An Evening of Brandenburgs

We're in London, continues...

Yesterday morning I got an email from our friend Claire that a friend had dropped out of a concert that evening so she had an extra ticket and was I interested in going. The concert was: Trevor Pinnock conducting and playing all six J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concertos! Um... that would be YES!

She only had one ticket and coincidentally John was going to a business meeting/dinner last night and I was going to be on my own. Not anymore! I'm going to hear Bach's Brandenburg Concertos! Complete! By Trevor Pinnock!

John was as excited for me as I was. The reason for all this excited jumping up and down is that Bach's Brandenburg Concertos transformed my life when I heard them for the first time in 1968. Up to that point I thought classical music was boring and I wasn't interested in it. But when I heard Bach's Brandenburg Concertos I was astonished. They were the most amazing music I had ever heard and I still feel that they are the most beautiful music ever written. I love them so much that I have a couple dozen recordings of them. (I think I have even more than I listed on the web site, I'm behind in my updating, as usual.)

I arranged to meet Claire and Dan at Cadogan Hall before the concert. When the time approached I walked to the Leicester Square tube station but when I descended into the depths of The Underground, the platform was so packed with people you couldn't even get on it. Then they announced that the next train would be in ten minutes. That meant that when the train did arrive, people were going to be squished up against the windows from the inside and there wasn't a chance in hell any of us squished together on the full platform were going to get on that train. So, I left and went back up to the street where it took me a nervous few minutes to track down a taxi. That's it for the tube for me. It's just too nuts at rush hour. Even though it can be the taxi ride from hell through hideous traffic, it ends up being easier than the tube. Last night, the taxi ride wasn't too bad. I just love watching out the window and passing historic sights like Buckingham Palace. Even after all these years it's still a thrill.

I arrived at Cadogan Hall early, as I always do, and ordered glass of champagne while I waited for Claire and Dan to arrive. They did and we all had champagne before the concert. They are our peeps, I love it.

I have admired Trevor Pinnock for many years. His solo harpsichord recordings are some of my favorites, and his dozens of recordings with the English Concert are all a must-have. Last night, he conducted and played with the European Brandenburg Ensemble, who are a group of musicians he hand-picked for the specific purpose of recording and performing Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Their new recording was also released last night and I'm going to buy the download asap.

Well. The concert was a level of perfection I rarely see. Every note was exquisite, every melody and phrase was beautiful. Trevor Pinnock's harpsichord solo in Concerto No. 5 was stunning. I couldn't believe I was hearing such amazing music being played right in front of me by one of my idols. It was definitely another verklempt moment.

During the interval, we headed back down to the bar for a bottle of champagne. Yes, a bottle. Claire and Dan are definitely my peeps. Now, the reason I was invited last night is because their friend Mary's husband was the one who had backed out of going. But their friend Mary was there and not only was it a pleasure to meet her but I discovered that it was her house that Andrew Garlick and Sophie Yates had taken me to, to try out harpsichords! Amazing coincidence.

After finishing our bottle of champane we went back upstairs to hear three more Brandenburgs. Astonishing again. I never get tired of hearing this music and know every note of it. What a pleasure it was hearing these familiar melodies played so beautifully. And to hear all six concertos at once is a rare event, I really loved it.

After the concert, Trevor Pinnock was signing cd's downstairs and was already at the table signing and meeting people when we got to the bar. What a kind and generous man, I am so impressed. I was tempted but really didn't want to stand in a long line just to meet him for 30 seconds while he met a hundred other people. I'm sure a photo for the blog would not have been a possible anyway. But I did meet him once before which was really wonderful.

Thank you, Claire and Dan (and Mary) for inviting me to an extraordinary musical evening. You are my peeps!

Comments

[Alastair]

Ha ha. I was there too. You can see my head in the photos as I was in the front row, to the far left on the one where they are all standing up. I sat there so I could watch Trevor Pinnock's fingerwork on the harpsichord - as I play also and to me he is the greatest harpsichordist of the modern age. I found out something odd after this concert - I did go up to get my CD signed, and found Pinnock is left-handed. Must be pretty unusual for a keyboard player, but Glenn Gould was also - and both have a peerless technique.
I also wrote the wikipedia entry on Pinnock that's linked from the blog entry, and I'm a big user of Bookmooch. Pleasing to see that other people appreciate Trevor Pinnock too - maybe you could get him to do some more solo recordings for Magnatune or something.