Exstatica at the BBC

Pietro Aretino, author of mucky Renaissance verse

I’d never been to a classical concert that sported an “18+” rating. Have now.  

"The publicity promised “sexually explicit material”. The red-tinted specs handed out at the door suggested we might be set for the lurid excesses of a ’70s exploitation flick. In the event, the BBC Concert Orchestra’s Exstatica proved to be a fairly sober exploration of ecstasy in music. Aside from some mucky verse and an excitable soprano, it was all pretty tame – educational even, with Radio 3’s Christopher Cook keeping his live commentary strictly informative."

Read my full review at Classical Source.