Julian Lloyd Webber Pays Tribute to Cello Greats in Cornwall

Having recently retired after a herniated disc weakened his bowing arm, Julian Lloyd Webber took to the stage last night at St George’s, Bristol as part of a tour he had created to tribute and reflect upon his performance career as one of the world’s leading cellists.

Having recently retired after a herniated disc weakened his bowing arm, Julian Lloyd Webber took to the stage last night at St George’s, Bristol as part of a tour he had created to tribute and reflect upon his performance career as one of the world’s leading cellists.

The European Union is not something one would normally expect to be associated with music, but their chamber orchestra is exceptional. Formed in 1981, they now have a worldwide reputation as musical ambassadors. Opening an evening of style and grace at St George’s, Bristol with Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, the orchestra gave an air of confidence.

The history of British music reads rather like the old joke about buses: there was no composer of note in the two hundred years after Purcell, and then three came along at once. Whilst Elgar and Vaughan Williams have become household names, the third composer who came along at the end of the nineteenth century has been relegated to the dusty shelves of musical history.

Chor und Orchester des Collegium Vocale Gent und ihr charismatischer Leiter Philippe Herreweghe, längst Legenden der historischen Aufführungspraxis, beweisen, dass die Doppelchörigkeit der Matthäus-Passion nicht nur ein Stereo-Phänomen ist.

Eine Deutung, die am Karfreitag den emotionalen Höhepunkt des Todes höchst ergreifend einfängt. Und sich an den zentralen Partien ausrichtet, die mit optimalen Kieran Carrel und Konstantin Krimmel im Gedächtnis bleibt.