BREMF – Heroines of the Golden Age – Emma Kirkby (soprano) and Jakob Lindberg (lute)

It may have seemed a modest performance, as Dame Emma and Prof. Lindberg rarely sounded louder than mezzo-piano, but their precision and projection reached out to the attentive capacity crowd and held us spellbound. With perfect diction and elegant, stylised Baroque gestures, tales of Cupid and lovers came to life. The lute alone expressed the sad fate of a nightingale!

These masters of the miniature offered us treats composed for the select few of the Tudor and Stuart courts. A lucky chance gave us Purcell’s heart-breaking ‘Dido’s Lament’. Mixing plaint and pleasantry, tragedy and comedy, made it a perfect programme.

CODA: There was a collection for BREMF’s schools’ outreach programme that introduces even more youngsters to the treasures of early music.

St George’s Church, 4 November 2015

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