The Frolick: The Queen of Baroque

 

One of the great things about music is that you never stop  discovering new things, whether it’s a composer you don’t know, a piece you’ve never heard before or a new band or singer; music has many seams studded with undiscovered gems. I made just such a find this week when I saw The Frolick - a group of musicians performing baroque music live as it would have been heard in the eighteenth century. And what a revelation it was! Here at last was an ensemble overturning our traditional experience of listening to live classical music and, in trying to recreate an atmosphere of eighteenth-century culture, giving us something fresh, distinctive and liberating.

The musicians arrived on stage like rock stars. Actually I was reminded of Queen - they had the same kind of stage presence and air of self-assurance, and in fact, lutenist and co-director Andrew Maginley has a touch of the Brian May about him – the same curly locks (though perhaps not as long) and the leather trousers. Emma Curtis (contralto and co-director), tall, attractive and sexily corseted has the same gift of playing to and working an audience as the late Freddie Mercury. Maginley and violinist James O’Toole often take centre stage in ‘instrumental breaks’ flourishing guitars, lutes and fiddles like Stratocasters, moving around the stage and playing off each other while Miss Curtis, according to the demands of the lyrics, flirts with them, teasing, flicking locks of hair, massaging and stroking, switching her persona in the space of a few bars; at first demure and shy, next loud and brash, then sexy and coquettish. Even after the first few songs I knew that I was watching a group who were intent on grabbing baroque music by the scruff of its neglected neck and dragging it into the twenty-first century.

With a group like this, though, it is easy to get caught up in the theatricals of the performance and forget just how good these musicians really are. Emma Curtis has a beautifully rich voice with a convincingly deep emotional range and an agility that makes singing seem effortless. She is one of those rare virtuosos who can sing a trill and make every note of it sound as a separate entity; so many other singers, some far more famous than Miss Curtis, have no real talent for baroque singing and end up sounding like some kind of Jimmy Saville impersonator. Maginley is not only a brilliant soloist in his own right (you only have to listen to him playing Falckenhagen sonatas to realise that), but also a sensitive and lyrical accompanist. These musicians also pursue careers as early music specialists elsewhere, with celebrated bands such as Trevor Pinnock’s English Concert, The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Opera North and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Violinist James O’Toole has recorded Vivaldi concertos, played with the Classical Opera Company and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Cellist Natasha Kraemer and harpist Frances Kelly have both played with distinguished early music ensembles – the Gabrieli Consort and Players, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the English Baroque Soloists, the Hanover Band and Saraband Consort. These musicians are real specialists in their field, and it shows.

In my previous blog I banged on at great length about applause and audience involvement and The Frolick are certainly doing their bit to change how classical music concerts are experienced, at least as far as the baroque period is concerned. But what’s the point of it all? Such performances could be dismissed as little more than spectacle for its own sake. But underpinning each performance is a wealth of musical, social and historical research. The players are immersed in their period, each song is meticulously researched and played on authentic period instruments and that knowledge is passed on to the audience without the usual supercilious Naughtie-like condescension. In a music world that strives for authenticity, where Mozart played on a fortepiano is uber-cool and period-instrument ensembles are formed every week or so it seems, The Frolick stand out as a far superior group. If you haven’t had chance to see them play live yet, click on the video clips below or log onto their website at www.thefrolick.com  Several of the videos featured on this blog were recorded at the excellent Buckingham Summer Festival 2010. Their website is at www.buckinghamsummerfestival.org

http://vimeo.com/13184346

http://vimeo.com/13193121

http://www.vimeo.com/13207627

Recordings by The Frolick

Calliope: Beautiful Voice  Emma Curtis and The Frolick. INKLING AV2102

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recordings by Andrew Maginley

The Baroque Lute: by Andrew Maginley. INK001 AV2115