Goldberg Variations, Fretwork, St George's Bristol | reviews, news & interviews
Goldberg Variations, Fretwork, St George's Bristol
Goldberg Variations, Fretwork, St George's Bristol
Bach on viols brings out the polyphony and promotes insomnia
Saturday, 05 March 2011
Fretwork: A smooth tapestry without joins
There are few more beautiful sounds on this planet than a consort of viols well played. Like a quiet conversation overheard from across the room, it combines intimacy and secrecy, together with a kind of conspiratorial subtlety of feeling – intellect and passion fused but disguised. And the sound has a delicacy and refinement hardly matched in any music I know.
There are few more beautiful sounds on this planet than a consort of viols well played. Like a quiet conversation overheard from across the room, it combines intimacy and secrecy, together with a kind of conspiratorial subtlety of feeling – intellect and passion fused but disguised. And the sound has a delicacy and refinement hardly matched in any music I know.
At high speed in an elaborate texture, it can be like walking a tightrope on stilts
Explore topics
Share this article
Add comment
more Classical music
Bevan, Williams, BBCSO, MacMillan, Barbican review - inspirational journey from darkness to light
UK premiere of 'Fiat Lux' alongside other works evoking transcendence and revelation
First Person: conductor Peter Whelan on coming full circle with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra
From watching Handel's 'Israel in Egypt' on TV to conducting it
Hughes, SCO, Kuusisto, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh review - Clyne shines, Grime fragments
Playing and programming admirable, but this concert bulged at the seam
Classical CDs: Cigars, cognac and tarantulas
Concertante works for cello and orchestra, plus music for pianos, winds and solo strings
Winterreise, Clayton, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, QEH review - new maps for the great journey
A mighty tenor surmounts obstacles on stage and in score
Esther, London Handel Festival, St George’s Hanover Square review - a lopsided celebratory oratorio
Anniversary acclaim rooted in the honorary Londoner's first concert drama
First Person: Laurence Cummings on his 25th and final year as Musical Director of the London Handel Festival
A blockbuster month begins tomorrow, mixing starry casts with new talent
Theresienstadt-Terezin 1941-1945, Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall review - memorial music of stunning impact
Masterpieces from composers murdered by the Nazis in a rich day of offerings
Osborne, BBC Philharmonic, Bihlmaier, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - an orchestra at the top of its game
Another Bruckner symphony for the 200th anniversary year
Scottish Ensemble, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall New Auditorium review - making a move
Music and motion combine for an engaging performance
Morison, Big Noise Wester Hailes, RSNO, Søndergård, Usher Hall, Edinburgh - shimmering delicacy and surging swell
Fine Impressionism from resident orchestra, but young players bring the broadest smiles
Murray, Vlaams Radiokor, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - visual ‘interpretation’ blunts sonic brilliance in Szymanowski rarity
Sterling work from conductor and orchestra couldn’t save an incoherent evening
Comments
...