Page 173 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

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Aldeburgh Festival

Flashing through life, this year’s Aldeburgh Festival notches up its 75th edition
and features a stellar line-up of international performers offering a wealth of
music across a wholesome 17 days. Festival regular, Tony Cooper, reports

ounded by Benjamin Britten, classical music and long before arts
Peter Pears and Eric Crozier in organisations ever thought of engaging
1948, the Aldeburgh Festival, in education and supporting young
originally centred on the artists, Britten, along with Pears, found a
FBorough’s cosy and intimate school honoured by their names in 1972
Jubilee Hall in Crabbe Street with a known today as the Britten-Pears Young
seating capacity of just 236. However, Artist Programme which allows students
when Britten and Pears conceived the to participate in masterclasses under the
bright idea of turning the Victorian-built direction of renowned instructors and to
malt-house at Snape, situated about five Leonkoro Quartet perform on stage in festival concerts
miles inland from Aldeburgh, into an with world-class performers and
832-seat venue, Snape Maltings Concert conductors.
Hall was born. Officially opened by HM And always striving for the best,
Queen Elizabeth II in 1967, the Snape Britten and Pears brought to the Suffolk
Maltings Concert Hall suffered serious coast a host of international stars
fire damage two years later, re-opening including such world-renowned figures
in time for the Aldeburgh Festival the as the German lyric baritone Dietrich
following year. Fischer-Dieskau, the American
The larger venue, of course, opened violinist/conductor Yehudi Menuhin,
the festival to a much wider audience who, incidentally, spent most of his
Fantasie
while it could also attract much larger
© Kaupo Kikkas
ensembles and orchestras, too, as
opposed to the intimate (but much-
loved) Jubilee Hall. Ambitious as ever, Kiln Studio - seats up to 80 people in a
though, Britten and Pears never stood flexible configuration and is a
still and within five years they reclaimed purposeful space for smaller groups
more buildings on the site and to rehearse and suitably equipped
established a centre for talented young for video and electro-acoustic
musicians. installations. And a nice touch,
The development and expansion of architecturally speaking, is to the
the site seems to be ongoing and in fact that the venue retained its
2006 the festival purchased a 999-year double-height roof and much of the
lease on the Maltings’ existing fabric of the original kiln
complex investing structure.
around £14 million Opened by HM Queen
in new studios Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, in
and rehearsal 1979, the Holst Library contains
spaces which many of the original contents
came into donated by Imogen Holst, a
being in bosom friend of Benjamin
2009. Now Britten and an artistic director of
the Creative the Aldeburgh Festival from 1956
Campus at the to 1977. ‘The Gustav Holst Library
Maltings has will be a working library for the use
four performance of students,’ she said. ‘It’s being
venues and over 20 called after him in gratitude for his
rehearsal and public music and his teaching.’
spaces. Open by appointment, the library
The Hoffmann Building, for instance, comprises a large collection of
features two excellent spaces suitable books, scores and audio
for performances while providing materials covering many
additional rehearsal rooms and a social genres. Much of the stock is
area. The centrepiece of the building - available, too, for
aptly named The Britten Studio - is searching on the web
cleverly designed offering an excellent catalogue of the MAIN: Alban Gerhardt
and flexible acoustic with a high level of Britten-Pears Library. Britten and Bach
sound insulation for recording. It’s ideal Without doubt,
CIRCLE: The Kanneh-
for orchestral rehearsals and can also be Britten was a
Masons
used as a 340-seat venue too. pioneering figure
The smaller-scale building - Jerwood in the world of
98 | June 2024