Review: Portland Baroque Orchestra shouts joyously in 40th anniversary concert

Photo by Stephanie Noble

There was plenty of buzz plus a cheery glow at First Baptist Church for Portland Baroque Orchestra’s season opener (October 14), celebrating its 40th anniversary. The festive program featured the ensemble under newly minted Artistic Director Julian Perkins, and it spotlighted soprano Arwen Myers and PBO violinists Carla Moore and Rob Diggins as well as trumpeter Kris Kwapis. Works by Biber, Corelli, Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach aptly spread the cheer, giving the audience a taste of the excellent music making to come.

Perkins launched the joy with his arrangement of Purcell’s “Celebrate this Festival” from the “Birthday Ode for Queen Mary.” Although brief, the piece was dance-like yet stately and featured flowing lines from Kwapis.

Conducting from the harpsichord, Perkins inspired the musicians throughout the evening. Biber’s “Sonata No. 4 in C Major” continued the good vibes with violinist Carla Moore accenting sinewy lines. Daniel Swenberg’s theorbo added a subtle twang, and the elegant slow movement segued seamlessly into the third, concluding with a refined upswing.

Corelli’s “Concerto Grosso in F Major (Opus 6, No. 2) deftly contrasted light and dark moods with Moore and principal second violinist Rob Diggins providing a delightful one-two punch. Well-shaped phrases imbued with terrific dynamics and an effective, dramatic pause gave the piece a delightful edge.

One of the many highlights of the evening was Myers singing of Handel’s “Gloria in excelsis deo.” The astonishing ease with which she executed numerous runs with immaculate clarity and warmth was mind-boggling. If Myers were paid a dollar for every note she sang, she would have had a hefty sum to take home. She was also impressive in the slower movements, leaning ever so slightly into words like “miserere nobis” and expertly expanding and contracting the volume control when singing “Qui tollis” and other passages. Combined with well-crafted accompaniment from the chamber orchestra, the Handel was flat out glorious.

Moore and Diggins got to strut their stuff in Vivaldi’s “Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor,” breaking out of the gate in the first movement at a terrific clip that was on the verge of getting a speeding ticket. Their superb exchange of phrases in the second movement elicited sense of a beautiful conversation between friends. The dramatic intensity of the third movement included shifts from forte to pianissimo that were just marvelous, wrapping up the piece with a colorful bow.

Myers returned to center stage to deliver a sparkling Bach’s “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” with Kwapis providing outstanding, florid lines with her trumpet from the back of the orchestra. That created an exceptionally balanced sound. Myers applied lots of nuances, such as when she used a slightly stuttering style when singing “der schwache Mund” (“the weak mouth”), which made the piece very touching. In the last movement, “Alleluja,” she again dazzled listeners with blitzing runs, and Perkins accompanied them with his right hand on the keyboard of the portative organ and his left hand on the keyboard of the harpsichord. That looked super fun!