Review: Only Baroque and Roll But I Like It…Unforgettable experience at Macready Theatre in Rugby

Who knows… In what is now termed year 3, my recorder playing was good enough to get a place in the school orchestra at my West London primary school, alongside all the big kids.

After a term of year 4, however, we moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, a place naturally richer in culture – but with at least my primary school sadly lacking an equivalent orchestra.

A year later I was trusted to play castanets in a Christmas production of Joseph but it really wasn’tthe same… a case of London yearning, not just London’s Burning.

But even if my new school hadn’t stopped me in my recorder playing tracks – along with forcing me to unlearn joined-up handwriting because it hadn’t been taught yet – in truth, I still saw it as a stepping stone to playing other instruments.

Others had far greater commitment to its potential and at the heart of the Red Priest quartet is a superstar of the instrument and its wider family.

There was a passing reference to Jimi Hendrix during the concert and think of that sort of impact when you imagine Piers Adams, an extraordinary and innovative musician whose performance left the audience breathless, while he had the reserves to carry on playing at pace and with remarkable dexterity.

This is not standing still in front of a music stand to play Three Blind Mice, this is flamboyant recorder playing and an unforgettable experience.

The title of the evening sounds like something edgy that’s either been or about to go to the Fringe.

It’s certainly edgy but the talent of all four players – the others being violinist Julia Bishop, cellist

Angela East and David Wright on harpsichord – is based on extraordinary depth of experience and

knowledge of baroque music.

While their fresh takes on pieces by the great names of the era – Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Telemann, Purcell and more – were presented with flair and with humorous yet informative introductions, they were utterly sincere interpretations of the works.

Though Adams was undoubtedly the showman and leader of the band, all four had moments in the spotlight.

Wright explained and demonstrated the challenges of playing the harpsichord when the convention was to only to write for the left hand, leaving the musician to create with the right. His apparently casual playing style, often with legs crossed, was typical of an evening not classically classical in presentation but as rich as any I’ve seen.

There are great changes of mood and passion in baroque and our cellist played and expressed those variations most enigmatically – when she attacked, wow, did she attack.

And if the violin prevented bringing similar passionate facial expressions to her playing, Bishop was remarkable across the wide variations in style - and the undoubted star of Telemann’s Gypsy Rondo.

Rugby loves to recall moments when legendary groups performed in the town and this deserves to be another of them. While the others tend to be the likes of The Rolling Stones, I’ll point to Red Priest’s back catalogue including CDs with names like Handel in the Wind and Johann I’m Only Dancing and conclude – It’s

Only Baroque and Roll But I Like It…