String quartets thrive in London park

String quartets thrive in London park

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norman lebrecht

August 19, 2020

The clarinetist Anthony Friend is putting on a chamber music festival in Battersea Park bandstand on four early evenings between 1-15 September.

Taking part, weather permitting, are the Doric, Maggini, Solem and Hill Quartets.

That’s real class, and Wandsworth Council are paying for it.

Councillor Steffi Sutters, council member for Community Services and Open Spaces says: ‘Over the past few years, the council has invested thousands of pounds in our parks. Now, more than ever, we want to encourage our residents to get out and enjoy the fabulous green spaces, right on their doorstep. We’re delighted that the organisers were able to secure such high calibre quartets in a matter of weeks.’

 

Comments

  • icebreaker says:

    nice one – it will be great to see bandstands used again

  • V. Lind says:

    Can’t imagine much ore delightful than listening to a chamber concert from a bandshell in a park.

  • Karl says:

    Hopefully there’s not a nearby train station. I used to live in a small town that had concerts in the park. One day they had a string quartet and at the end the train came in and the music was completely drowned out in the last movement.

    • SVM says:

      Try listening to the buskers in the vicinity of the Southbank Centre. Lots of trains crossing the river to/from London Charing Cross on the other side!

  • Allen says:

    Best thing that could happen under the circumstances.

  • I’ve been running live chamber concerts from my Studio in Surrey for two months now, weekly on Sundays. The Ardenti Quartet has done quintets by Schubert, Dvorak and Brahms, quartets by Beethoven, and two concerts featuring FB Jazz Breakfast’s Mike Hatchard.
    9 concerts so far, with audience plus picnics!
    @ardentiquartet on FB

  • Edgar Self says:

    And cicadas. Ravinia Festival in Highland Park has so many cicadas that they require a separate conductor. There’s an open-air railway stop nearby. Beecham called it the only concert site with its very own railway station. Vintage trains and seven-year cicadas are available for HIP performances.

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