|
EARLY MUSIC REVIEW
Menu of Baroque Musical Delights
September 8, 2001
|
By Kimberly Parke
Musica Pacifica's "Chiaroscuro" at St. John's Presbyterian on Saturday coupled intriguing programming choices with fearless musical risk taking. Plus, there was a guest artist, countertenor Michael Collver, whose wide range of vocal color communicated the intense emotions at the heart of early Baroque solo singing.
"Et e pur dunque vero" ("It is true then"), from Monteverdi's Scherzi musicali, gave the first hint of Collver's expressiveness. His tone modulated between stridency and sweetness, at times almost dropping into a chest voice. As he spoke the final words of the song, the audience leapt at the opportunity for applause even as the ensemble segued into the next piece.
The program featured the "poetry and passion in the music of 17th century Italy." The musical "sets" alternated between the ever-changing groupings of the instrumental ensemble and solo songs, and between well-known and obscure composers and pieces. This menu of delights alleviated the feeling of sameness that can set in at early music concerts. At the same time, the attention to the pieces' mood made for seamless transitions within the sets.
The best example how this approach inspired attentive listening came in the first half when lutenist Michael Eagan began the third set with a prelude by Kapsberger. This melancholic flourish heightened the desolation of the first line of Monteverdi's "Pianto della madonna sopra il lamento d'Arianna" ("Plaint of the Madonna on Arianna's Lament"). The choice to use the sacred Latin version of the text in an otherwise secular concert seemed odd at first, until I realized that this forced me to hear this warhorse of early Baroque opera in a new way, focusing my attention on the power of the melodic line and on Collver's ability to convey the work's complex emotional shifts. The set ended with Niccoló Corradini's sonata La Sfondrata, with Elizabeth Blumenstock on the violin. Her sensitive playing rounded out the set on a poignant note that complemented the aria rather than overwhelming it. The evening's virtuosic instrumentalist was recorderist Judith Linsenberg, who played fearlessly. Many times she was on the edge of the recorder's capabilities, as in Castello's histrionic Sonata II from Sonate concertante in stile moderno, II. Her physicality with the instrument sharply illustrated why the more prudish 17th century critics forbade women from playing wind instruments. However, her pushing in the most extreme sections served to sweeten the more lyrical moments, highlighting the mercurial nature of the pieces.
The second half of the program featured decidedly lighter fare. A suite of songs by Sigismondo d'India began light and turned frothy when Collver started hamming it up. Although his mannerisms were amusing, the audience's understanding was hampered by the lack of an adequate translation of the text, leaving us to believe that the material was more salacious than, in fact, it is. The final work on the program, Fontana's Sonata 16 a 3, provided the canvas to showcase the group's well-honed ensemble. The interplay between the recorder, the violin, and Collver's cornetto playing (yes, he doubled on that instrument) showed just the right amount of sound matching and differentiation in the dizzying interplay between the solo and tutti sections. The audience responded warmly to an enjoyable evening, and the group took their bows to a standing ovation. (Kimberly Parke is a Ph.D. candidate in music at UC Berkeley.) ©2001 Kimberly Parke, all rights reserved |