NEWS
Magdalena Consort:
Peter has started a group of his own, the Magdalena Consort, which has as its principal (but not exclusive) goal the performance of the vocal works of J.S. Bach. There has been much debate about the issue of singing Bach with solo voices throughout (with multiple strings), but very few performances, in the grand scheme of things. This group will spend some of its time redressing the balance, literally and metaphorically. For more information please visit www.magdalenaconsort.com.
Concerts and Recordings:
This year has been an exceptionally busy time so far, with concerts as far afield as San Francisco and Tokyo, with few days in between. The main events have been the hugely enjoyable and successful (though not widely heard, it must be admitted) production of the 13th Century "Play of Daniel" - a kind of plainsong opera which evolved over the 12th and 13th Centuries in Beauvais. This took place in Southwark Cathedral and King's College Chapel, Cambridge in January. Also significant were the performances of 17th Century German sacred music given with the Dutch group "Capella Figuralis" and the soprano Johannette Zomer - a programme consisting chiefly of music from the disc "Death and Devotion", which was recorded a few years ago. Soon afterwards Peter performed Purcell's "Fairy Queen" with the Coro della Radio Svizzera, and was somewhat surprised to find that it is to be released as a full-scale commercial recording!
More recently, Peter has worked with the "Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment" on two major projects, a series of performances of the St Matthew Passion, conducted by Ivan Fischer, in London, Bristol and Bruges (together with a study day at the Purcell Room on London's South Bank), followed almost immediately by a seven-concert tour of central Spain. This latter tour, of Bach's "Lutheran Masses" was directed by the Dutch harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt. Scarcely drawing breath, Peter then travelled to the United States via Holland for a tour of the B minor mass with the Netherlands Bach Society. This is the version recorded last Christmas (and already released) using vocal forces of only fifteen singers, the soloists singing throughout the entire piece, helped (sometimes) by the ripienists. Hard work, but immensely satisfying for the soloists, who can sometimes feel like spectators at their own concerts if aria count is low...
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 living on in the 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. Sadly, given that he was involved in so many of the concerts, Peter is not on that particular release, but the others on which he sings, and which have so far seen the light of day have been very favourably received, and new discs are appearing on a regular basis
Later this May the Purcell Quartet will record another in their series of discs of early Bach cantatas. This will feature the same team of soloists,Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance and Charles Daniels, and as usual the recording will be preceded by a concert in the Wigmore Hall.Recitals:
Cambridge Summer Music: May 12th, Fitzwilliam College Auditorium
Lugo Festival: May 15th
In mid-May, Peter returns to Schubert's masterpiece, the song-cycle "Die Winterreise", which recounts a jilted lover's descent into suicidal depair and insanity. he will be joined on this occasion by the pianist Roger Vignoles, and the performances will take place in Cambridge and Lugo, in Spain.
Versailles: June 2nd
Peter will again sing with the viol consort "Concordia"in the near future - a programme of lute-songs performed by the "broken consort", consisting of a mixture of bowed and plucked instruments, i.e. viols and lutes of various sizes.
Christmas 2007:
Things are very busy this year, with A Messiah in "The Sage" in Gateshead, followed immediately by a concert of Bach cantatas with London Baroque and Emma Kirkby in Barcelona. From there he travels to Berlin for two performances of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the RIAS Kammerchor. Finally, he will perform Handel's "Messiah" five times in Toronto with "Tafelmusik"
2008:
The year starts with a trip to Israel, then to the Far East with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for the St. John Passion. The highlight of the Holy Week concerts this year will be the St. Matthew Passion in Boston, where Bernard Haitink is conducting the work for the first time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Peter will sing the bass arias.
