Travel, Theatre, Music, Cricket, Tennis, Writing, Life
I’m not sure why we feel this way, but we sense something a little cliquey and clinical about the Academy of Ancient Music – perhaps it is the corporate-style branding.
The music of course is beautiful. Not quite sure why I chose this particular serving of fairly standard baroque concert fare, especially on an inconvenient Wednesday night for Janie. I think I might have been itching to hear the BWV1042 violin concerto live and wondering about Locatelli.
We enjoyed it all well enough.
Good gig this, at the end of a culture vulture week – two visits to the theatre Friday and Saturday, then this concert at The Wig on the Sunday.
We heard:
Ciaccona were very good.
I cannot find Ciaccona performances on-line. But here are some decent substitutes if you want to hear the programme.
Ich habe Genug is normally sung by a baritone, but here is a soprano singing it – albeit not Julia Gooding:
This might have been the first time we saw Ton Koopman lead the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Decades later, we helped Ton celebrate his 80th birthday.
Excellent they were too, both in 2024 and in 2001.
In 2001 we saw/heard:
Here is the andante from the Wassenaer:
I cannot find a recording of Koopman’s lot doing the Farina, as it were, but this Irish interpretation is rather jolly:
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman did most of their recording of this type of stuff in the late 1980s. Here’s an example of their Brandenburg Concerto performances:
Janie and I were partial to the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and also we are Telemaniacs, so this concert was an obvious one to book, even coming so soon after another delicious-looking Baroque concert on the preceding Sunday.
We were not disapointed.
We heard:
Below are some good embeds of the above pieces:
I sense that this particular collection of musicians under this particular “olde worlde nayme” did not last long, despite the plaudits.
But what a lovely concert. Sunday evening bliss.
I have replicated the gig below with some excellent versions in YouTube embeds.
Unusually, this was an afternoon, not an evening concert. It had a very geeky name for a very beautiful concert.
Technically speaking – geeky people took great pains to point out when we all celebrated the new millennium on 31 December 1999 – as there had not been a year zero – the real millennium must be 31 December 2000. The fact that calendars had changed, days added and all sorts was put to one side for those who wanted to celebrate the new millennium on 31 December 2000.
Janie and I just wanted to see this lovely concert and we were not disappointed. We were very keen on Florilegium and Emma Kirkby and the programme was enticing:
Here is a nice vid of James Galway with the Ventian Soloisti under Claudio Scimoni playing La Notte:
Here’s Maria Keohane singing Susser Trost – very Christmassy it sounds to me:
Here is the start of the Pergolesi Salve Regina performed by Florilegium, with Robin Blaze, not with Emma Kirkby. I love this album, which I think I bought at that time – possibly that very night.
Here’s a link to the whole album on YouTube Music.
Here’s Emma Kirkby singing Sweet Bird, with the Academy for Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood – then Music For A While.
Oh boy, can she sing.
I don’t think Florilegium and Emma Kirkby have ever recorded together, so you’ll just need to take our word for it that the combination for the real millennium was the real deal…
…or, as we put it in my log:
Super.
A lovely concert of fairly standard baroque fare, beautifully performed by Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante.
We heard:
There’s not much video of Europa Galante from that early period of their existence – but this one of them performing the delicious Vivaldi RV558 gives a good idea of what they looked and sounded like back then.
The inclusion of some WF Bach was a bit unusual. Biondi hasn’t recorded it and I’m not allowed to embed the linked vid, but you can click through to a video of some other Italian geezers performing it – here.
The Vivaldi RV157 also seems to be a bit rare – Biondi has not recorded it. It’ a very sweet piece. Here is the Iris Ensemble performing it.
If you are in search of the sound of Europa Galante with Fabio Biondi playing lots of Vivaldi of the Op 3 and Op 8 variety, then this playlist of mine on YouTube Music will be for you.
Alternatively, if the orchestral works of WF Bach float your boat, then this playlist is for you. I am pretty sure I bought the first album on that playlist on the back of hearing that sinfonia at The Wig that night.
Gluttons for punishment that year – Janie and I took The Duchess to the Proms yet again.
This concert would have very much been my choice – perhaps endorsed by her ladyship. I am especially partial to Bach two violin concertos and a bit of Mozart 29. The English Chamber Orchestra were one of my favoured bands too. Maxim Vengerov too – what was not to like?
We heard:
Here’s a vivacious live performance of the Bach concerto by the Academie fur Alte Kakes:
Recordings & performances of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in D are as rare as rocking horse shit, but Yehudi Menuhin recorded it:
…and here’s the Concertgebouw lot giving Mozart 29th the full tilt:
Geoffrey Norris liked the gig:
Article from 21 Aug 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)
We ate at Atlantis again afterwards. At least it was a Friday evening this time, with no great urgency to rise the next day.
To mark the 250th anniversary of Bach’s demise, the Wigmore Hall treated us to a concert entirely comprising his music:
I don’t think the Purcell Quartet ever recorded The Art of Fugue. It does sound great in the string quartet format – here’s the Emerson Quartet’s recording:
The Purcell Quartet did record Bach trio sonatas around that time – the recording sounds great to my ears. I’ll be listening to all of these later – here’s a sample:
I cannot find Fretwork recordings of the pieces we heard that night, but this Netherlands Bach Society recording of “Trauerode” is rather lovely – albeit a larger orchestra than we heard at The Wig:
Here’s a recording of Nancy Argenta singing an aria from a different Bach cantata. It’s a rather yummy sound:
This concert will have been just the ticket for us after a busy week. No doubt one or both of us nodded off during some stage of the proceedings…in a good way.
Janie really was on a Baroque kick at that time – we even booked a Monday evening concert on a working day. Janie had cunningly arranged to see Carita, our dental hygienist, around the corner in Cavendish Square, but then ended up having to move that appointment. Once again, in the end, I recall that Janie hot-footed it (if you can hot-foot in a car) to the Wig, after making a late client visit.
But it was worth it.
I had encouraged Janie to see Roy Goodman and The Brandenburg Consort, as her treasured recording of the Brandenburg Concertos is their 1992 recording – and jolly good it is too.
Anyway, this concert focussed more on CPE than JS Bach, and was mostly an opportunity for Rachel Brown to show off her flute skills, which she did with aplomb.
We heard:
Below is a link to Rachel Brown performing some utterly delightful Quantz with Roy Goodman and his other lot – The Hanover Band.
Here is the JS Bach Sinfonia from BWV 209 which we heard at the end of the concert:
You’ll get the idea – the concert on 17 July 2000 was a feast for our ears – we metaphorically floated home.
