Classical tunes to be played by musicians at Stowe House gig

A programme of Mozart and Boccherini is to be presented in the glorious 18th century Music Room at Stowe House on Sunday.
Fiori Musicali performing at Stowe HouseFiori Musicali performing at Stowe House
Fiori Musicali performing at Stowe House

Fiori are the region’s premier professional early music ensemble and one of the UK’s principal providers of classical and early music concerts outside London.

They perform to many thousands of music lovers across the region annually, showcasing some of todays finest baroque speciliats.

Dr Penelope Rapson, Fiori’s founder and director said: “We are looking forward to this concert enormously. We have enjoyed several concerts in the splendid surroundings of Stowe House, courtesy of Stowe Arts, and it’s wonderful to be opening our summer season there on Sunday.

“The stunning 18th century Music Room at Stowe with its excellent acoustic is just the kind of place where the music of Mozart and Boccherini would have been heard in the late 18th century.

“We’ll be performing elegant and stylish music by these great composers – just the kind of thing that would have graced the courts of Europe in the last decades of the 18th century, and bringing alive the very different world they were born into.”

In Fiori’s team for this concert will be charismatic cellist Poppy Walshaw, well known on the international circuit for her distinctive baroque cello playing.

She will be performing music by Boccherini – composer of a well known and very popular minuet for string quintet. But Boccherini was no ‘one-hit wonder’! And Fiori’s Stowe concert offers a rare opportunity to hear some of his less frequently performed music for strings.

So aiding and abetting cellist Poppy will be well known baroque violinist Kerstin Linder-Dewan and principal violinist Malu Lin Swayne (familiar to many as the leader in many of Fiori’s Christmas performances in Northampton’s Guildhall). Together Fiori’s director Penelope Rapson on harpsichord these engaging musicians will explore the delights of music composed around the time of the building of Stowe’s magnificent State Music Room.

Stowe of course is also known for its superb and extensive landscape gardens, the best in Europe according to some! A chief contributor to the Stowe landscaping was the legendary Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown – ‘England’s greatest gardener’.

This summer England celebrates the tercentenary of Capability Brown’s birth – in August 1716.

Audiences for Fiori’s concert will be able to enjoy a reception before the concert in the Marble Saloon, overlooking the impressive vista across the grounds, and imbibing the 18th century atmosphere of Stowe in all its many dimensions –the splendid architecture, the impressive landscaping and, last but by no means least, the inspiring music of the time.

The concert takes place in the splendid baroque State Music Room at Stowe on Sunday at 7.30pm. There will be areception and meet the artists before the concertin association with Stowe Arts. The concert is directed and introduced by Penelope Rapson.

Tickets cost between £15 and £20. To book visit www.fiori-musicali.com or call 0333 666 33660.