San Francisco Classical Voice

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra returned to Berkeley's First Congregational Church on Saturday with a veritable anthology of Vivaldi, Corelli, and Handel. After the last subscription concert--a program of early Romantic works by Schubert and Mendelssohn--Philharmonia audiences were beckoned by Maestro Nicholas McGegan back to the Baroque, for a thrilling romp of a program dedicated to the archetypal concerto. McGegan's use of selected soloists from the orchestra was a striking affirmation of the wealth of individual talent at his disposal.

Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor, RV 531, showcased two of Philharmonia's brilliant cellists. Both Phoebe Carrai and Tanya Tomkins offered as compelling solo work on their period instruments as you are likely to hear. Both soloists offered splendid facility with the work's virtuosic material. Although each worked to draw a warm sound from her instrument, with minimal vibrato and a fine sense of melodic line, Carrai and Tomkins produced their individual lines as a shimmering, unified contribution to the entire musical matrix. The result was spontaneous and heartfelt music making that seemed to leave the audience exalted.

The Concerti Grossi of Handel are at the pinnacle of Baroque repertory. Handel's set of twelve from Opus 6 were written soon after a dismal run of Handel's opera Serse as Handel turned his creative energies towards the oratorio. It was these very same "Grand Concertos," as Handel would call them, that would be performed between the acts of these oratorios. The works were composed at a time when English audiences were taken by similar works by Locatelli and Geminiani. Within these decidedly Italian expectations, though, Handel integrated elements of the French overture, a style that was also familiar to his English audiences.

Handel's Concerto in F, Op. 6 No. 2, based on the four movement church sonata, featured lovely interplay between violinists Carla Moore and Katherine Kyme. Moore shaped each phrase with a delicate use of the bow and often varied textures between wide legato passages and heavily accented sections. Katherine Kyme provided a tasteful and often spirited accompaniment to the lead violin. Her judicious use of an off-the-string bow stroke, coupled with the utilization of space between notes, kept the solo work light and always moving forward.

McGegan enlivened the performance with judicious interpretations of tempi, alternating in his fashion between conducting and filling in chords at the harpsichord. McGegan is an artful interpreter, evoking much in the way of swell and accent with his hands while he is conducting. The Largo of the Concerto in F suffered, though, from a distinctly violent affectation. This particular movement, with French-inspired dotted figures, began at the extreme end of the dynamic spectrum--not forte but fortissimo, not only too loud, but angry in character. It was clear that McGegan was setting up contrasting textures, because the same figure was repeated again, played a second time piano. These contrasts could have been subtler and the contrasting textures would have been appreciated just the same.

The Concerto concludes with an exuberant four-part fugue, the subject passed from first violins, to second violins, and throughout the lower strings. The opening subject of the fugue was presented in strict time, but as it did not draw on the Baroque practice of altering the even-note rhythm according to the convention called notes inégales, the fugue felt constricted and lacked freedom.

The program began with a conservative, yet artfully rendered performance of Corelli's Concerto Grosso in B flat, Opus 6 No. 5. Violinists Carla Moore and Katherine Kyme provided the motor to Corelli's driving passage work and captured both the urgency and drama of the work. Philharmonia's concerts make convincing arguments in matters of style and taste, and there was much of that to be had on Saturday night. In what seemed to be McGegan's clever homage to Vivaldi, Philharmonia showcased its own members as soloists in the same way that the maestro did during his tenure at the Ospedale della Pietà.

(Benjamin Korn is a violinist and performs regularly with the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra. He also serves as Director of Development for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra.)

©1999 Benjamin Korn, all rights reserved