Queen Elizabeth Hall
22 November 2003

Britten Sinfonia
Joanna MacGregor

Andy Sheppard

Shrikanth Sriram

"So now we know. Bach's enigmatic Art of Fugue wasn't intended for solo keyboard or string quartet or chamber ensemble, as sometimes hypothesised. It was meant all along for jazz saxophone, tabla and keyboard with supporting ensemble.

I doubt whether Joanna MacGregor's solution will recommend itself to Bach scholars, but her brilliant reworking of this series of complex fugues and canons is a tour de force in its own right.

Assigning contrapuntal lines to strings, flute, clarinet, bassoon and horns (some expert scoring here, beautifully realised by members of Britten Sinfonia), she gives the primary roles to saxophone (Andy Sheppard), tabla (tuned Indian drums played with consummate subtlety by Shrikanth Sriram) and herself on keyboards, sometimes electronically modified.

Indeed, the most unforgettable moments are those where Sheppard takes off into surreal flights of improvisational fancy, or where MacGregor fines the texture down to a ghostly echo of the original at the work's still centre. Elsewhere, Bach's cerebral polyphony is transmuted into something rich and resonant in a sequence of hauntingly evocative realisations.

The concert also included intriguing versions of a dozen pieces by the Manhattan busker-cum-cult-figure Moondog (Louis Hardin) - the best numbers had real presence and atmosphere - and a performance of Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks that rejected the usual hard-driven, mechanistic acerbity in favour of breezy insouciance.

But The Art of Fugue was the main thing. Too often crossover music leaves one wishing the barriers had remained up. This wonderfully imaginative take on one of the immortal masterpieces of the classical repertoire was perfect for the London Jazz Festival, but can still be caught in Cambridge, Luton, Manchester and Bristol. Not to be missed."

The Evening Standard, 24 November 2003

© Britten Sinfonia