Brandenberg Concertos - Feinstein Ensemble

The last few events that I've been to have all been a little bit different for me, so, to sit back at St Martin-in-the-Fields and listen to the Brandenberg Concertos was a little bit like coming home. The lights began to dim, and the musicians arrived on stage and began such familiar music that it felt like a welcome hug from an old friend.




The joy of this concert was the way in which the Feinstein Ensemble made the music dance. They move to the music as they play, they smile and look like they are having an absolute ball on stage which makes it is impossible to not be drawn into the magic that they are creating. If their performance style is not enough, there is the added benefit of experiencing the sound of the original instruments. It made me feel a little bit closer to Bach himself to hear the music performed the way that he would have heard it performed.

I don't think I've ever heard Baroque style french horns (trompa, see the image) and my first thought when they blasted out was was: if only Bach could have heard this performed with our more subtle and easier to pitch modern day instruments. Those original horns blast out so loudly that they really dominate over all the other instruments! The French originally used to keep brass instruments seperate from the strings and classed them as "outdoor instruments". I can understand why now. They are far from the delicate and subdued sound that we now associate with the French horn. The trumpet has a similar antiquated look to it, so when the musician began playing the second concerto in such a high register with such clarity and control, the performance was even more impressive than had it been on a modern day instrument. What was interesting was the similarity in sound between the trumpet and the oboe. At times it was difficult to tell which of the instruments was playing!



Another extraordinary mention needs to go to the harpsichord player. He only had one cadenza which he played with flair and extravagence - I was almost standing in order to see what he was up to! In fact, the more I think about it, the more musicians I want to mention. We have seen this ensemble perform before and are familiar with the recorder player (Martin Feinstein) and his brilliant musicianship, but I must also mention the violinist who held everything together with such aplomb (especially when sometimes all we could hear were those trompa!!) The most apt comment came from him when he was busy tuning the strings, saying that these original instruments were so hard to tune, and surely we could come up with something better!!

I have to agree with his comment. It was wonderful to hear the music as Bach had heard it, but I left the concert feeling that our instruments have definitely improved over time and we are much better off for it!!