Online Journal

• 13.3.2009

  pipelife in Ettlingen

  This one took place in a former paper mill turned conference center, called the Buhlsche Mühle. (It's bigger than you'd think when looking at it from the outside.) And it was the third time in a row that I was lucky to get tickets even a week in advance. (Wuarrgh: I have to get used to scheduling my concert-going earlier; it's a good sign of course that this sort of event is usually well booked in Ettlingen).

  ensemble pipelife is a group of five recorder players who studied in Karlsruhe and have been performing together for ten years. They've built an harmonious and well timed ensemble sound that's very pleasant to listen to. Some of the pieces they played provided plenty of opportunity to display technical brilliance (the players rotated instruments, so each of them played in all positions for some time). And there were a few deeply beautiful ones. (My favorite was by Anthony Holborne, an Elisabethan English composer: "The Image of Melancholy" — confirming the old suspicion that the sad music is somehow always the most beautiful.) Between pieces, the musicians gave some helpful comments, explaining about their instruments and the compositions, which made the evening less formal and even more interesting. Great fun :-)