Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra appeared in a different guise Saturday at Berkeley's First Congregational Church. Under the baton of guest conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini, the musicians of the orchestra demonstrated their versatility in a program that focused on the concerto grosso and included special guest star soprano Marta Almajano.
Alessandrini is best known as the founder of Concerto Italiano, and has long specialized in Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries. His conducting is vigorous, muscular, and rather controlling, resulting in toe-tapping, breast-thumping readings. Every detail was shaded toward the extreme: from vigorous Allegros to soupy Adagios, and from stomping (rather than walking) bass lines to transparent violin filigree.
The featured instrumental soloists of the evening were violinists Lisa Weiss and Carla Moore and cellist Tanya Tomkins. All three ably demonstrated their ability to express the conductor's intentions while maintaining their distinctive sounds. Weiss' nimble fingers flew through the complicated figurations of an extremely fast Allegro movement of Corelli's famous Christmas Concerto Op. 6, No. 8. Tomkins' command of the spiccato technique (a manner of bouncing the bow to produce very short and articulate sounds) was most impressive, while Moore's beautiful tone added to many an Adagio. The dialogue between all three in each of the concerti grossi on the program was simply delightful.
Spanish soprano Marta Almajano was certainly the discovery of the evening for me. Clad in a lovely periwinkle and black gown, Almajano first sang Alessandro Scarlatti's Cantata pastorale per la nascità di Nostro Signore (Pastoral cantata for the birth of Our Lord), the other holiday-themed work on the program. This charming cantata heralds the birth of Jesus in true pastoral fashion, replete with rocking rhythms, drone effects from the strings, and sweet, simple vocal lines. Alessandrini's muscular conducting was possibly a bit too heavy for this piece, and Almajano appeared somewhat uncomfortable at first.
Rebekah Ahrendt holds the artist's diploma in viola da gamba and historical performance practice from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Currently, she is a graduate student in historical musicology at UC Berkeley.