23 Jan 2005

Cantors & Capellmeisters at Queen Elizabeth Hall

WHEN a programme contains music by Gregor Aichinger, Philipp Friedrich Böddecker, Daniel Bollius and Johann Christoph Pezel, to name only four (or is it ten?), an auditorium less than full might, unfortunately, be suspected. These are 17th-century German worthies known largely to scholars alone. But why can’t audiences be more adventurous? In that century you’re bound to get memorable tunes, catchy rhythms, enticing counterpoint: I don ’t see what the problem is.

New London Consort

Geoff Brown at Queen Elizabeth Hall

WHEN a programme contains music by Gregor Aichinger, Philipp Friedrich Böddecker, Daniel Bollius and Johann Christoph Pezel, to name only four (or is it ten?), an auditorium less than full might, unfortunately, be suspected. These are 17th-century German worthies known largely to scholars alone. But why can't audiences be more adventurous? In that century you're bound to get memorable tunes, catchy rhythms, enticing counterpoint: I don 't see what the problem is.

Besides, after years of happy concerts can't the New London Consort be trusted? Philip Pickett, their ringleader, has never unearthed a dud yet, certainly not in this Cantors & Capellmeisters programme dedicated to Bach's friends and precursors. Vocal cantatas sweet and gracious; a sinewy Buxtehude chaconne; concertos, suites: all dispatched by the most gifted and sure-footed singers and musicians. When Julia Gooding unleashes her rich, round soprano, or Adrian Chandler dances on his violin, or David Staff's trumpet tootles on high, no one should stay away.

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