The final concert of our tour, which featured Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour Noël, [H 9], Johann Sebastian Bach’s Schwingt freudig euch empor [BWV 36c], and Bach’s Unser Mund sei voll Lachens [BWV 110] took place at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London on Tuesday 17 December 2024. Tim Ashley, writing for The Guardian, described the concert as ‘a notably beautiful occasion’.

It was a pleasure to perform with the English Baroque Soloists, under the direction of Christophe Rousset, at this iconic venue in Trafalgar Square. Our performance began with an announcement from a representative of His Majesty King Charles III (patron of the orchestra); the message relayed the King's best wishes, included congratulations for our concerts so far (in Milan, Frankfurt, and Hamburg), and offered apologies for his absence this evening—as he had apparently been hoping to attend.

It was a joyous performance and the culmination of this fantastic collaborative project with Christophe Rousset. The trumpets and timpani played in one cantata, Unser Mund Sei Voll Lachens [BWV 110], which also includes a solo trumpet aria and slide trumpet chorale. The Guardian explained that ‘The opening of Unser Mund Sei Voll Lachens, in which the choir’s elation intrudes on the instrumental ceremonials heard at the outset, was breathtaking’.

It occurred to me that I must have played for Christophe Rousset around 30 times this year (not including rehearsals): 

10 performances of Mozart’s Così fan tutte at Théâtre du Châtelet

1 performance of Handel’s Jephtha in Oslo Cathedral

6 performances of Salieri’s Cublai gran kan de’ Tartari in Vienna

2 performances of Handel’s Jephtha in Namur and Halle

3 days recording Salieri’s Cublai gran kan de' Tartari at La Seine Musicale in Paris

4 performances of Porpora’s Ifigenia in Aulide in Bayreuth

Photo credit: Lorraine Villermaux

I received a call this morning (just before leaving home to go into London for the performance at St. Martin-in-the-Fields) asking me to travel to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria first thing tomorrow morning to ‘jump in’ on a performance of Handel's Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music. I said yes, packed a suitcase, took the train into London and booked my flights just before the rehearsal. I do love doing a ‘jump in’—it certainly adds to the adrenaline—and as luck would have it I had two free days in my calendar before my final performances of the year at Hampton Court Palace.