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                                                          FLORILEGIUM

                             St James’ Church, Chipping Campden *****

 

Playing all six concertos in Bach’s Brandenburg set but not necessarily in the right order was an intriguing idea, but one which raised a couple of issues.

Visiting this year’s excitingly-programmed Chipping Campden Festival, the expert, thoughtfully-prepared authentic performance group Florilegium brought a fascinating panoply of period instruments for this wonderful showcase of Bach at his orchestrally most colourful. One could see director Ashley Solomon’s point in playing the concertos backwards from the Sixth to the First, the forces gradually accumulating for each offering, but there were two drawbacks, one artistic, one practical.

Ending with Brandenburg One meant the concert concluded with the least successful of the set, bringing us down to earth with a bump after such an exhilarating display of confident counterpoint beforehand, replaced by not always convincing experimentation in instrumental colours. The exuberant natural horns, Roman buccina-like in timbre, were certainly eye- and ear-catching, and we relished the boxy oboes and bassoon, but lurking at the back of the mind was the sense that Bach was being gimmicky.

The practical drawback was a one-time performing musician’s awareness that had Brandenburg One been performed first, then all these extra players could have packed off early, either home, or to the welcoming Eight Bells just down the road.

We had been spoiled by what we had heard before, pastel gut strings breathing so naturally in the accommodating acoustic of this beautiful building, one-to-a-part instrumental lines delivered with such clear delineation, and a tireless pulsating energy as Bach’s adept counterpoint poured out so generously.

Only one performer was named, Ashley Solomon equally dextrous on flute (Brandenburg Five) and recorder (Brandenburgs Four and Two).  What a pity so many other star performers remained anonymous, including the hard-working harpsichordist (what a cadenza in Brandenburg Five, prompting premature applause!), the almost equally hard-working principal violin (Bach didn’t need her in the viola-based Brandenburg Six), and the intrepid natural trumpet-player, displaying supernatural qualities of lip-control to cut through all the busy textures in the viscerally exciting Brandenburg Two.

Christopher Morley

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