Liszt - Oxford Philomusica (piano: Mark Viner; Dina Duisen; Ashley Fripp) 8 September 2011
Telemann, Watkins and Bach - Simone Lamsma (violin) 9 September 2011
Gabrielli, Crumb, Bach - Paul Watkins (cello) 9 September 2011
The King's Place Festival is a real extravaganza of music and spoken word performances and events. Running over 4 days, there are over a hundred events to choose from - all bite-sized at 45 minutes each, and all costing a fantastically good value £4.50 each (£3.60 for bookings of ten tickets or more). We spent a very pleasant couple of afternoons and evenings drifting from one thing to the next and hugely enjoying the variety of experiences available - ranging from Mozart's Magic Flute adapted for wind octet, through to Jazz in the 30s, delivered with panache and polish by the Jazz Repertory Company, and then onto an eclectic mix of talks, classical recitals, chamber music, folk and blues, comedy/performance poetry, and singer/songwriters. In between we sampled the cheese and fine food in the food hall and lounged around in the beautiful canal-side surroundings of the relatively new Kings Place complex, London's newest classical performance venue (http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/home). All in all, very highly recommended for September 2012.
Three of the performances we attended were solo recitals by up and coming young musicians, and I thought it was worth saying a few words about how striking such performances are. We were very lucky on all three occasions to be up close and personal, at the front of the auditorium, and able therefore to truly experience the sheer physicality of the performance. In this age of perfectly mastered recordings and huge concert venues it is easy to forget how much bodily exertion goes into stellar performance that often looks entirely effortless. But the sound of the bow on the strings close up, the dexterity of the fingers that run across the piano keys, and the sweat on the brow of the performer say otherwise. It was moving to witness the commitment and excellence of these young soloists.
More on the Kings' Place Festival to follow soon....
SB
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