I knew I would go back to St George's Bloomsbury and Sunday, when I got up too late to do much else with the day, was a good opportunity, as they have a weekly chamber music concert in the church on Sunday afternoons. The exquisite restored interior, soaring but not overpowering, is a wonderful performance space and worked astonishingly well for this week's concert of new music by Simone Spagnolo.
New music is as likely to bore as to enchant an open-minded ignoramus like me. In this case, it was enchantment, from the moment the composer introduced the musicians with unpretentious flair and then sat down to turn the pages for the pianist. This was lush and flowing music, with edges both of wildness and of formalism. The cool, but containing acoustic seemed perfect for it. The shadows of the string players danced softly on the pale floor. To hear and see this small and personal performance in such a lovely space was a gift and I'll be looking out for more chances to hear Spagnolo's work. Listen on his website and MySpace page.
Outside afterwards, I took photos of the church's smooth, grand pillars and lovely symmetries, my heart caught by the place.
3 comments:
So wonderful that both performance and place were so enjoyable and inspiring.
Interesting music - I like the piece called Turtles, Coconuts and Drugs on his website (nice website!). And your photo of the church pillars is marvellous.
I like that one too, Natalie. It's more derivative than some of the other pieces, though, I think - not necessarily a bad thing...
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