Rachel Podger
Review by Martha.
As the sun set behind Lichfield Cathedral, I settled into my seat for the final performance of the 2021 Lichfield Festival. This celebration of baroque music was sure to delight, and the gothic architecture created the perfect surroundings for the melancholic music with the gentle flicker of candles and a warm orange glow casting shadows across the stage. A sense of peace and intimacy ensued through the hum of gentle chatter which preceded the performance and gradually the lights dimmed to a single spotlight illuminating the stage.
Podger captivated the audience through her sheer passion for playing which shone through in her movements as well as her brief explanations of the pieces and what they meant to her. However, I was most struck by her technicality and graceful command of the instrument, which as an amateur violinist, I found inspiring and exhilarating. The baroque style of the pieces demands a systematic structure which generally precludes emotive techniques such as dynamics and larger amounts of vibrato. However, despite the music being played at a similar volume throughout, the varied use of chords and trills added the most wonderful depth to the pieces.
The piece which had the most impact upon me was the namesake of the performance: The Guardian Angel Passacaglia by Biber which reflects the end of the life of Christ creating an almost morbid glow through the minor key signature. This piece relied upon a repeating pattern of four notes with a polyphonic melody rising over the top through chords. This created the most beautiful cacophony of sound which filled the space so grandly that you would not have noticed that it was an unaccompanied and unamplified performance. The changes in the tempo of the music made it so diverse in nature and yet the heart-wrenching tone stayed in the forefront of my mind. It was phenomenal to see how so few notes could evoke such a great response from an audience. By the end, our applause was hesitant, a sign of our willingness for the piece to continue.
On the other hand, the most impressive of Podger’s work could be her transpositions. By taking works which are unintended for violin and changing the key, new and unique pieces are made which hold only a flavour of the original versions. This also allows the pieces to suit the instrument in a whole new way, a cello piece in a minor key can still sound light and bright on the violin rather than the menacing and deep sound you may expect. Therefore, these transpositions have changed my perspective that baroque music relies solely on structure and instead suggested that this period can be brought to life through the playing of excellent musicians such as Podger.
Overall, this event was glorious in the way it brought to life a whole new world of music for me and created the wonderful buzz of live music after so long without performances. Podger is such a passionate violinist whose playing is simply exquisite, and I would recommend her performances to anyone. Therefore, I would whole-heartedly suggest that the Lichfield Festival certainly ended with a triumph!