Red Priest Rock up to Lake District Summer Music Festival
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
The 2007 Lake District Summer Music Festival will more than live up to its reputation of providing thrilling concerts in inspiring locations when it throws open the doors of a couple of its most beautiful churches to usher in the rock stars of the Early Music world, Red Priest.
Beautiful Ambleside, in stunning Cumbria, is preparing for music's equivalent of a volcanic eruption as the infectious gang of four ride into town for the world premiere of their latest theatrical take on Baroque music, Johann We're Only Dancing.
This all-Bach programme, performed in the inimitable, flamboyant style for which Red Priest have become renowned the world over, is likely to set alight the late night audience gathered in Ambleside Parish Church, on August 8. Things will kick off at 10pm in more ways than one and anyone expecting stuffy, tedious classical music will be hugely disappointed.
Adjectives tend to trip off the tongue when it comes to this Baroque ensemble, who have taken the Early Music scene by storm with their extravagant and electrifying performances, their flagrant virtuosity and fine musicality. Add to this a zany and red-hot sense of humour and creative spontaneity, plus the fact commentators accredit this ensemble with having put the rock into Baroque and you will quickly grasp the manner in which Red Priest perform.
The unveiling of the Bach programme will be the second of Red Priest's appearances at the Lake District Summer Music Festival, the first being scheduled for 8pm, on August 7, at Kendal Parish Church, when they will be performing the highly extravagant Pirates of the Baroque. Works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Tartini and Couperin, including Vivaldi's Tempesta di Mare Concerto, will be amongst those performed with swashbuckling virtuosity by Early Music's fab four, who have carved out a niche thanks to their break-all-rules approach.
Formed in 1997, the ensemble comprises Piers Adams (recorder), Julia Bishop (violin), Angela East (cello) and Howard Beach (harpsichord) and was named after the flame-haired priest, Antonio Vivaldi. They draw inspiration from a myriad of Seventeenth Century sources, performing Baroque music in a manner close to the spirit of the day, but constituting a total redefinition of these master-pieces compared to traditional interpretations.
In the hands of Red Priest, Seventeenth Century music becomes hip, with psychedelic performances that help to both dazzle and convert the audience to the music of the Baroque era. Fiery and fun, irreverent yet irrefutably brilliant, seeing is as much a part of the enjoyment of their programmes as hearing, even though it is hard to escape founder Piers Adam's dazzling prowess on recorder, whatever the fireworks and kaleidoscopes of moods and colours appearing on stage.
Having put the viva into Vivaldi, thanks to their take on the Four Seasons and their ability to draw inspiration from a myriad of Baroque sources, will they be able to put the bark into Bach? To judge for yourself, you can attend the world premiere of Johann We're Only Dancing for £8, or pay between £13-£18 to be amongst the audience at Pirates of the Baroque. Tickets can be bought from the box office on 08456 442144, or via the online booking system where the full 17-day event programme of 54 events, staged in 17 stunning settings, is available.
Be prepared for what you are to encounter, remembering Red Priest live and breathe by George Pratt's motto, "If nobody goes over the top, how will we know what lies on the other side". Audiences in Ambleside and Kendal are likely to remember these performances for many years to come!
