Mingardo, Gritton, The English Concert, Bicket, Barbican | reviews, news & interviews
Mingardo, Gritton, The English Concert, Bicket, Barbican
Mingardo, Gritton, The English Concert, Bicket, Barbican
Sober, thoughtful, affecting and edifying: Handel, Vivaldi and Pergolesi at their best
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Sara Mingardo: 'With her glasses perched on the end of her pretty nose - which was in turn perched on the end of a very pretty face - a scholarly feel emanated from her divine exhortations'
Before Mozart, there was Pergolesi. The 18th century couldn't get enough of the Neapolitan prodigy. He was the first great tragic musical wünderkind of the Enlightenment, prefiguring what Mozart would become for the 19th century. Like Mozart, Pergolesi died prematurely aged just 26. Like Mozart, Pergolesi was a musical simplifier and distiller, a divine and revolutionary sieve. Like Mozart, Pergolesi's popularity spawned an industry dedicated to mythologising his life and misattributing the music of contemporaries to him. Yet we celebrate Pergolesi's 300th anniversary this year, quite unlike we would Mozart's, with just one piece: the Stabat mater.
Before Mozart, there was Pergolesi. The 18th century couldn't get enough of the Neapolitan prodigy. He was the first great tragic musical wünderkind of the Enlightenment, prefiguring what Mozart would become for the 19th century. Like Mozart, Pergolesi died prematurely aged just 26. Like Mozart, Pergolesi was a musical simplifier and distiller, a divine and revolutionary sieve. Like Mozart, Pergolesi's popularity spawned an industry dedicated to mythologising his life and misattributing the music of contemporaries to him. Yet we celebrate Pergolesi's 300th anniversary this year, quite unlike we would Mozart's, with just one piece: the Stabat mater.
It was a small joy to come back to the edifying rigours of this intriguing religious text after months drowning in the immoral philosophical bogs of late Romanticism
Share this article
Add comment
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Classical music
A Form of Exile: Edward Said and Late Style, CLS, Wood, QEH review - baggy ferment of ideas and sounds
Superlative actors and musicians in an over-ambitious event running to three hours
BBC Philharmonic, Bihlmaier, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - an International Women's Day special
Spotlight on today’s composers and one of their sisters from the past
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Czech Philharmonic, Bychkov, Barbican review - from Russia, with tough love
Cellist, conductor and a great orchestra play Shostakovich for today
Classical CDs: Funeral marches, festivals and film noir
Choral music, solo piano recitals and the best violin concerto you've never heard
Mahan Esfahani, Wigmore Hall review - shimmering poise and radical brilliance
Magnificent demonstration of a lifelong dedication to the harpsichord
Gromes, Hallé, Chauhan, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - new concerto and music of triumph
Spirit of Germany in the 1930s captured in Herz’s tense and despondent work
Helen Charlston, Sholto Kynoch, Temple Church review - fine singing, powerful stage presence
Coups de théâtre in a well-constructed programme
Ridout, 12 Ensemble, Wigmore Hall review - brilliant Britten and bombastic Brahms
Dazzling solo and ensemble playing in pieces inspired by music of the past
Argerich, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Papadopoulos, Barbican review - the great pianist as life and soul
Her delivery of the Beethoven made it clear that she still merits legend status
Jessica Duchen: Myra Hess - National Treasure review - well-told life of a pioneering musician
Biography of the groundbreaking British pianist who was a hero of the Blitz
Chamayou, BBC Philharmonic, Morlot, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - blasts of Boulez, magical Ravel
Celebration of the two French masters continues in big bangs and gentleness
Classical CDs: Snow, shards and swinging oars
Contemporary choral works, revamped lieder plus piano music from Ireland and Scotland
Comments
...