THE CAMBRIDGE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL - TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Freya Goldmark
Gavin Bryars, the De Profundis choir, pianist Joanna MacGregor , pianist Bengt Forsberg, Anne Sofie von Otter’s collaborator, string quartet Quatuor Confluence- some of the stars signed for this explosion of music miraculously materialised this very year. Not to mention Freya Goldmark its stellar Director.
News of the return of this Cambridge Summer Music Festival floats, like Jeannie in the song, like a zephyr on the summer air. Can we really believe life has returned in glorious Technicolor? It seems an age since warm July nights in our city meant music in the gloaming, song in the sunset or lunchtime live concerts in a lazy afternoon. But it really is back again, thanks to the energy of the organisers and in particular festival director Freya Goldmark and festival adviser David Hill. They have doubtless ridden a rickety rollercoaster of knife- edge arrangements to conjure such an exuberant line up .
Here it is . Just reading the names of the artists gives me a thrill before I have heard a note. Performance of the voice celebrates its eternal effect on the human spirit with the renowned director Robert Hollingworth and the De Profundis choir a mix of sacred music marking the quincentenary of Renaissance composer Josquin Desprez, leading light of the Franco-Flemish school of polyphony including pieces by Palestrina, Nicolas Champion, Gombert and Pierre de la Rue.
In stark contrast is Gavin Bryars’ celebrated work, Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, led by Bryars with his GB Ensemble. Built around a 26-second looped recording of a nameless rough sleeper singing outside Waterloo station, if you haven’t heard this piece it is a triumph of musicality, with harmony working to a moving climax. More instrumental works from this legendary English composer are part of this surprising presentation.
Gavin Byars performing Jesus Blood Never Failed me Yet
Handel is heroically back with arias by mezzo-soprano Thalie Knights and Julian Perkins on harpsichord, plusinstrumental works by Delius and Scarlatti. Mezzo-soprano Lucy Taylor sings songs by Poulenc,Brahms, Rachmaninov, Delius, and Richard Rodney Bennett in a celebration of childhood, accompanied by pianist Jeremy Thurlow.
Already salivating?
That’s befoere you’ve made the French Connection the perfect cultural substitute to a holiday in La Belle France. Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg takes the audience on a thrilling tour of 19th century French music, including Saint-Saëns’ Valse Nonchalante and Fauré’s Barcarolle No. 10, plus other works by Charles Alkan, Chabrier, Chaminade, and Poulenc, plus Frank Bridge’s Piano Sonata in a gesture of cross-Channel daring détente.
Festival Director and internationally acclaimed violinist, Freya Goldmark links up with Forsberg, cellist Ben Tarlton and clarinetist Joseph Shiner for a performance of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. First heard in a German prisoner-of-war camp in 1941 ,in the decades since, this amazing piece has only gathered in meaning and power. To hear it live rendered by such an illustrious ensemble is a life changing experience
And there are lighter instrumental moments. The Faust Chamber Orchestra returns under the baton of Mark Austin to play Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, narrated by violinist Tasmin Little, alongside Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings. Making this concert even more eclectic, it includes the world premiere of a new work by rising star and young British composer, Charlotte Harding. And it doesn’t come more French and fun when the same orchestra gives us two unbeatable pieces in two unforgettable works inspired by the City of Light – Delius’ Paris: Song of a Great City and Gershwin’s An American in Paris, plus works by Debussy and Dukas. Contrast? Colour? Vibrant juxtaposition of the popular and the playful You got it!
It comes to something when Joanna Magregor such a star in her own right is down the list of delights. She summons the delights of birdsong with a lighthearted programme inspired by these winged summer visitors. With works by Rameau, Couperin, Messiaen, and Ravel, she recreates in the concert hall the experience of being serenaded by songbirds in the garden. In addition Joanna will give an eclectic programme of piano music mixing Byrd, Handel and Purcell alongside Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt.
Gavin Byars’ CB Ensemble stars in this year’s concerts with a classic of experimental music Sinking of the Titanic. It reimagines the ghostly sounds of the doomed ship’s band playing on as they sink beneath the icy north Atlantic. Extrarodinary – like every piece in this brilliant Festival
An utterly unmissable concert will surely be the Quatuor Confluence, a brilliant young quartet with a Franco-British origin story, who give a lunchtime performance of Schubert, Wolf, and Ravel, and the hugely acclaimed Festival Freya Goldmark returns for a performance of Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in G major and Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, alongside Quatuor Confluence with Bengt Forsberg on piano. Lovers of period instruments and historically-informed performance will be thrilled by Chiaroscuro Quartet, playing pieces by Haydn and Mendelssohn on gut strings with historically-correct bows.
Cellist Alexander Baillie and pianist Nigel Yandell team up for a lunchtime concert of unexpected contrasts with Debussy’s Cello Sonata alongside works by Delius, Janáček and Martinu. The following day, David Hill and David Ponsford take the audience on high-velocity double-harpsichord maneuvres through colourful pieces by Vivaldi and Couperin, closing with Bach’s beloved Brandenburg Concerto No. 6.
Concerts I shall certainly have my name down for : saxophonist Jonathan Radford and pianist Ashley Fripp playing Debussy and Franck. Violinist Maria Włoszczowska and pianist Bengt Forsberg team up for Walton’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, while rising star, pianist Julian Trevelyan, plays Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, considered by some a worthy rival to Bach’s renowned Goldberg Variations.
And finally for this gallop through the Festival my feet will draw me to Classico Latino brings a mix of bolero and tango, samba along with other more exotic musical styles, in a colourful and percussive concert. How we have missed dance music and suddenly unbelievably it’s here alonsg with so much we need and long for to make our spirits soar as only music can.
For the full Festival programme visit https://cambridgesummermusic.com/ and book now. No hesitation needed - every single event be it a strange or heartwarmingly familiar will reach those parts nothing else can.
24 concerts from Friday 17 July to Saturday 31 July
