London Festival of Baroque Music, St John Smith's Square, review: Enlightenment after a drab start
The endangered annual festival is as adventurous as ever
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Lindsay Kemp is to be congratulated for preserving his endangered annual festival, now renamed the London Festival of Baroque Music and as adventurous as ever.
Yet it began with an event in which Masaaki Suzuki, soprano Hana Blazikova and the Bach Collegium Japan delivered some Bach concertos and cantatas with scant regard for their beauty. The violin solos in the D minor double concerto were drably uncharacterised, and Blazikova stabbed thinly at her notes rather than inhabiting them with conviction.
But the second concert was sensational, even if the framing narration was hammed-up. Given by Jeffrey Skidmore and his Ex Cathedra consort and players with Carolyn Sampson as their soprano, it opened up the music of Enlightenment Paris by focusing on works written for Marie Fel, the extraordinary soprano who was Rameau’s muse.
It was also a reminder of what a peerless recitalist Carolyn Sampson is. Her singing has wonderfully expressive grace, retaining all its penetrative power even when diminished to a thread; a trumpet to answer the trumpets, a flute among the flutes.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments