Thomas Dunford at Saygun

I only discovered Thomas Dunford about a year ago and I have been completely infatuated ever since. The way he interprets the works of Robert de Visée and his contemporaries is just majestic. Naturally I have been craving a live performance for a while now. So you can imagine my joy when I saw that he will be performing at the Ahmet Adnan Saygun Arts Centre in İzmir on the 28th of April.

But before we get to that, here is a wonderful live performance he gave with Léa Desandre at the Festival de Maguelone.

My personal hook into his artistry was the Chaconne by Robert de Visée at 20:03 in the video above. Being a huge admirer of the baroque era I have been closely following his recordings ever since and have recently been obsessing over Songs of Passion made together with Léa Desandre. A personal favourite from the album is decisively When I Am Laid in Earth from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. I used to consider Andreas Scholl's recording as the ultimate reference for this piece but this rendition completely challenged that. Nuanced, delicate and utterly striking.

I wholeheartedly hope for a programme packed with the jewels of the baroque era — especially welcome in these turbulent times. Regardless of the programme I am just grateful that such a shining star of the field is visiting our lovely city. It will be a truly special evening.

This concert is part of the 6th Baroque Music Festival organised by the team at Ahmet Adnan Saygun Arts Centre and I want to take a moment to thank them for this wonderful endeavour. They consistently bring great music to İzmir and I sincerely hope the centre and the musicians of this city continue to prosper for a long time to come.

With great excitement I look forward to the 28th of April. For those interested tickets are available at the link below.

https://aassm.org.tr/tr/Etkinlikler/Detay/6722

To everyone who shares a love for baroque music — I hope to see you there and wish you a wonderful experience.