OAE/Devine/Bostridge review – not a stale moment all evening

St John’s Smith Square, London
A Telemann and Handel programme found the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on top form, with Ian Bostridge’s expressive voice a high point

Thirty years young this season, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment opened its season with playing of seemingly undiminished energy. Tonight’s programme of Telemann and Handel – under Steven Devine’s lively direction from the keyboard – found the orchestra every bit as incisive as when many of the same players were in their hot youth three decades ago. There wasn’t a stale moment all evening.

In Telemann’s Overture in F the valveless horns whooped exuberantly, while oboes and bassoon chattered merrily. Handel’s D minor Concerto Grosso Op 3 No 5 was full of bright contrasts and sweet phrasing, and the Water Music Suite gave this ensemble of soloists the chance to shine individually and in unison. What James Galway once tartly described as all that emoting – the eye-contact between players, the swaying to the phrase and all the other tropes of early music platform culture – reinforced a thoroughly engaged and engaging evening.

Continue reading...