King’s Lynn Festival: Robin Bigwood

REVIEW: Robin Bigwood, Lynn Minster

Saturday was certainly a bumper day for Baroque music fans (like me) at Lynn Festival!

Earlier in the evening the European Union Chamber Orchestra – under director Hans-Peter Hofmann and with soloists Piers Adams (recorders) and Anita Martinek (violin) – gave quite extraordinarily dynamic performances of Baroque concertos, with the orchestra achieving great performing heights.

Later in a separate concert at the same venue, the atmosphere having calmed somewhat, the harpsichordist and organist, Robin Bigwood, gave a reflective and intimate performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations, most suitable for that time of the evening.

Published in 1741 or 1742, the story goes they were written by Bach for a young harpsichordist, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, to play to his master in Dresden, to help cure his insomnia . Probably not true, but the outcome was one of the greatest set of variations in all music.

Robin sent us all out into the night having heard a well contrasted and satisfying performance.

One of the most memorable evenings at the KL Festival – where there have been so many!

Andy Tyler