Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV1080, Contrapunctus I

Rich sounding viols, lively percussion and spicy theorbo and guitar in eclectic consort music from Jordi Savall and Hesperian XXI in their 50th year. 

This was a true tour de force and a fitting climax to a rather miraculous examination of counterpoint through musical history.

The gut strings and period bows of the Chiaroscuro Quartet cast dramatic light and shade movements on from Bach's The Art of Fugue and quartets by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.

Arrangements aplenty as the Australian Chamber Orchestra take on Bach's Art of Fugue and Beethoven's Op.130, with Richard Tognetti the accomplished soloists in Mozart's Violin Concerto no. 5.

The more you read about music, the more you notice the word “authenticity” cropping up annoyingly frequently. The great raging musical arguments of the late 20th century still burn; performers, listeners, even composers find themselves having to take up quasi-moralistic stances on gut strings, vibrato, and whether trills should begin on the upper or lower note.

Bei Mozart und Auszügen aus Bachs Kunst der Fuge präsentiert das Quartett harmonische, eigenständige Interpretationen, bei Beethoven ist das Ensemble erwartungsgemäß deutlich mehr gefordert.

Meditative Musik, versonnen, über letzte Dinge reflektierend, auf das absolut Nötigste reduziert: äußerst anrührend dargeboten, doch nie rührselig, zieht sie vor allem in leisesten, gehauchten Passagen in ihren Bann!

Hippocampus mostró, una vez más, profesionalidad sobre el escenario en un diálogo-homenaje a A. Cabezón y J. S. Bach. Las similitudes entre ambos se plasmaron en una combinación de buena sonoridad, disposición y estilo.