Our building is temporarily closed, due to UK Government advice on Coronavirus/Covid-19. Find out more

Alison Balsom in Gabriel

An Entertainment with Trumpet

,Barbican Hall
Alison Balsom with trumpet

All human life is here: Samuel Adamson’s theatrical celebration of Baroque music brings to life the sights, sounds and stories of 17th-century London through the eyes of a court trumpeter.

Alison Balsom’s performances of Purcell and his contemporaries give heart and soul to a bustling, exuberant entertainment; a breathtaking evocation of Restoration London in all its colour, clamour, and glorious chaos. Characters from monarchs to watermen – played by actors Jamie Parker (Harry Potter), Jack Farthing (Poldark), Anjana Vasan (Doll’s House) and Amanda Wilkin (Emilia) – cross paths in a narrative tied together by Balsom’s resplendent natural trumpet-playing.

‘Speech, song and score flow together in one teeming whole that sweeps you along with it’ wrote Dominic Cavendish of the Daily Telegraph after Gabriel was first performed at Shakespeare’s Globe. Reimagined here for the Barbican stage, prepare for a fresh encounter with a theatrical experience that (in Cavendish’s words) ‘leaves you giddy with pleasure and fully smitten’.

Tagged with: Classical music Barbican Presents Alison Balsom: Milton Court Artist-in-Residence More...

This performance will end at approximately 9.50pm, including a 20 minute interval.

Co-produced by the Barbican and Saffron Hall

Performers

Samuel Adamson Text
Alison Balsom trumpet
The English Concert
Harry Bicket music director
Elizabeth Watts soprano
Tim Morgan countertenor
Gwilym Bowen tenor
Chorus from Guildhall School
Dominic Dromgoole director
Jamie Parker actor
Jack Farthing actor
Anjana Vasan actor
Amanda Wilkin actor
‘What binds the piece together is the trumpet's ability to mix strength and sweetness, and the comparable blend, in 1690s London, of dirt and delicacy.‘
The Guardian, 21 July 2013

Download the programme

You might also like...

Get more from our classical music programme

Save on the 2019-20 season with member multibuy discounts and no booking fees, and get closer with members’ events including open rehearsals
Become a Member

Discover

an orchestra playing classical music in the barbican hall in central london

Listen: Classical Music on Spotify

Follow our regularly updated Classical Music playlist for a sample of the music you'll hear across our programme. 

Barbican Hall