Schubertiade success
London 2012 Festival and Brighton Festival’s first ever Summer Schubertiade - in association with CMP Festival, Charleston and Alfriston Summer Music - has been met with universal acclaim as both audience members and press hail the series of intimate concerts a success.
The Schubertiade (a series of events that celebrate the music of Franz Schubert) saw London 2012 Festival and Brighton Festival team up with three local festivals and venues to combine the music of Schubert with that of Hungarian composer György Kurtág for a trio of Saturday evening chamber recitals across East Sussex.
'high class music making in beautiful surroundings' The Argus
The first concert - as part of Clifton Montpelier Powis Festival’s closing weekend on Saturday July 21 - saw the Heath Quartet perform Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D.804 (Rosamunde), Mendelssohn‘s String Quartet No. 1 in E flat, Op.12, and explore Kurtág’s 6 Moments Musicaux, Op. 44 – a piece that includes Footfalls; which originated as the first movement of Kurtag’s earliest surviving composition.
'I am so grateful that I was introduced to the unfamiliar Kurtág works by such convincing and sensitive performances' ***** Latest 7
The quartet returned to the region for the Schubertiade’s third and final evening at Alfriston Summer Music Festival on Saturday August 4, accompanied by award-winning cellist Philip Higham to perform Haydn’s String Quartet in B flat, Op. 33 No. 4, Kurtág’s 12 Microludes, Op. 13 (1977) and Schubert’s String Quartet in C, D.956.
“A sublime performance of a sublime work”– Lark Reviews [on Schubert’s String Quintet in C]
The trio of performances was completed by award-winning baritone Marcus Farnsworth and pianist James Baillieu, who filled Charleston Barn with Schubert‘s Songs from Schwanengesang, Kurtág‘s Holderlin-Gesange. Op. 35a and Britten‘s Songs & Proverbs of William Blake on Saturday July 28.
'Farnsworth’s rich tone and perfect diction was complemented wonderfully by Baillieu’s attentive characterisation and virtuosity. Let’s hope this excellent partnership comes back to Sussex soon' ***** Latest 7