The brilliant Berlin Barock Soloists (BBS)

16 & 17 Oct 2007 - BBS, Emmanuel Pahud, Rainer Kussmaul

One of the highlights of the 2007/08 season was the visit of the brilliant young flautist Emmanuel Pahud and the BBS under leader Rainer Kussmaul. At the pre-concert press conference, they were very kind and entertained the press with the musical experiences and anecdotes of the Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan and the BBS. At the concert, they gave stunning historically-informed period (HIP) performances (the tuning was still concert pitch of A=440 Hertz). The most enjoyable items all involved solo instruments with orchestra. I enjoyed the Vivaldi Flute Concerto RV428 - with Pahud's immaculate musicianship and golden flute tone particularly. Other superb performances of note were the Vivaldi Concerto for 2 violins (RV522) and 4 violins (RV553). Violist Wolfram Christ also starred in two viola concertos - Telemann's delightful Concerto in G major (with its lively rhythms) and also Vivaldi's Concerto for viola d'amore in D major. This was the most enriching experience of HIP performances that I'd seen in the DFP hall - far exceeding the poor English Concert event under Andrew Manze. They are certainly a welcome group anytime for me at the DFP in future seasons and I'd be the first to queue for their concert-tickets.