Review: European Union Baroque Orchestra
Having settled myself into St. Canice’s Cathedral to film a portion of James Vincent McMorrow’s haunting performance (See the video for Midlake’s Roscoe on the blog from earlier in the week), I made my way to The Black Abbey for 8pm for a night of baroque music exploring the work of generations of one of Germany’s greatest classical music exports, the Bach family.
One of my favourite performances on the classical strand of the festival last year was the Tallis & Byrd performance, partly due to the performance and partly due to the use of the venue.
Where St. Canice’s Catherdral brings out the epic side of a performance, whether it’s one man and a guitar or an entire festival choir, the Black Abbey tends to bring out the more intimate side of a performance, despite still holding a considerably large crowd. This was the case for Sunday night.
The programme opened with great vigour as the sounds of JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G major filled the abbey, concluding on rapturous applause before additional members of the European Baroque Orchestra appeared from the wings to start Johann Christian Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in F minor C73, the harpsichord at the hands of music director Lars Ulrik Mortensen (also artistic director of Concerto Copenhagen)..
The final piece before the interval introduced Wilhelm Friedemann Bach through his Sinfonia in F major, Falck 67. After the break and a much needed rest it was the turn of Johann Bernhard Bach’s Ouverture in G minor followed by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sinfonia in B Flat major Wq/ 182/2.
I think my first reaction to the night and the opening piece was something like “ooooh…. I know this one”, and it took off from there. Bach was no stranger around the family home growing up and opening as they did really set the tone for the night. It was a performance full of energy, smiles, enthusiasm and at times quite dazzling. Considering the group of 25 musicians have six months to train, tour and perform all around the world, they arrived in Kilkenny in breathtaking form.
While from the filming side of things it’s great to see the reactions and enjoyment of the faces of the performers, it was equally as interesting and entertaining to watch Lars Ulrik Mortensen in action who was turning this Baroque music machine up, down, in and out with the flick of a shoulder, the nod of a head, the wave of a finger as if painting each note to be played with his entire body. Thoroughly enjoyable
Take a look and a listen to some of the clips below and don’t forget that the classical strand continues with a series of lunchtime performances over the next few days include Amarilli Trio, Camerata Kilkenny (also at the Black Abbey) and of course, the Festival Choir & Orchestra on Saturday night.
- Ken
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