The Review - CLASSICAL & JAZZ Published: 23 July 2009
Laura Tivendale playing with the Little Baroque Company
In praise of harpsichords
PREVIEW: LAURA TIVENDALE
Fenton House
HIGHGATE harpsichordist Laura Tivendale will be making the trip to Hampstead next month to play harpsichords in a gala recital at Fenton House to raise funds for the National Trust property in Hampstead Grove.
She will be playing two harpsichords from the Fenton House world-renowned collection of musical instruments.
One will be the large and elaborate Shudi & Broadwood Harpsichord made in 1770, the other, one of the collection’s smaller harpsichords.
The recital is the prize awarded to Laura after she won the 9th Broadwood Harpsichord Competition held at Fenton House two months ago.
The bi-annual competition is the most prestigious in the world for the harpsichord.
“The Broadwood Competition is something I’d been working towards for a long time,” says Laura, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music.
“It’s the main British harpsichord competition and it’s a big achievement for a British harpsichordist to win it.
“People often tell me they don’t like the harpsichord..
“So I see it as my job to win these people round and show them what the harpsichord can do. It can be very beautiful.
“It’s an instrument full of expression. One of my ambitions is to widen its appeal.”
• Laura Tivendale’s recital will take place on Thursday August 13, starting at 8pm.
Tickets priced at £22 include interval refreshments and an opportunity to view the house and gardens.
Tickets are available from the box office: 08715 271 8887
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