Chamber music
A few days of wonderful chamber music – Elgar’s ravishing war-torn Piano Quintet with the Hampden Quartet, and then Beethoven and Ravel trios in a newly-formed piano trio with Jamie Campbell and Cara Berridge.
Author Archive for: libby2
Entries by libby2
A week of song
Two delightful song concerts in London this week: Brahms’ Four Serious Songs and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Songs Before Sleep (settings of nursery rhyme texts) with bass Oliver Hunt took the phrase ‘the sublime to the ridiculous’ to a new level; and then Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben with mezzo Ciara Hendrick was in a venue so cold we […]
Laetare Singers workshop weekend
Back from another workshop weekend conducting the Laetare Singers in the depths of the Somerset Quantocks. It was great to return to work with them for fourth time, catching up with familiar faces rather than always meeting new ones. Joined this time by assistant conductor Oliver Walker (Head of Choral Music at Solihull School), we worked […]
Performance videos
Southwell Music Festival has released a series of performance films from last year’s festival. Enjoy the whole selection here; meanwhile here are three to whet your appetite: Gurney: Sleep Live performance from the Southwell Music Festival 2014, from a programme entitled ‘To Those Who Died’, marking the centenary of the outbreak of The First World […]
Messiah in Budapest
Having performed Messiah and Belshazzar around France with The King’s Consort over the summer, it is great to return to Messiah with much the same team, this time in cold but beautiful Budapest. It really is a joy to return to music of this era, when most of my diet now is from 1750 onwards!
Champs Hill recording
Oboist James Turnbull and I have just finished recording our second disc at Champs Hill. Our first disc there, ‘The English Oboe: Rediscovered’, was very well received: ‘there is no disputing the technical facility of James Turnbull or the warm, sensitive pianism of Libby Burgess’ from Stephen Pritchard in the Observer (complete review here). The new disc […]
University coaching
Looking forward to being back in Canterbury this week, giving another masterclass to Canterbury Christ Church’s music students, and leading a discussion on the realities of life as a freelance musician – warts and all! This is such an enlightened and important part of their degree education. James Turnbull and I will also give a recital […]
Unexpected Dichterliebe
Grateful thanks to Marcus Farnsworth for stepping in for last night’s Konstellation programme in Dumfries. So good to reprise Dichterliebe a few years since last performing it together!
Berkeley Ensemble recording
Just to keep things busy in the first week as Head of Keyboard at Eton, this week has additionally been spent recording with the Berkeley Ensemble in Oxford. The disc will feature a survey of Lennox Berkeley’s music, from the reasonably well known (such as the Sextet) to the never previously performed (including the Sonatine for clarinet […]
Southwell Music Festival
Last weekend saw the incredible inaugural Southwell Music Festival, in Nottinghamshire. There was an amazing buzz to the event, with the main concerts all sold out, wonderful warm audiences, and joyful and committed music-making with brilliant colleagues. Have a look at their gallery for a flavour of the weekend. Very much looking forward to next year already.