Salon Eastnor: Jack Savoretti

Eastnor’s new programme of contemporary salons, drawing on the castle’s history as a cultural melting pot for the meeting of great minds from the worlds of art and literature, debuted with an inspirational evening of conversation and music hosted by the English-Italian singer-songwriter

   
Eastnor Castle has a long history of hosting house parties that can best be described as “salons” – gatherings of interesting people where matters of art and culture are discussed in a relaxed environment. These have been taking place privately since the house was built, largely because the owners of Eastnor have regularly been intellectually inquisitive themselves. 

‘The curious and artistic spirits of my ancestors are evident not only in the library and the collection of objects they left behind in the house, but also in the influence and creativity of their circle,’ says Imogen Hervey-Bathurst, today’s resident at the castle.  

Prominent artists, writers, musicians and thinkers have stayed at Eastnor over the years. The roll call is impressive and includes poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson; novelist and illustrator William Makepeace Thackeray; poet, musician, author and artist Edward Lear; early photographer Julia Margaret Cameron; painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts; and artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  

‘It doesn’t take much to picture the lively discussions that were held at Eastnor,’ says Hervey-Bathurst. ‘Consider that the library is stocked with religious literature as well as scientific works like Darwin’s 1859 On the Origin of Species – you can imagine a group of Victorians sitting around the fire talking animatedly about topics like evolution and the Book of Genesis.’ 

In more recent times, Eastnor has hosted plays, poetry readings and film crews. The Rat Pack’s Sammy Davis Jr came to Eastnor to film One More Time in 1969, Madonna shot there for her 2011 drama about Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, W.E., and HBO’s Succession saw the potential for Eastnor as a wedding venue for Tom Wambsgans and Shiv Roy. 

Sammy Davis Jnr & Peter Lawford. Film: One More Time (1970). Characters: & Christopher Pepper. Director: Jerry Lewis. 08 March 1970 © CHRISLAW-TRACE-MARK. Photographer: Cinematic Collection. 
No commercial use can be granted without written authority from the Film Company.

It is in a spirit of reviving the idea of this atmospheric place as a host to meetings of minds that Hervey-Bathurst is starting a programme of modern-day salons at the castle. Under the name Salon Eastnor, she is inviting artists, writers and creatives to come and use the castle as a setting for gatherings and the exploration of ideas. 

First to host a salon was musician Jack Savoretti, who made use of the castle’s pianos for a social evening of performance and conversation about music. 

‘It blew my mind when I pulled up outside,’ says Savoretti. ‘I knew we were meeting at a castle, but I’ve been to many places that call themselves castles that really are not. But Eastnor is literally what every child would call a castle, it has that fairytale element.’ 

As the host of his salon, Savoretti has an interesting take on what the castle offers. ‘It’s got the weight of history, but it’s very fun to play within that – it’s not a heavy weight, it’s not burdensome. You feel welcome. But as the host, you feel liberated – you are not the main character, which is great. The rooms are fabulous, and they take over that role; they take away the responsibility from you to entertain everyone. You’re not the host, the castle and its rooms host you. Which means you are all free to express yourself.’ 

Savoretti loved the instruments at his disposal: ‘The pianos are stunning. I played a 100- year-old rosewood Steinway, which was a very great honour.’ And he describes the Grand Hall, which houses another piano (a boudoir grand pianoforte by John Broadwood & Sons, London, probably 19th century) as possessing ‘some of the best acoustics I’ve ever heard’. 

The salon unfolded throughout the evening in different parts of the castle. ‘The place is so large that you can use different settings for different purposes in one night,’ explains Savoretti. ‘You’re there for an event, but the rooms themselves are an event. They change your mood. The Grand Hall is incredible, with its 60-foot ceiling – you look up and you feel like you’re in a Florentine Renaissance palazzo. The living room has an opulent stately home vibe. The library transports you to an Oxford University college. The snooker room is the most beautiful games room I’ve ever been in. The open fireplaces are pure Gothic castle, and I love the diversity of all the bedrooms – the Queen’s Bedroom was divine.’ Overnight guests get different experiences based on the character of where they are sleeping, he says: a room with a Chinese-style painted ceiling; one with a four-poster bed draped in red tapestry. 

Next up in the Salon Eastnor series will be Tim Marlow, director of the Design Museum in London, who will come to the castle in the new year to convene a salon themed around the future of design and the role of museums. His guests will include the Design Museum lead team and people from the wider world of design and architecture. 

We will bring you news of salons, and reviews by the hosts, as they happen. 

Jack Savoretti’s latest album Miss Italia is out now. He is finishing his tour of Italy this month and will tour the UK next February; for more information, visit www.jacksavoretti.com or follow him at @jacksavoretti and jacksavoretti.os.fan/eastnor