Nigel was full on yesterday evening at the Royal Concert Hall , playing with the Oxford Philomusica plus international friends for an eclectic three hours.
The Hendrix, was fearless and feisty, An English Collection (Kennedy) being floaty and full of flavour. The Bach was fun, played with full feeling, never a ‘going through the motions’. Passacaglia (Handel) was a show-piece with Peter Adams on cello, just fabulous.
Nigel’s banter with the audience was quick witted and light-hearted. The only Marmite part was for me the incidental music for the Chekhov play The Three Sisters, seemed slightly indulgent and definitely too long.
The audience love Nigel and showed their appreciation enthusiastically at every opportunity.
The Oxford Philomusica are talent supreme, yet they at times struggled to keep up with the dynamic, enthusiastic virtuoso Nigel Kennedy.
My favourite part of the feast, was Nigel on his own for the encore, his fellow musicians, were it seemed to me, just part of the audience, being in awe too of the feelings Nigel can produce with his violin.
If you are quick you could catch Nigel with this ensemble at the Barbican
http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=17742
Review by Anne Taylor
