52 CLASSICALMUSICMAGAZINE.ORG MAY 2019

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The setting for the London Festival of Baroque Music (LFBM) could hardly be more appropriate than the beautiful early 18th-century Baroque church of St John’s Smith Square. Designed by Thomas Archer and completed in 1728, St John’s is the only 18th-century church in London to function purely as a concert hall. It is natural, therefore, that it should be the home of the festival, now in its 35th year.

Artistic director Richard Heason talks fondly of the church, explaining how its Byzantine shape enhances acoustics to just the right level. It isn’t quite right for spoken word or for amplified performances but for classical music, and especially Baroque, it’s perfect. Where other concert halls have to make adaptations, such as by putting special acoustic membranes in place, or modifying seating, it hasn’t been necessary to do that at St John’s. ‘We have the most wonderful natural acoustic for Bach Passions, Vivaldi oratorios or indeed Handel’s Messiah, which is our finale this year,’ says Heason.

This year’s festival is curated under the theme ‘Crossing the Border’ and will explore strands of travel and discovery. Heason says the idea came about after viol player Jordi Savall offered the programme L’Europa Musicale: From the Renaissance to the Baroque. ‘With all the discussions about Brexit and freedom of movement, it very quickly came to my mind that ideas around nationhood and identity are not new. Looking at it in a political way: what is the impact of travel on people and ideas across any period of history?’ During LFBM musicians will be exploring the Grand Tour of

Europe; composers writing in a language other than their mother tongue; Latin American Baroque, and dance from England and France, as well as flamenco.

Dance is so integral to musical and national style and identity that it forms an important part of many artistic offerings. ‘We want to try and push beyond the concerts that we would put on as part of our normal programming,’ says Heason. ‘A festival is an opportunity to explore more deeply and add value to what audiences are experiencing.’ And St John’s is much more adaptable for dance programming than you might think. ‘Many people perceive churches as inflexible spaces, but we have no fixed seats so we can

become a big flat space,’ Heason says. When it came to discussing the ‘Dance of the Nations’ concert with Nicolette Moonen, director of the Bach Players, it was agreed that, based on the success of previous concerts ‘in the round’, the dance project would work well this way, with no one in the audience more than five seats away from the action.

The performances illustrated with word – the Grand Tour with Ensemble Masques and Breaking the Rules (the story of the last night of Gesualdo’s life) – also include some more theatrical elements. ‘We are lucky because we can black out the church and we can light certain things in a certain way,’ says Heason. Backstage elements such as a quick-change area can be worked out – but there isn’t any traditional ‘wing’ space. Heason recalls a story from a previous year when cubes which formed a pre-made set didn’t fit through the doors and had to be remade. That aside, it is not usually a problem to build a theatre or dance space inside

A festival is an opportunity to add value to what audiences are experiencing

A broad churchCoriander Stuttard speaks to Richard Heason about the challenges and joys of hosting a festival in St John’s Smith Square

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