaxed me into buying yet another disc, but I do already have a couple of complete Pergolesi Stabat Mater recordings.

Here is a very interesting promotional sample from YouTube, with some of the performers explaining the music:

Oh what the heck, that Pergolesi album of theirs is only £8 as an MP3 download and those other Pergolesi pieces were stunningly beautiful. As I write in November 2017, down it all comes like magic through the ether to my computer!

Don Domingo Scarlatti – An Anniversary Celebration (I) and (II), St John’s Smith Square, 9 May 2007

The Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music was a regular “must visit” for us for several years.  Sadly, the sponsorship ended (I think 2014 was the last year) so the festival is now a shadow of its former self.

On this evening, Janie and I attended both concerts; Carole Cerasi on the Harpsichord early evening and then London Baroque later.  Domingo Scarlatti was the theme (how did you guess?).

Both excellent gigs, well worth the long evening at SJSS.  The relevant extracts from the programme so you can see exactly what we heard are shown below.

Carole Cerasi 9 May 2007London Baroque 9 May 2007

 

Academy Of Ancient Music Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 17 August 1998

This amazing concert was the culmination of a most enjoyable day off in South Kensington, which started with baroque music at the V&A at lunchtime…

BBC Proms Lunchtime Concert, Victoria & Albert Museum, 17 August 1998

…and got better from there.

The “big Prom” in the evening was really quite special. Here is a link to the BBC stub.

We heard:

  • George Frideric Handel – Coronation Anthem ‘The king shall rejoice’
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Violin Concerto in E major
  • George Frideric Handel – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 1 (Overture:) Andante – Allegro
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 2 Alla hornpipe
  • George Frideric Handel – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 1 Sarabande (Minuet)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 2 Rigaudon (Presto)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 4 Lentement
  • George Frideric Handel – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major,  No. 5 Air (Bourrée)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 3 Minuets 1 & 2
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 4 Gigue (Country Dance)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 3 (Trumpet) Minuet
  • George Frideric Handel  – Coronation Anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’
  • Antonio Vivaldi – Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630 (Proms premiere)
  • Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto for Violin, Two Oboes, Two Horns, Cello and Bassoon in F major, RV 571 (Proms premiere)
  • George Frideric Handel – Sing unto God, HWV 263 (Proms premiere)

I’m not usually too keen on baroque in the Albert Hall, but this worked.

Matthew Rye gave it a good write up in The Telegraph:

Prom 39 1998 Rye TelegraphProm 39 1998 Rye Telegraph 18 Aug 1998, Tue The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We agree.