Two points were immediately apparent Sunday when the Music of the Baroque performed "Gloriously Baroque: Bach and Telemann" at Evanston's First United Methodist Church.
February 1, 2007 (Press Release) --
First, the chorus is a dream team. Many of the singers are well-known local soloists, but individual voices were submerged to achieve a rich, glowing whole.
Second, the violin section, now under concertmaster Joseph Genualdi after decades of fine leadership by Elliott Golub, has retained its customary vigor, like a crack drill team that doesn't miss a beat.
On the podium was Nicholas Kraemer, Music of the Baroque's principal guest conductor. He brought along his harpsichord, which he played during several selections.
Plunging deep into its musical era of choice, Music of the Baroque set the works of two contemporaries, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann, side by side and punctuated their cantatas with an occasional concerto to elegant effect.
For Bach's bright Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, soloists were Genualdi on violin, Robert Morgan on oboe, Patrick O'Malley on recorder and Barbara Butler, whose trumpet playing was sharp, incisive and mesmerizing.
The acoustics of the Gothic-styled First United Methodist Church, with its plaster walls and wood ceiling and reredos stretching across the back wall of the sacristy, are exceptionally live -- an ideal place to enjoy Baroque music, much of which was written to be played in church.
The performance boasted four superior soloists: soprano Suzie LeBlanc, alto Laura Pudwell, tenor Scott Ramsay and baritone Thomas Meglioranza. Ramsay, an alumnus of the Lyric's Ryan Opera Center, who's now singing the role of Pong in the company's "Turandot," was a last-minute substitute for the ailing Alan Bennett. He filled the bill well, with his even and pleasing tone well suited to Baroque music.
LeBlanc infused her bright soprano with personality and deftly managed the era's complicated ornamentation. Pudwell's alto was smooth as chocolate, and Meglioranza's baritone was warm and rich.
With the two composers together on one program, comparisons were inevitable. Telemann's music is far more literal than Bach's. At one point, Kraemer exhorted us to listen for "angel wings" in the strings, and sure enough, there they were. But his music has long, pleasing lines, and when paired with Bach, set in high relief the glorious and sometimes confounding complexity of that greatest of Baroque composer.
The program ended with Bach's Cantata No. 50, "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft." The orchestra and chorus gave it a jubilant performance, full of energy and joy.
Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY DOROTHY ANDRIES
Second, the violin section, now under concertmaster Joseph Genualdi after decades of fine leadership by Elliott Golub, has retained its customary vigor, like a crack drill team that doesn't miss a beat.
On the podium was Nicholas Kraemer, Music of the Baroque's principal guest conductor. He brought along his harpsichord, which he played during several selections.
Plunging deep into its musical era of choice, Music of the Baroque set the works of two contemporaries, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann, side by side and punctuated their cantatas with an occasional concerto to elegant effect.
For Bach's bright Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, soloists were Genualdi on violin, Robert Morgan on oboe, Patrick O'Malley on recorder and Barbara Butler, whose trumpet playing was sharp, incisive and mesmerizing.
The acoustics of the Gothic-styled First United Methodist Church, with its plaster walls and wood ceiling and reredos stretching across the back wall of the sacristy, are exceptionally live -- an ideal place to enjoy Baroque music, much of which was written to be played in church.
The performance boasted four superior soloists: soprano Suzie LeBlanc, alto Laura Pudwell, tenor Scott Ramsay and baritone Thomas Meglioranza. Ramsay, an alumnus of the Lyric's Ryan Opera Center, who's now singing the role of Pong in the company's "Turandot," was a last-minute substitute for the ailing Alan Bennett. He filled the bill well, with his even and pleasing tone well suited to Baroque music.
LeBlanc infused her bright soprano with personality and deftly managed the era's complicated ornamentation. Pudwell's alto was smooth as chocolate, and Meglioranza's baritone was warm and rich.
With the two composers together on one program, comparisons were inevitable. Telemann's music is far more literal than Bach's. At one point, Kraemer exhorted us to listen for "angel wings" in the strings, and sure enough, there they were. But his music has long, pleasing lines, and when paired with Bach, set in high relief the glorious and sometimes confounding complexity of that greatest of Baroque composer.
The program ended with Bach's Cantata No. 50, "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft." The orchestra and chorus gave it a jubilant performance, full of energy and joy.
Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY DOROTHY ANDRIES
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