London Festival of Baroque Music
The Mad Lover
Théotime Langlois de Swarte & Thomas Dunford
Smith Square Hall. 28 October 2026

Photo: Julien Benhamou (copied from the programme)

This concert, part of the week-long London Festival of Baroque Music, attracted a large and enthusiastic audience, helped, no doubt, by much advertising and media activity by the two French performers, violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and theorbo-player, Thomas Dunford and the fact that the concert was a live performance of their popular 2020 CD of the same name. I am not sure if they were forewarned, but the in-the-round performing space did them, or the audience, no favours at all. Both instruments are directional, so for most of the evening only those who sitting in one of the eight blocks directly in front of the two performers were able to hear them as intended. They did eventually attempt a rather awkward sort of 360 degree show, but it was a bit random and clearly unrehearsed. Quite what inspired the organisers to arrange the seating in such an awkard configuration is beyond me, as was the bizarre arrangements of rows and seat numbers, which meant that most people had to be escorted to their seats by staff.

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