In Handel’s early 18th-century London, Hackney was a string of growing hamlets and a far cry from the composer’s stomping grounds of Mayfair and the West End. Handel would presumably have been bemused by the artfully curated facial hair (and breathtaking cost of his beloved coffee) in today’s East End clubbing headquarters. But the dank edginess of Village Underground’s converted warehouse space is also some distance from London Handel festival’s usual venues – and I’d guess this was the first ever LHF gig to usher in its audience with bottom-heavy Latin lift music on the sound system.
The programme was a mix of Handel, other early music and contemporary alternative classical, all lightly amplified. The first set was for solo violin: Aisha Orazbayeva competed with passing motorbikes as she performed movements by Bach, Handel and Bassano – all gritty bow-catch and pointillistic counterpoint – bookended by two gently trippy pieces (looped melodies, harmonics, microtones) by Oliver Leith.
