Devon Baroque Press Release

Margaret Faultless will lead Devon Baroque
at Dartington Great Hall on Sunday 20th February

Devon Baroque returns with a new concert series for 2011 entitled `Europe in Transition’. Under the charismatic direction of Margaret Faultless, the orchestra will be performing selected works by Mozart, Haydn, Boccherini and Boyce. This is an unusual opportunity to experience works in the pre-classical style or `Style gallant’ of the mid- 18th Century, which developed as the baroque went out of fashion.

Featured artists are:
cellist Sebastian Comberti, who will be performing Boccherini’s Concerto in G major,
and Margaret Faultless who will play as soloist in the demanding Haydn Violin Concerto in C major.

Mozart was born in 1756 at Salzburg. He was a child prodigy and a prolific composer. He began performing at the age of six. The orchestra will perform his Divertimento in D major and that in Bb.

A composer who had a great influence on Mozart was Haydn. He was born in lower Austria to a music-loving wheelwright and trained as a choirboy. He later served as composer-conductor on the estate of Prince Esterhazyin Hungary for thirty years where he wore the livery of an upper servant. He was a violinist himself. He became known as `Father of the Symphony’ and Wagner described him as a `most divine genius’.

Another musical prodigy, who made his debut as a cellist at the age of thirteen, was Boccherini. He was also a prolific composer of chamber music and wrote several virtuosic cello concertos. The finest English composer of this time was William Boyce who was Master of the King’s Music from 1757. We shall hear the Symphony in F major performed by Devon Baroque.

Margaret Faultless is co-leader of The Orchestra of The Age of Enlightenment and an internationally renowned baroque violinist. Devon Baroque has built a reputation for its exhilarating and polished performances under her inspiring leadership.

Concerts will be at:

St. James’s Church, Mount Pleasant, Exeter EX4 7AH on Friday 18th February at 7.30 pm,

(Contact the Exeter Phoenix 01392 667080 or www.exeterphoenix.org.uk for the ticket information)

Oldway Mansion, Torquay Road, Paignton, TQ3 2TE on Saturday 19th February at 7.30 pm,

(The English Riviera Tourist Information Centre 01803 21121 www.englishriviera.co.uk)

The Great Hall, Dartington, TQ9 6DE on Sunday 20th February at 3pm.

(Dartington Box Office 01803 847070 www.dartington.org/pages/boxoffice)

Tickets are £18 (concessions £17 at Dartington) and £5 for students and juniors.

Further Information: website www.devonbaroque.co.uk or contact Jasper on 01803 868883 jaspers@members.shines.net