Reviews

Sligo Festival of Baroque Music

Model Arts and Niland Gallery has just hosted the best line-up of baroque music this country has ever seen. The Sligo Festival of Baroque Music has matured. From the start, Rod Alston has been its guiding light, and for the bank holiday weekend he and Suzanne Woods, the acting director of the Model Arts and Niland Gallery, put on a well-devised, thematic programme of 10 concerts, with musicians of international standing, and master classes and workshops.

The presence in the opening concert of an iconic figure set a standard which barely faltered. A main theme was the chamber cantata, three of which were sung by soprano Emma Kirkby, with four instrumentalists from London Baroque. Impeccably stylish playing helped make this an evening to remember. And then there was that perfect voice, so controlled, with an always-beautiful sound. It is very English - so chaste that it masks passion with gentility and never disturbs.

Decorum was not a priority in Julia Gooding's recital, which included strong contributions from Eleanor Dawson (baroque flute), Richard Sweeney (theorbo) and Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba). Anyone who thought that French-baroque vocal music is a bit nancy would have received a rude awakening. This English soprano's blend of passion, subtlety, technical control and perfect diction blew your socks off! Another fine soprano, Ghislaine Morgan, sang cantatas by Handel, Telemann, Vivaldi and Scarlatti. In an enjoyable concert she, plus Peter Wells (recorder), Síle Daly (baroque oboe) and Graeme McCullough (harpsichord) comprised a game though not always reliable group.

The festival ended magnificently with 17th-century German and Italian music from Camerata Kilkenny. Not even a scintillating trio sonata by Biber and concerted motets by Schütz and Tunder eclipsed Monteverdi's Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. What can? John Elwes was in his strongest demonstrative form as the narrator, the title roles were ably taken by Mark Ennis and Elizabeth Goell, and the contributions of the six instrumentalists brimmed with energy. It was one of those combinations of poetry, music and performance which left you speechless.

There were some impressive instrumental concerts. Peter Wells (recorder) and Graeme McCullough (harpsichord) played music from 18th-century Dublin, and The Dublin Viols plus guests played six-part fantasy-suites by William Lawes. Despite rough edges, they made this intricate style, designed for performers, work in an intimate concert setting.

The festival's main instrumental theme was the virtuoso violin, and here too the first concert set quite a standard. In German and Italian music for unaccompanied violin, Elizabeth Wallfisch showed complete yet informal mastery. She did it again in a concert of music by Buxtehude, Muffat and Bach, which included compelling solo contributions from Malcolm Proud (harpsichord) and Richard Tunnicliffe (cello).

Then there were the four young musicians of Phantasticus. Their playing of mid-17th-century Italian and German chamber music could have stood up anywhere - and it was all so stylish. Less than 10 years ago, such a standard in baroque repertoire from a predominantly Irish group would have been inconceivable. One can readily hear flautists more spectacular than Julia Dickson but rarely does one encounter such insight. Her playing of Bach's Sonata in E minor BWV1034, and the impeccable continuo playing of Malcolm Proud (harpsichord) and Sarah Cunningham (viola da gamba) helped to make this work the subtle highlight of a programme which included Marais, Leclair and Morel, and which featured Sarah Groser as the second gamba player. It was one of the best concerts in a truly extraordinary weekend.

 - Martin Adams