Interim artistic director John Butt led the Portland Baroque Orchestra in a cheerful concert, consisting of pieces by Mozart and one by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Sanit-Georges, at First Baptist Church on April 15th. Butt’s conducting inspired the musicians, and the music lifted the spirits of a full house, which was unexpected since a big-time soccer match was underway at the same time a third of a mile away (that made parking challenging).
While the majority of the concert was purely instrumental, I enjoyed the two Mozart selections that featured soprano Arwen Myers the most. Her brilliant singing of “A questo seno…O che il Cielo” (KV 374), conveyed its emotionally charged text with rapturous ardor. She deliciously created a sense of expectation in the recitative portion, then laced the text of the aria like a string of pearls – deftly switching to defiance and anger over her lover’s cruel actions – before returning to the wonder of love.
Later in the program, Myers again excelled with the “Alleluia” from the “Exsultate, jubilate” (KV 165). The quicksilver notes gleamed perfectly, and the ending built into a triumphant crescendo.
Playing the natural horn with enough talent to conquer the demands of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2 (KV 417) is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, PBO’s own Andrew Clark, has the talent and the technique, but his performance showed the sonic limitations of a horn that does not have valves (like a modern one). Using his hand inside the bell to modify tones, the sound of the horn alternated between clear and sonorous to muffled and… well… sickly.
I sat on the side of audience that could see a bit of tricky cupping of his hand that Clark did in order to play the piece, but I found out afterwards that people sitting on the opposite section hand a difficult time hearing many of the notes. Nevertheless, Clark commanded the piece with distinction and playfully interacted with Butt in the third movement when Butt made a gesture to cut off Clark’s cadenza so that he wouldn’t show off too much.
Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto (KV 191/186e) fared much better. Soloist Nate Helgeson had a field day, eliciting a pleasant, fluid sound and exceptional trills. He exchanged a humorous glance with the conductor near the end of his cadenza in the first movement, and expressed a poignant mood during the cadenza of the second movement. The clever exchange of phrases between Helgeson and the strings highlighted the third, in which a sense of perpetual motion dominated his passages.
The Symphonie Concertante by Saint Georges featured lovely and expressive playing by concertmaster Carla Moor, principal second violin Rob Diggins, and principal violist Victoria Gunn. Seamless exchanges of phrases between the trio and punchy accents from the orchestra made the piece thoroughly delightful. Butt did an excellent job of eliciting dynamic contrasts from all of the musicians, and the piece ended with a shimmer of elegance.
Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 received a lively performance with Butt urging the orchestra to go for broke. I enjoyed the sleek sound that strings fashioned in the third movement (Menuetto) most of all. There were some bobbled notes from the horns in the fourth (Allegro con spirito), but the all-out-effort sent everyone home with a smile.
Postscript: The difficultly of playing violins with gut strings was on full display at the concert. Adam LaMotte broke a string at the end of the Horn Concerto and Janet Strauss at the end of the Bassoon Concerto. That made me wonder if during Mozart’s time, it was just a common thing that no one discussed. If it happened during an evening concert, the player would have to exit and make sure that he didn’t knock over a candelabra.
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