We both thoroughly enjoyed this concert, despite it coming at the end of a remarkably busy day looking at paint, shelving, cricket and tennis.
I had a slight sense of foreboding, recalling that our previous sighting of Sean Shibe at the Wig was in similarly tired circumstances, with some ear-drum splitting electric guitar thrown in to ensure we stayed wide awake.
This concert, with Karim Sulayman, was a far more relaxed and relaxing affair. We heard:
- Henry Purcell – Music for a while from Incidental music for Oedipus, King of Thebes Z583
- John Dowland – • Preludium • Fantasia No. 7 • Time stands still
- Giulio Caccini – Dalla porta d’oriente (you might choose to enjoy this personal favourite on YouTube music)
- Claudio Monteverdi – • Sì dolce è’l tormento SV332 • La mia turca che d’amor
- Trad/Sephardic – La Prima Vez arranged by Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
- Trad/Andalusian – Lamma Bada Yatathanna arranged by Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
- Sayed Darwish – El Helwa Di arranged by Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
- Ziad Rahbani – Li Beirut based on Joaquín Rodrigo arranged by Karim & Fairuz Sulayman & Sean Shibe
- Jonathan Harvey – Sufi Dance
- Layale Chaker – A butterfly in New York
- Tōru Takemitsu – I. Wainscot Pond (after a painting by Cornelia Foss) from In the Woods
- Benjamin Britten – Songs from the Chinese Op. 58 • The Big Chariot • The Old Lute • The Autumn Wind • The Herd-Boy • Depression • Dance Songs
- Encore: Tomás Méndez – Cucurrucucú paloma
We were fully engaged from the Purcell through to and including the enchanting Li Beirut arrangement.
The more modern music, as is often the case, was a struggle for us. I never have “got” those Britten songs and I’m sure now I never will.
Still, the concert was a triumph. Janie especially liked the baroque pieces -not least the Italian songs, and the encore. Which is is just as well because we shall be returning to the Wig three days later (today, as I write) for some more of that sort of thing. Indeed I have only just (subsequent to booking) realised that Karim Sulayman is part of the ensemble that we’ll be hearing.
If you are keen to hear pretty much the whole Broken Branches thing, here is a stream from 2024, when the pair performed the same concert in Philadelphia: