News

Concerts and Recordings:

The last year has been a busy time, with concerts as far afield as Boston and Tokyo. Amongst the main events was the St. Matthew with the Boston Symphony last Easter. Despite his many years at the top of his profession, Bernard Haitink had not conducted the St Matthew Passion until last year, when the Boston Symphony Orchestra put together a team of 'specialists' for the occasion. Peter was honoured to be selected for these prestigious concerts.

Santigao de Compostela was the setting for two occasions of significance - the first was the inaugural concert of the Magdalena Consort, Peter's new group, which took place in July. The second was a recital of French Song in September which he gave with Roger Vignoles. Both were very satisfying and warmly-received concerts.

In July also, the hugely enjoyable production with the Harp Consort of the 13th Century "Play of Daniel" had another outing in the York Festival, and was on this occasion was recorded for BBC Radio 3. For those who missed the broadcast and the talk which preceded it at New Year, it is a kind of plainsong opera which evolved over the 12th and 13th Centuries in Beauvais, though 'plainsong' gives a misleading impression, as there are a great many colourful and noisy instruments involved as well as voices. Taking place on the 'Feast of Fools' it was an exuberant opportunity to overturn the normal order of things, and this production is a riotous but ultimately moving dramatisation of the trials of the prophet Daniel.

The "Bach Cantata Pilgrimage" - John Eliot Gardiner's Year 2000 project to perform all of Bach's sacred cantatas in the approriate week of the liturgical year - is still living on in the vivid recordings made of the concerts. The first to be released won not only the Grammophone "Early Music" disc of the year, but the overall "Best Disc" of 2005, and new discs are appearing on a regular basis. Peter was not on that prize-winning first disc (though he is on most of those realeased so far), but he was on the recent Gabrieli Consort recording of Haydn's 'Creation', singing the role of Adam, which won the the 'Grammy Award for overall 'Best Choral Recording of 2008'

Lieder and song:

In addition to the French prgoramme mentioned above, Peter has very recently recorded Schubert's masterpiece, 'Die Winterreise' for Linn Records, with Gary Cooper playing a fortepiano of exactly the type Schubert himself would have known. It is so far unedited, but the sessions went extremely well, the possibilities of colour and dynamics suggested by the piano proving highly stimulating to both performers.

'Messiah':

December was very busy last year, with 'Messiahs' in Calgary (followed by a few days skiing in the nearby Rockies) and also with the Stuttgart Kammer Chor, directed by Frieder Bernius. These performances were the basis for a recording, which is to be released in time for the 250th anniversary for Handel's death in April 2009. He has also since performed the work with the Cologne Chamber Choir under Peter Neumann in a performance in the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow - the first ever to be performed there on period instruments.