The King's Consort delights Dutch audience with works from Henry Purcell's English court

By Kristen Huebner, 29 April 2013

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Reviewed at Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht on 25 April 2013

Purcell, Dido and Aeneas

Purcell, Why, Why Are All The Muses Mute?, Z343

The King's Consort

Choir of The King's Consort

Robert King, Conductor

Carolyn Sampson, Soprano

Roderick Williams, Baritone

Rebecca Outram, Soprano

Julie Cooper, Soprano

Robin Blaze, Countertenor

Charles Daniels, Tenor

Festkonzert with Carolyn Sampson: Handel's Heroines

Sandra Bowdler, 13th June

Carolyn Sampson returns joyfully to the Halle Handel Festival, accompanied by trumpeter Neil Brough and the King's Consort under Robert King.

****1

Fitting Handel like a glove

Travis Mason, 14th January

Iestyn Davies and The King's Consort a real highlight at the Valletta International Baroque Festival.

****1

An Acis and Galatea without sparkle in Versailles

Vesna Gerintes, 28th June

Handel’s original version of Acis and Galatea was written in 1717–18 at Cannons, a stately home in Middlesex. Composed with light orchestration, it was not meant to be performed in an opera theatre, but rather in this private mansion.

**111

The Fairy Queen at the Theater an der Wien

Zwölftöner, 1st March

The ‘semi-opera’ was an English musical and spoken theatre hybrid which by the end of the 17th century had begun to scrape the bottom of Restoration drama’s literary barrel, and by the 18th had been rendered obsolete by efforts to introduce the English to formal opera from the continent.

****1

The King's Consort: Musical Oysters at Wilton's Music Hall

James Potter, 14th February

'Romantic' is a term normally applied to heart-on-sleeve 19th-century music, but this evening's concert had me convinced that the real music of love is baroque. The venue was well-chosen for this evening of musical oysters; Wilton's Music Hall is beautiful, intimate and yet grandiose.

****1

The King’s Consort ofrece un Mesías moderado en el Auditorio

Ramón del Buey Cañas, 17th December

El planteamiento y la ejecución de Robert King fueron los de un Mesías con las virtudes y los defectos de lo domesticado.

***11

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Kristen Huebner

Originally from the USA, Kristen Huebner now bases her musical life in the Netherlands and Europe. She currently tours with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir under the direction of Ton Koopman and has collaborated alongside members of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Frans Brüggen. Her work with the Paris-based Ensemble Diderot, has led to numerous appearances at festivals such as Musikfest Erzgebirge and the Bach Biennale Weimar. Kristen’s research on Empfindsamkeit in the chamber music of C.P.E. Bach has been adapted into an article for Music & Practice, published in 2015. Kristen joined the teaching team at the 2022 Zomer Academie Zutphen, where she led the traverso masterclass.