Exeter Summer Festival 2007: Regional Editor Bill Kenny looks forward to the South West's annual  musicfest.

 

'Energised with international talent!' - that's what it says on the brochure advertising Exeter Summer Festival 2007 and this year it seems  truer than ever.

Sponsored by EDF Energy, Exeter is staging the most culturally eclectic extravaganza ever seen in the city, with over 35 live events taking place in 10 venues. From June 15th – 30th the festival  brings together  a diverse mixture of classical and contemporary music, dance, street theatre, comedy and craft, from a wealth of cultures and countries including the USA, Ireland, Finland, Spain, Jamaica and Africa as well as the UK.

Ian Martin, Lead Councillor for Economy and  Tourism on  Exeter City Council says of it, ‘The Exeter Summer Festival 2007 is the place to experience a truly international line up of authentic talented artists. This is one of the most exciting cultural festivals in the South West and the sheer variety of performers this year is second to none.’

And so it may be. The World Music programme includes  the Saharan cult status band Tinariwen performing at  Exeter as well as Glastonbury, the extraordinary Finnish folk-rock group Värttina, jazz artist Kyle Eastwood (yes, that's Clint's little lad)  the  South African Gospel Singers and Jamaican reggae stars Dawn Penn and Ambelique.  There's more:  Afro-beat instrumentalists Antibalas will be there together with   Ska Cubano with their  fusion of mambo, ska, rumba and reggae, not to mention Joanna MacGregor combining the Bach Goldberg Variations with tangos by Piazzolla and her own arrangements of spirituals and gospel songs.  There's a lot going on, that's for sure. 

On the classical front, the  RPO has a concert in the Cathedral conducted by Jason Thornton with Jennifer Pike (BBC Young Musician of the Year 2002) playing the Mendelssohn violin concerto between Beethoven's Coriolan and the Schubert 'Great' C major symphony. More   Schubert (plus strawberries and sparking wine apparently) is featured by   the Carducci Quartet  in  the Cathedral's Chapter House: their programme consists of the Quartetsatz  and  Rosamunde Quartet coupled with the Haydn Opus 20, No.4.

Other Cathedral events include the City of London Sinfonia and Exeter Festival Chorus conducted by Nigel Perrin. This concert combines   Elgar (Cello Concerto with Alexander Baillie and The Music Makers) with Tavener's Svyati, and there's also a  'Three Cathedral Choirs' concert (Bristol, Exeter and Wells) in which Tudor anthems will be contrasted with more Elgar to mark the 150th centenary. The Tallis Scholars and Peter Phillips complete the cathedral concerts with a programme of Magnificats (Palestrina, Appleby, Gombert and Praetorius) and Misereres (Josquin, Byrd, Tallis and Allegri.) It's to be hoped that the Allegri will be in the new  Deborah Roberts version complete with the usual soprano  high Cs but with additional embellishments designed to reflect those improvised by generations of singers in the Sistine Chapel. According to Peter Phillips 'These embellishments were guarded even more jealously than the written music…".

The classical music programme as a whole is completed by  solo guitarist Morgan Szymanski (Giulliani, Ianarelli, Mangore, Piazzolla again, Tarrega and Albeniz) and by the Doric String Quartet with the clarinettist Mark Simpson ( Mozart Clarinet Quintet, Beethoven F major Quartet Op. 18, No 1 and Schumann A minor Quartet Op 41 No 1). Mark Simpson of course,  won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition last year with his performance of the Nielsen Concerto.

If previous Exeter Festivals are anything to go by, this year's should be another success for the City Council who plan the whole thing without  an Artistic Director. It's always lively but the festival also has a particularly nice feel to it, due in part to the city itself - it's small as cities go but surrounded by 'glorious Devon'  - and  also because of  its particularly friendly atmosphere. It's my local festival, a mere 40 miles from where I live,  so I'll certainly be there,  particularly  for the Tallis Scholars and for  Värttina,  though an odd choice, you might think them. They're performing on Midsummer's Eve  - an important celebration  for Finns and Scandinavians - so they should be  even better  than they  usually are. Värttina's music is wholly remarkable and their a capella singing -  like that of the  Tallis Scholars in a totally different genre  - is nothing short of  amazing.
 

Bill Kenny

 

A full programme of events, venues and ticket prices can be found by visiting the festival web site or by emailing festival@exeter.gov.uk

Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.exeter.gov.uk/summerfestival/ or at the city centre High Street box office  and alsoby telephone on 01392 493493.