Visit to Wigmore Hall and the Wallace Collection

17 Liverymen and friends enjoyed a brilliant recital at the Wigmore Hall on March 27th. Freddy Kempfe played a Liszt transformation of a Bach Prelude and Fugue followed by Beethoven's Hammerclavier Sonata. He combined tremendous power with subtle delicacy and astonishing speed. Still in his twenties it was easy to see how he deserved his accolade of Young Musician of the Year some time back.

Afterwards we were lucky to be guided by Christylle Phillips at the Wallace Collection. Christylle is married to the Lord Chief Justice. She is an expert on Marie Antoinette and she fascinated us with stories of that unhappy Queen as she showed us some exquisite pieces of the furniture which the Queen had kept in her private apartment in Versailles. One piece was a secretaire, one of three in that room, by Reisener commissioned by her to celebrate the birth of her first child, the Dauphin, after nearly 11 years of marriage. Beautiful marquetry panels mimicking her choice of silk floral hangings for the walls. Christylle showed us two of a set of 4 Boule candlesticks which the King gave her after the Dauphin's birth. Christylle told us how Boule was made and how these candlesticks were some of the most perfect examples of the art to be found anywhere, and were typical of the remarkable taste shown by the 3rd and 4th Marqesses of Hertford as they assembled their collections.

An exciting visit to be repeated soon.  

Past Master: Andrew Drysdale

Colin Draper and Sarah Collett receiving their certificates by the Master on the evening of the Master’s Lecture in recognition of achieving the highest mark jointly obtained in the 2nd year of coursework in the MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration at Kings’ College