“The visit of the astonishing Danish quartet Kottos had been eagerly awaited in Hexham and the audience that gathered in the sun-filled north transept of the Abbey on Friday evening was rewarded with a long to be remembered concert of classical arrangements of Vivaldi, Grieg, Bartok, Piazzolla et al, and works by contemporary Nordic composers. This is no ordinary quartet however. Pernille Petersen playing a variety of recorders from a huge Ikea-looking lowest bass to the highest, smallest sopranino, Bjarke Mogensen on a huge Russian Bayan concert accordion, Josefine Opsahl playing a cello and Christos Farmakis adding unmistakeable Mediterranean colour but also blending with the Celtic sound world, all displayed total command of their instruments and demonstrated their collective brilliance and musical understanding of the genre. The group’s achievement doesn’t stop there however, because at its beating heart are creative composer musicians who are able to distil and develop strands of folk music. Herein lies the genius of these performance artistes and their collective ability to connect with an audience which seemed to this musician listener to be second to none!
Audience members on Friday will no doubt have their favourite moments from this wide ranging musical survey, but for openers, Vivaldi’s La Folia variations and Piazzolla’s Fuga y Misterio were simply knock-out! The technical standards of the recorder playing were to be marvelled at, whilst Bjarke Mogensen’s wonderful accordion playing brooded, exploded and cajoled. Josefine Opsahl showed how brilliantly versatile a cello can be and Christos Farmakis added another distinctive and telling voice to what was a perfectly balanced group of musicians. This was a serious case of “once heard, never forgotten”!”
Review by Martin Hughes for Hexham Courant following KOTTOS’ performance at Hexham Abbey during the Nordic Voices Festival, 2018
We are delighted to welcome back to Hexham the Danish group KOTTOS, who played in the Abbey at last year’s Nordic Voices Festival. This unlikely quartet features an unusual line-up: recorders in various sizes from the lowest bass to the highest sopranino; a 17 kg Russian Bayan concert accordion provides an orchestral flavour; the cello is the foundation of the quartet adding sounds from the avant-garde and Nordic folk music; and the Bouzouki adds unmistakable Mediterranean colour, blended with sounds from the Celtic regions.
This concert is jointly promoted with Hexham and District Music Society and sponsored by Patricia J. Arnold & Co. Ltd. with additional support from Nordic Voices Festival.
Date & Time
Sunday 22 September
3pm
Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
Tickets:
£16
Watch a clip of KOTTOS here
