100 YEARS OLD AND STILL BLISSFULLY BEFUDDLED...

BEARDS, Beethoven and Brexit: I learnt something about all of those the other evening and alliteratively enough it was at a Bewilderingly Beautiful Birthday concert at the Barbican.

The birthday being celebrated was that of the group of highly-talented musicians who call themselves Classical Opera, a period ensemble founded by Ian Page, who conducted the birthday concert. They are now 20 years old and, as someone who celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year, I can only admire their youthful vigour and artistry.

And the beard, of course. This was of a reddish-brown hue and hung resplendently from the chin of the cellist Jonathan Byers, most noticeably in Mozart’s glorious arrangement of Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day. This is essentially a wonderful duet between cello and soprano, exquisitely sung by Anna Devin on this occasion, but it was the wisdom of the beard that made all the difference.

The soprano voice is high, pure and sensitive; the cello sound is low, sonorous and authoritative, all qualities emphasized by a full growth of beard. Rarely if ever have I seen an instrumentalist whose appearance so perfectly matched the sound from his instrument. It was a delightful duet between Anna Devin’s youthful, bright voice and the cello’s down-to-earth, friendly growling tones of experience in bearded gift wrapping.

For me, this was the highlight of the first half of the concert, just ahead of some glorious Haydn and more Mozart, interspersed with some well-chosen poems, delightfully purred by the actress Barbara Flynn.

In the second half of the concert, we were treated to a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. You know: it’s the one that features both the music from Pirates of the Caribbean and the EU anthem. My first thought was to ask myself whether we shall still be allowed to play this powerful work after Brexit – or is that question playing a prime part in holding up the negotiations? Then, thanks to an informative programme note, I suddenly realised what Brexit is all about.

Officially the EU anthem is purely instrumental and has no words, but it is usually referred to as “Ode to Joy” as in the original Beethoven version, it is sung by a full choir to the words of Schiller’s poem of that name.

What the programme note informed me, however, is that Schiller’s words in the symphony are preceded by some lines written by Beethoven himself to be sung by a baritone soloist. They mean “Oh friends, not these sounds! Let us sing more agreeable ones instead, and ones full of joy.”

Remarkably, it seems to me that Beethoven’s own words convey with surprising precision what Brexit means: We are tired of the sounds emanating from Brussels and voted in the referendum to sing more agreeable ones instead, designed to bring more joy to all concerned.

Schiller’s words of joy, brotherhood and harmony are all very well, but Beethoven saw the problems.