OK, I’ve lured you here with a post about a Baroque group featuring a recorder player, but hear me out…
The group is called Red Priest, and the concert we saw last night was called Pirates of the Baroque and it was one of the most exciting musical events I’ve ever attended of any sort. Trust me, I’ve been going to concerts since the '60’s and have seen the greats of rock, jazz, classical, you name it-- hundreds of shows.
This is NOT your father’s baroque music-- these people play with the verve and flair and showpersonship of rock musicians, but with solid, astoundingly good musicianship too. Recorder player Piers Adams is simply not to be believed. Charlene commented that she was amazed his recorders ( a collection to make any WHOA sufferer ashamed) didn’t catch fire. The other players were also excellent, especially the cellist who was suberb.
I strongly urge ANYONE with an interest in music to check out their tour schedule and try to see them. They have some more US gigs, many in their home UK, plus quite a few in other countries. You will NOT be disappointed. Check out: http://www.piersadams.com/RedPriest/
BTW–Red Priest refers to a nickname for Antonio Vivaldi who WAS a priest and had firey red hair.
My two cents for people interested in live Baroque music-- I’ve seen and spoken to Red Priest. They were on NPR’s Peformance Today not long ago, playing Vivaldi’s “Spring” concerto into high-velocity oblivion. The effect on me was a feeling that a cardiac arrest was coming on, but listeners wrote in to say how much they loved it. I think they are worth seeing, especially if it’s been decades since you’ve been to a baroque concert-- it’s quite a kick in the seat. But I think their choices, musically speaking, can be aggressively weird. I don’t think showcasing Piers Adam’s ability to play 100 notes a second does anything for the music itself. This is a golden age for Baroque ensemble music, so do yourself a favor and compare and contrast Red Priest with other ensembles that come to town-- they’re sure to be as accomplished and creative as Red Priest.
[quote="thurlowe This is a golden age for Baroque ensemble music, so do yourself a favor and compare and contrast Red Priest with other ensembles that come to town-- they’re sure to be as accomplished and creative as Red Priest.[/quote]
I agree-- Red Priest is NOT representative of the genre and certainly not to everyone’s taste. Still, they ARE exciting as heck and quite a change from the usual fare.
BTW-- when we first got their CD of the Four Seasons, I did not really care for it. Only after a couple of playings did it start to grow on me. Now I really love it. Definitely unconventional.
I think the word ‘verve’ describes the music of ‘Red Priest’ very well.They DO come over like a Rock band-they remind me very much of 70’s Prog. Rock in their presentation.
I have only heard a couple of their albums,and I would bet that they are highly entertaining live on stage.
I recently lent ‘The Four Seasons’ to a friend of mine who plays classical Guitar-I said that when I first heard it,I wondered if it was an elaborate musical joke!
I’m keen to hear his thoughts on the album.
They are definately different!
They live in the UK and do a LOT of touring there, so definitely check out their concert schedule and catch them live.
The Four Seasons is the first album we had of theirs (bought two more at the show on Mon). The first time I heard it I found many parts quite jarring. I’m thinking that this comes from nearly 40 years of listening to “normal” performances. I found a lot of the tempos strange and some of the instrumentation odd. However the more I listened to it, the more I liked it. They definitely sound like a lot more than 4 unamplified musicians.By now, I really love the album.
Paul,your reference to ‘normal’ performances of ‘The Four Seasons’ in comparison to 'Red Priest’s version caused me to chuckle-People,you HAVE to hear it!
I also own a copy of ‘The Four Seasons’ performed by ‘The Flanders Recorder Quartet’ with guest soloist Marion Verbruggen.
Of course,this is an all Recorder performance,as opposed to a mixed ensemble-and very interesting it is too!
The album only cost £4.99 or so,and is well worth checking out (Harmonia Mundi HCX3957153).
Guess what I found out when I was at the the fiddle shop yesterday (Kamimoto Strings)? Red Priest will be here in concert March 20! I’m not sure if I can make it yet, but I’d really like to go. (It’s the day after the San Jose gathering @ Dcrom’s place.)
Anyway, it seems like a ‘sign’ doesn’t it? I learn about the group in the morning, listen to their stuff on Amazon and decide I have to get the album, then find out that same afternoon that they’ll be here in concert! It’s like it was meant to be…
I just cleared it with Mrs. LimuHead and we will be going to the concert!
Cool!
Okay, and about the A415/A440 thing, I was wrong about their tuning. They’re actually around A421. I had a chance to check it just now with my Korg CA30 tuner (retail value $20US - but a very good tuner for the price). (I turned on the A note through the tuner’s speaker and then used the calibration button to match it up with what I was listening to at Amazon.com.)
Anywho, long story short, my ears can handle A421 - it just sounds a bit flat. A415 just gives me the creeps. When I listened at work I didn’t get the creeps so I knew it was not A415, and so assumed it must be A440. I was wrong. But then sort of right.
Any other SF-Bay-Area-C&F-types planning on going to the concert?
You won’t regret it! Is it listed as their “Pirates of the Baroque” concert? That’s the one we saw. After the show, post your comments here.
Our concert was “meant to be” too: Although we’d had their CD for quite a few months, one morning about 2 weeks ago I got the inspiration to look up Red Priest on the web. I looked at their concert schedule, and was thrilled to see that they’d be within an hour of us in only 2 weeks. I could very easily have missed it.
