Wednesday 10th August 2011 - 7.30pm
Handel
- Ode to St Cecilia’s Day
(HWV 76) in a new performing edition
- Look Down Harmonious Saint
(HWV 124)
- Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No 7 in B flat
(HWV 325)
Ludus Baroque, Canongate Kirk
"After the success of their Alexander’s Feast, and subsequent recording, the vocal and instrumental forces of Ludus Baroque could only move on to Handel’s Ode – or, as named on this occasion, Song – for St Cecilia’s Day, which was what they did this week in an atmospheric performance in the sympathetic surroundings of Canongate Kirk.
From the opening concerto grosso, the second to be heard in the course of the evening, to the flourishes of the final Grand Chorus, which needed fewer than 20 alert voices to make
its effect, the performance conducted by Richard Neville-Towle said much for Handel’s illustrative inventions. Song, indeed, was the word, and the entire work was Handel’s
enhancement of Dryden’s soft complaining flute, trumpet’s loud clangour, sharp violins and heavenly harmony.
To hear the text first spoken by David Jackson Young, then enlivened by two fine soloists (Ed Lyon keenly articulate in his call to arms, Mary Bevan serenely lyrical in her chain of
solos) and the baroque cellist who shone amid the fine array of instrumentalists, spoke eloquently for Handel’s mastery. A short cantata, Look Down Harmonious Saint, championed by
the crisp-voiced Ed Lyon, served as prelude. Though a few pauses needed tightening up, the message was clear. Fewer Messiahs, and more of this sort of thing, would do us all a
world of good."
Conrad Wilson, Herald Scotland, 12 Aug 2011
Star rating: ****
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Thursday 11th August 2011 - 7pm
Bach
Ludus Baroque, Canongate Kirk Riveting ritual
"Bach’s choral works – the B minor Mass, the Christmas Oratorio – form the pillars of Ludus Baroque’s repertoire, with Handel supplying the decoration.
It is a beneficial mix, in which the B minor Mass, the group’s annual prelude to the Edinburgh Festival, has become more a matter of riveting ritual than mere routine.
Nothing about it is wholly fixed. On this occasion an off-stage thunderclap contributed violently to the Osanna in Excelsis, and the voice of a counter-tenor – Tim Mead, Scottish
Opera’s recent Orlando – added high expressiveness to the Agnus Dei. The precarious trumpet curlicues mingled drama with delight in the big choruses. The timpanist, in whom a
mohawk hairstyle and an ear piercing converged with the music’s baroque splendour, was a sensational presence.
But binding it all together were Richard Neville-Towle and his 19 choristers, selected from other small groups of their kind, adeptly conveying the riches of the score. The long unfurling of the opening Kyrie was filled with light and shade, and instrumental contributions had the same fine chiaroscuro.
Ed Lyon and Mary Bevan were again sterling soloists, the tenor delivering a rapt Benedictus, the soprano showing how sweetly she could soar out of the softness of her lower register."
Conrad Wilson, Herald Scotland, 13 Aug 2011
Star rating: ****
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