Richard Durrant (guitar) & Howard Beach (harpsichord)

Bach, Vivaldi and Boccherini masterpieces expertly arranged for virtuoso duet. At first I thought Richard’s guitar was being lightly amplified to match the electronic keyboard but no, the still church acoustic held those complex blends of sound perfectly. The Gary Southwell guitar, crafted from 5,000 year-old bog-oak, in such skilled hands sang with so many voices, a beauty to behold and to hear. Howard’s Roland harpsichord too has such finely generated samples. He delivered a wide selection of plucked sounds from soft lute to very bright metallic and also a sweetly chuffing organ. I especially loved their two exhilarating fandangos.

CODA: For lovers of early music, the Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF) starts in earnest next weekend.

St. Paul’s Church, 19 October 2017

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