Concerto, sinfonia, suite and quintet rippled and tripped with immense charm off an unusual chamber ensemble in the perfect Festival programme.
Five Scandinavians, of misleadingly austere appearance, began with Vivaldi. Dominated by flautist Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen, it represented the link with Denmark and wind music as Christian lV piped it up through his castle in the 1640s.
Telemann’s Quintet from Tafelmusik (1733), was written to accompany feasts. Sitting in solemn silence through the rich textures and rhythmic patterns felt wrong, but was a delightful alternate sequence of wind and string duets.
Harpsichordist Steen Lindholm introduced his transcriptions of Music For The Royal Fireworks and Bach’s plagiarism of a Brandenburg Concerto. Audience forebearance was needed, he explained, to accept alternative performances.
He need not have worried; enthralled by perfection born of 30 years’ ensemble playing, the audience would have accepted their intepretation of almost anything.
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