Wit and Effervescence

Music in the Time of Goya,
by DEREK MURRAY

On 27 November 2015 I had the tremendous good fortune of attending 'Music in the Time of Goya' at the National Gallery in London — a chamber-music concert curated by pianist Helen Glaisher-Hernández as part of a series of 'Late' events at the Gallery relating to their new exhibition, Goya: The Portraits, and organized in collaboration what I have long considered to be the UK's most exciting music society: the Iberian and Latin American Music Society. As I contemplated the opulent and atmospherically-lit setting of Room 36 (otherwise known as the 'Barry Rooms') where Myra Hess performed her historic war-time concerts, I felt very privileged to be one of the lucky few who managed to get a seat to this rather exclusive affair; amongst the eighteenth-century British portraits by Reynolds, Lawrence and Zoffany I found myself in the company of such esteemed guests as Queen Charlotte, Colonel Tarleton and Mrs Oswald. Any fears that we were in for a stuffy evening of ossified classics, however, were soon allayed by the beguiling line-up of young musical talents, who presented a captivating and highly entertaining programme with wit and effervescence.

Amongst various concert hommages to Goya organized this year, Music in the Time of Goya stands out as an especially thoughtful and well-researched response to Goya's art, which confirms Helen Glaisher-Hernández as a highly imaginative and experimental curator...

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