ARCHITECTURE/MUSIC: Kings Cross Station & The Artemis Quartet

An invitation to a concert in Cambridge meant I went to Kings Cross Station, revamped by John McAslan + Partners, the trains easy of access, the jumbo fan of steel in brilliant white is a towering accomplishment.

The music was Camerata Musica at Peterhouse, in a theatre with peerless acoustics (half the seats are reserved at the cost of five pounds for undergraduates). Built in 1883 to designs of the architect Basil Champneys, who is said to have been inspired by Palladio's Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza [see my blog entry of 11/05/2013] - and there the resemblance ends!

The Artemis Quartet played Brahms, Bartok and Beethoven superbly.




The violoncello was played by Eckart Runge, sitting down, the other three players all stood. Friedmann Weigle viola, Gregor Sigl and Vineta Sareika violins. Off next morning, this masterly quartet, based in Berlin, were going on what sounded like a very taxing tour of the USA and Canada. They record with EMI.