Classical Music | Southbank Centre

Paula Chateauneuf

Over one weekend in October lutenist Paula Chateauneuf curates Take The Risk, an innovative and exciting series of concerts and workshops at Southbank Centre that explore improvisation in early music.

So where does Willy Wonka, ballet and a good coffee supply fit in with this much sought-after musician? Let’s find out shall we…

What – or where – is perfection?

Sitting in a formal herb garden on a sunny day in Italy with my partner and good friends, fine conversation and a glass of chilled white wine.

Who is your favourite hero from fiction?

Willy Wonka, because he is an irresistible eccentric who is very much his own man.

What’s your favourite ritual?

My morning cappuccino break (I’ve got a fantastic Classic Gaggia and coffee supplier).

Which living person do you most admire?

I have complete admiration for those who devote their lives to educating others. They do the most important job in the world and hold the future in their hands.

What do I fear the most?

Being fearful.

What other talent or skill would you like to possess?

To sing really well, a bit of jazz and a bit of opera.

Tell us about a special memory you have of Southbank Centre?

Seeing a production of Swan Lake (by a Russian company, can’t remember which one). It was my first proper ballet experience (at the tender age of 43) and I was overwhelmed by the powerful emotion the art of dance can conjure.

If you could programme your ideal Southbank Centre show, which  artists (living or dead) would you bring together?

I would love to gather together the original cast of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (with the original sets and costumes) for a performance of the work directed by the composer, in a replica of the octagonal mirrored room where it was probably first presented.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

You must do whatever you’re doing from the heart. Even if you have to work hard for what you want, you must never lose sight of why you’re doing it.

Filed under: Early Music, Take The Risk Weekend | 1 Comment »

Stevie Wishart

Once upon a time, in the very distant past, music existed in neither written nor printed form; it was both learnt and performed through the simple combined devices of memory, variation and improvisation. Thousands of years later many musicians still work in exactly this manner; but in one genre – that of classical music – working without music has become something of an exception, particularly and increasingly during the last half millennium. Sometimes the text from which classical musicians play has been merely a set of ‘reminders’, a few dots and dashes to indicate approximate form, structure and expression. But often, and increasingly from the eighteenth century onwards, the text is not merely an aide-memoire, but a complex attempt by the composer to both articulate and prescribe actual expression for the performer.
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