Nash Ensemble, Drapers' Hall, City of London Festival

Cornucopia of chamber music old and new humanises civic pomposity

by David NiceTuesday, 05 July 2011

Core trio of a Nash spectacular: Pianist Ian Brown, violinist Marianne Thorsen and cellist Paul WatkinsHanya Chlala/ArenaPal

It takes a lot to humanise the hideous late-Victorian glitter of Drapers' Hall, but the City of London Festival's latest cornucopia knew how. Ornithologist-composer David Lumsdaine's soundscape greeted us with Australian birds fluttering invisibly around Corinthian gilt. Then it was down to business with the Nash Ensemble's small band of personable generals. They gave us high-toned Grieg and Dvořák, cheerful homespun songs with sophisticated twists by Grainger, Vaughan Williams and Delius to make the austere central portrait of Victoria inwardly smile, and a jungly new Sextet by Brett Dean, core composer of the festival's Antipodean theme.

It was the uniquely personal dying fall of My Robin is to the Greenwood Gone which lingered in the memory

Explore topics

Share this article

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Classical music

Kolesnikov, Hallé, Elts, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - the dude who dazzles Fun French music forms a foil to naked, virtuoso pianism

Fauré Centenary Concert 5, Wigmore Hall review - a final flight The master of levitation in transcendent performances from Steven Isserlis and friends

Ohlsson, BBC Philharmonic, Storgårds, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - grace and power in Brahms A time-travelling journey through the Austro-German Romantic tradition

Fauré Centenary Concert 1, Wigmore Hall review - Isserlis and friends soar Saint-Saëns is no also-ran in the opening event of a wondrous homage

'His ideal worlds embraced me with their light and love': violinist Irène Duval on the music of Fauré On the centenary of the great French composer's death, a fine interpreter pays homage

Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, La Nuova Musica, Bates, Wigmore Hall review - thrilling Handel at full throttle Vibrant rendering filled with passion and delight

Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - Bruckner’s Ninth completed Kahchun Wong takes Manchester audience on an epic journey

The Orchestral Forest, Smith Square Hall review - living the orchestra from the inside Immersive concert explores the plight of the British rainforest through music

Classical CDs: Leaves, prisms and sub-bass A great pianist bows out, plus two cello discs and a new organ's first outing

First Person: Bob Riley on Manchester Camerata's championship of a Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia Making a difference out of the musical ghetto

Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Drumsheds review - surround-sound magic in the super-club On a vast dancefloor, the chance to listen from inside the orchestra

Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - warm and colourful Bartók and Brahms Versatile chamber ensemble excels in clarinet-focused repertoire

Follow @theartsdesk