This was the concert for you if you wanted to hear some fine “Baroquery” gently cloaked in a 21st century large concert hall aesthetic. There was the Baroque sound, balance, colours and liveliness but with 21st century instruments – bar the guitar, lute, theorbo and harpsichords. The typical character of Baroque dance rhythms, but carefully nuanced and intensely musical stretching of those rhythms, were realised under the direction of Erin Helyard, a leading expert in the musicology and performance of early music, and Artist in Residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra this year. The Brandenburg concertos may have been the well-known pieces, but, as in all creative performances, we heard new details, newly delivered cadences and differently paced codas. In a late program change, Zoë Black replaced Tair Khisambeev as orchestra leader and solo violin in both Vivaldi violin concertos, and rose superbly to the challenge.
Vivaldi Concerto for violin in F, RV 569
The orchestral sound as the concerto opened was much fuller than one might have expected, with players responding with enthusiasm to Helyard’s energy and verve. To quote Benjamin Pesetsky’s program notes, this and the subsequent Vivaldi piece “blur the line between solo violin concerto and concerto grosso”, with many opportunities for solo work from the other instruments. Unusually for Italian music of this period, it includes two horns, which fanfared along like mad in a splendid, golden sound. One wondered if it was in fact a horn and violin duo concerto! Helyard conducted standing in front of his harpsichord keyboard, reaching down at times to join Donald Nicolson’s harpsichord, supporting the bass line and filling in harmonies. In the tender slow second movement, Black’s solos were expressive and stylish with lovely ripieno accompaniment in the strings. The jolly third movement was great. Although Hamer Hall is not known as a venue for smaller forces, the individual instruments spoke clearly, and it was lovely to be able to hear the thrumming of Nicholas Pollock’s guitar.
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
After the Vivaldi, some of the musicians left the stage leaving a smaller group to perform the third Brandenburg. Violins and violas stood, while Helyard was seated at the harpsichord, with Pollock exchanging his Baroque guitar for a lute. Of the two of us, one felt that the cellos and bass might have been overly dominant, but for the other it was a delight to hear their continuo coming through clearly. The two harpsichords happily buzzed along, although were barely heard when the full group was playing – perhaps as it should be. This has one of the happiest of opening movements in the Brandenburg suite. The second movement is really a slow two-chord introduction to the third movement, which was played at athletic, almost breakneck, speed; the cellos enjoyed their speedy runs, keeping together with smiling eye contact. It felt almost as if on the point of being out of control. But how exciting!
Vivaldi Concerto for violin in G minor, RV577
The other string and wind players returned to the stage for the next Vivaldi, joined by two superlative recorders trilling away, and a theorbo continuo from Pollock. Helyard encourages a muscular sound and accents when needed to give exciting forward movement. The oboes and bassoon starred at the opening of the second movement, contrasting with violin, harpsichord and Pollock returning to baroque guitar. Lovely! The fast and furious third movement featured pairs of instruments: duo recorders, bassoon and oboe, and duo violins, all taking very well-deserved bows at the end.
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
The band was joined by the horns and retuned before embarking on another joyous opening with the horns doing their exciting calls in the midst. The plangent oboe opening the second movement was exquisite, and for the first time we really heard clearly Nicolson’s harpsichord through the texture. Helyard’s enjoyment of his work with the group really showed through in the fast third movement. What a magical coda it was, with the duos and ripieno strings conversing away delightfully. In the fourth movement’s final series of dance movements, each was joyfully brought to life, although perhaps the violin at speed disengaged once or twice, with some rhythms misaligned. An oboe, bassoon and flute trio, however, was the model of elegance and togetherness. These were Bachian sounds in a cloak of slight classicism. There was a slight misadventure when a string snapped on the theorbo with a loud twang, but Pollock played on with aplomb with the very long string dangling in the air.
Telemann Overture (Suite) in D Major, TWV 55:D22
To conclude the evening, we were treated to an unfamiliar and rather hilarious work that Telemann had titled “Ouverture jointes d’une suite tragi-comique”. We were grateful for Helyard’s introductory explanation of its satirical nature, as there was no explanation of this in the program notes. It made an enormous difference to our enjoyment of the piece to know that the movements depicted gout, hypochondria, pomposity (“the fop is all style and no substance”), and their remedies. Timpani and trumpets appeared on the stage, and from various parts of the band we heard the groans, stabs of pain and sighs of the stricken. After a short overture, each character flaw and its “remedy” was depicted in turn. The complaining and wailing of the violin depicting gout was a delight. So enjoyable and fun to hear the illnesses “cured” by interpolations of dance movements – was “Get up and move about” the recommended health advice? John Arcaro’s fabulous drumming deserves special mention as he fanfared, rattled and banged us through into the last exciting section. The pairs of oboes and horns and droning cellos also made a super contribution. The coda was brilliant and left you feeling exuberant. It was terrifically played and got huge applause. This is obviously destined to be an audience favourite – and it has never been performed here before!
This concert was a splendid showcase for the orchestra’s versatility. Only a couple of weeks earlier we had experienced the thrilling and gutsy sound of a 100-strong MSO in the Mahler 3; in this first of their two Baroque Festival concerts, we heard their flair and elegance in a chamber-sized orchestra. The large audience, even filling the choir stalls above the stage, responded with enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment.
Image supplied.
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Kristina and Bruce Macrae reviewed “Bach and Vivaldi Concertos”, presented as part of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Baroque Festival at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on April 2, 2024.
