Christopher Hogwood
The Sunday Times
Review
by Paul Driver
1st November 2009
At Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Britten Sinfonia, playing a work by each of the year’s five main anniversary composers, was conducted by Christopher Hogwood, hardly a young thing, though still youthful-seeming, and indelibly associated, for me at least, with that marvellous educational programme he presented on Radio 3 throughout the 1970s, The Young Idea. When he spoke about the items - telling us that they were not thematically linked, but offered a journey through period interpretation from the baroque style of Purcell and Handel to the classicism of Haydn, Mendelssohn’s romanticism and the 20th-century neoclassicism of Martinu - well, it was just like another thought-provoking episode of The Young Idea.
The concert’s unassumingness, the joy these splendid players evidently take in their work, were refreshing after all the self consciousness and grandiosity at the Festival Hall. They do not have a permanent conductor, but choose someone for each project. This was Hogwood’s first appearance with them, and the relationship is clearly productive. The six bright minutes of Purcell’s Fairy Queen overture, followed by Handel’s Concerto Grosso in F, Op.3, No.4, encapsulated his gifts as a baroque specialist, and valveless brass and olden timpani were retained not only for Haydn’s Symphony No. 70, but also for Mendelssohn’s Fair Melusina overture, giving the latter a surprising and fabulous crackling edge. For Marinu’s Sinfonia Concertante, using four soloists from the orchestra, Handel’s harpsichord continuo was replaced by a grand piano, and the music bristled with life.
Calendar
Next Production
Padmore sings Mahler
Bradford on Avon, Cambridge and London
12 - 17 May 2012
Due to family illness, Mark Padmore has had to withdraw from this performance. He will be replaced by baritone Roderick Williams.
Britten Sinfonia at Lunch 4
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
01 May 2012 1:00pm
Renowned tenor, Mark Padmore joins Britten Sinfonia for the final concert in the 2011-12 At Lunch series. At the centre of this programme is a work by British composer, Jonathan Dove, co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall with support from the Tenner for a Tenor campaign.
Britten Sinfonia at Lunch 4
Wigmore Hall, London
02 May 2012 1:00pm
Renowned tenor, Mark Padmore joins Britten Sinfonia for the final concert in the 2011-12 At Lunch series. At the centre of this programme is a work by British composer, Jonathan Dove, co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall with support from the Tenner for a Tenor campaign.
Norfolk & Norwich Festival - Padmore Sings Mahler
St Andrew's Hall, Norwich
11 May 2012 7:30pm
Due to family illness, Mark Padmore has had to withdraw from this performance. He will be replaced by baritone Roderick Williams.
Padmore sings Mahler
Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon
12 May 2012 7:30pm
Due to family illness, Mark Padmore has had to withdraw from this performance. He will be replaced by baritone Roderick Williams.
Padmore sings Mahler
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
16 May 2012 7:30pm
Due to family illness, Mark Padmore has had to withdraw from this performance. He will be replaced by baritone Roderick Williams.
Padmore sings Mahler
Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
17 May 2012 7:30pm
Due to family illness, Mark Padmore has had to withdraw from this performance. He will be replaced by baritone Roderick Williams.
Brighton Festival - Mahler & Schubert
Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, Brighton
19 May 2012 7:30pm
Due to family illness, Mark Padmore has had to withdraw from this performance. He will be replaced by baritone Roderick Williams.
Bury St Edmunds Festival
The Apex, Bury St. Edmunds
20 May 2012 7:30pm
Britten Sinfonia returns to the festival for in 2012.
Brighton Festival - King Priam
Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, Brighton
27 May 2012 7:00pm
‘I have to sing songs for those who can’t sing for themselves. Those songs come from the torments and horrors that have happened. I can’t lose faith in humanity.’ Sir Michael Tippett
Britten Sinfonia at Museo Reina Sofia
Museo Reina Sofia , Madrid
28 May 2012 7:30pm
Fabián Panisello conducts his song cycle Libro del Frio with soprano Allison Bell and Britten Sinfonia
