Friday, 27 July 2007
A lovely sunny day for my second and last attendance at the Bach Festival. (There is a very nice-sounding concert here tomorrow but it clashes with a Prom for which I've booked.)
- Buxtehude: Cantata, Gott, hilf mir - fabulous!!
- Buxtehude: Sonata ex G for two violins & viola da gamba - some pretty corners and some very fine playing but it neither blew my horn nor rang my bell. Why? I'm not sure. My fault, not the band or Buxtehude. Maybe I was distracted by its frame of cantatas. Anyway I couldn't really get a handle on the structure and felt as if I didn't know what was going on. I'd be very happy to hear this again but today I fear Buxtehude was somewhat let down by my concentration or lack thereof. More coffee Vogel? Yes please, and a side order of coffee perhaps...
- Bach - Cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste (‘Actus Tragicus’) BWV 106 - I really loved this too but have no decent notes on it. Having been written for a funeral it is no song and dance routine but is nevertheless affirmative and uplifting and was performed accordingly. Prize for "Bluntest Lyric "goes to Bestellle dein Haus, denn du wirst sterben und nicht lebendig bleiben which sounds great in German but translates (somewhat broadly speaking) as "pack your bags pal, you're stuffed" (Isaiah 38:1). Fantastic singing, great orchestral playing, trumpets a bit quiet (well more sort of absent really), but hey.
I wish I had more to say about this rather good concert but I couldn't write too much at it due to audience proximity; and my journey home, for reasons to be droned on about elsewhere, was non-standard, so that's me pretty much blogged out.
Oh - except - remember I thought my coffee beans estimate (do try to keep up) was so far over the top as to be almost insane? Yes, well the result was actually ~2400 more than my guess, and I didn't even make the top four. Go figure (aha).There's a lesson here but I have no idea what it could possibly be. "Next time burgle the church and count them" perhaps? Or maybe "Allow for greater interlocking and settlement, increasing your layer count by 1.4"? Nah, a bit too specific. Lessons you learn from things like this are supposed to be more general stuff like "follow your star, little sparrow" or "remember your coffee bean is someone else's hot drink" (what?). Maybe I'll just stick with "mind the gap".
1 comment:
I should have added that this particular concert was sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers. I thought this was very nice of them and I will certainly make sure I use one of their members should I ever need to get some wax chandled.
Post a Comment