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Brilliantly Invigorating
MIKE WHEELER listens to the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
All six of J S Bach's Brandenburg Concertos in one go is just the sort of project the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment seems to thrive on. Stopping off at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall as part its tour of the programme (Nottingham, UK, 4 May 2017), the OAE turned in a brilliantly invigorating evening to which I would happily have dragged anyone still resistant to period instruments and the performance practices that go with them.
In Concerto No 1 Bach brought outdoor horns indoors for probably the first time, and attached a brief French-style dance suite on to the Venetian three-movement concerto format. It made a bold, colourful opening which, after a moment or two adjusting the balance, quickly got into its stride, the horns' (Roger Montgomery and Nicholas Benz) engaging mixture of smoothness and rasps joined with Katharina Spreckelsen's solo oboe to colour the sound in a delightful way...
Copyright © 12 May 2017
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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