Who doesn't like Pergolesi's Stabat Mater?: AAM at Milton Court
Mortal Voices
Christian Curnyn, Keri Fuge, Tim Mead and the Academy of Ancient Music
Milton Court
Circle BB39 (rear of stage), £15
15 February 2018
Barbican page
Programme:
Corelli Concerto Grosso Op 6 No 1 in D major
Handel Cantata HWV230, Ah! che troppo ineguali
Handel/Ferrandini Cantata HWV82, Il duello amoroso
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
Who doesn't like the Pergolesi Stabat Mater? How could you not like the Pergolesi Stabat Mater? So I thought as a teenager and I've not examined that position too much since. Now, though, I'm thinking it may be a wee bit samey for my old and grumpy taste.
That's not the fault of the playing of the Academy of Ancient Music, which was as vivid and precise as usual, though it may be the fault of their programming. I enjoyed the first three pieces well enough but, with the exception of Il duello amoroso, I'd be hard-pushed to call out what made them distinctive or interesting (although I did enjoy trying to hear the theorbo and almost always failing – but not quite always!). Fans of Italian baroque would, I know, declaim my ignorance.
The AAM had a sound accomplice in Tim Mead: he sang as robustly, as authoritatively and as beautifully as usual, although also with the usual odd intonation. Keri Fuge was a little unsteadier: in the first Handel she didn't manage to guage the acoustic of the hall, and she had a tendency throughout to sing a bit sharp and a bit fast, even skipping a beat in the Pergolesi – all, no doubt, the result of nerves. She and Mead both, though, have enviably lustrious voices, coming together most entertainingly in the furious (but still a bit repetitive…) Duello amoroso.
No comments yet.