Farándula Castiza: Madrid, the melting pot
Forma Antiqva
London Festival of Baroque Music
St John’s, Smith Square. 15 May 2024

For around 40 years, and through several incarnations, the London Festival of Baroque Music was one of the highlights of London’s early music scene. Formally known as the Lufthansa Festival, their lengthy sponsorship by a major German airline helped bring a wealth of non-UK musicians to London. But things have changed for most such events in these hardened times, and the latest version of the festival is a shadow of its former self. The 2024 version managed just seven concerts, only one of which was not from the UK despite their promise to showcase “the world’s finest Baroque talent, delve into a captivating programme of chamber, choral, and solo works. Under the theme of “Overtures,” this year’s festival heralds the dawn of new musical beginnings. Explore the origins of Baroque forms and experience their evolving influence, style, and instrumentation”. An imaginative but largely inaccurate description of their actual programme which included rather a lot of Clare and Robert Schumann Mendelssohn, Handel, and Bach – not exactly the “origins of Baroque forms”!

The only non-UK import was the multi-format Spanish group Forma Antiqva, here five-strong with two violins, cello, theorbo and guitar. Their programme was Farándula Castiza: Madrid, the melting pot, a fascinating peek into the musical world of 18th-century Madrid, reflecting the musical influences from different countries and genres.

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