Page 524 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK
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25 June 2022
R E V I E W
The spirit of Oliver Knussen fills Aldeburgh
Festival, plus the best of June’s classical concerts
The Aldeburgh Festival tribute to conductor Oliver Knussen was a feast of finely crafted music in
many different styles
ByIvan Hewett,
The late composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, photographed aged 17 by Patrick Lichfield in
1969 CREDIT: Patrick Lichfield/Conde Nast
Oliver Knussen Day/Aldeburgh Festival ★★★★☆
This year the Aldeburgh Festival emerged from the frustrations of the lockdown period with its
most ambitious programme ever. It was fitting that in its final weekend the festival paid tribute to
the late conductor and composer Oliver Knussen, artistic director of Aldeburgh from 1983 to 1998,
with numerous new pieces composed in his honour, and the world premiere of a piece he left
unfinished.
Knussen may never have been a household name, but in Aldeburgh he has an aura second only to
the glow of reverence that surrounds the festival’s founder, Benjamin Britten. This endlessly
curious musician, as big and bear-like in person as his music was exquisite and small, was a
