United States Various: London Handel Players, Rachel Brown (flute and recorder), Adrian Butterfield, Oliver Webber (violins), Rachel Byrt (viola), Gavin Kibble (cello and gamba), Silas Wollston (harpsichord and organ). The Soraya, Northridge, California, 18.12.2022. (DLD)
Praetorius – ‘In Dulci Jubil’, Dances from Terpischore
Frescobaldi – ‘Capriccio pastorale’
Charpentier – ‘Noël sur les instruments’
Vivaldi – Violin Concerto in E main, RV 270, ‘Il Riposo’
Traditional Carols
Heinichen – ‘Pastorale per la Notte di Natale’
Handel – ‘O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion’ (from Messiah)
Corelli – Concerto Grosso, Op.6 No.8, ‘Fatto per la Notte di Natale’
Mozart – Flute Quartet in D, Ok.285
J. S. Bach – ‘Schlafe Mein Liebster Grosser Herr’ (from Christmas Oratorio)
In California’s mid-San Fernando Valley, northwest of central Los Angeles, a spot with a inhabitants simply shy of two million, stands the gorgeous California State University, Northridge. The college proudly holds common shows in The Soraya, each collegiate {and professional}, together with musical performances for college students and supporters. On Sunday night, six members of an ensemble generally known as the London Handel Players carried out an beautiful set of Baroque chamber items for a strong, discovered and jampacked group of afficionados.
The live performance was a part of The Soraya’s ‘Onstage Sessions’ the place viewers members sit on stage with the musicians. This creates an intimate setting and one with well-placed musical integration. It additionally proved to be good for the sonic stability of an early-music ensemble: it was straightforward to listen to all of the devices, together with the harpsichord. The shut viewers proximity to the performers offered a particular expertise.
The program opened with ‘In Dulci Jubil’. Rachel Brown walked from behind the viewers towards the stage, enjoying it jubilantly on a recorder, and joined the opposite musicians onstage, producing a joyous and transferring introduction.
Antonio Vivaldi is undoubtedly some of the prolific composers in historical past, and Adrian Butterfield’s model of his Violin Concerto in E main was wealthy and fastidious. The actions, from Allegro to Adagio and again to Allegro, have been balanced intelligently, and the final was thrilling – Vivaldi all the time appears to have a brand new thought in every half. It was bracing and clear, and the muted strings posited a distinct interpretation than at different performances I’ve attended. As Butterfield commented, it felt as if one have been ‘tiptoeing around a sleeping baby’.
After the intermission, the London Handel Players carried out two lengthier items. The first was Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, Op.6 No.8, which appeared to be made for a Christmas evening with its superbly linked actions. The wondrous dissonances, introduced out within the first motion, have been achingly lovely as they discovered their countenance. Cellist Gavin Kibble had his work lower out for him, and he carried out with ease and mastery. The note-against-note dialog begun by violinists Butterfield and Oliver Webber grew right into a duet between the 2 (with the rest of the group mummering their very own ideas). Just listening to it was enjoyable.
Mozart accomplished his Flute Quartet on Christmas Day in 1777. Flutist/recorder participant Rachel Brown commented that this was added to this system regardless of it not being a Christmas composition, and her enjoying was chic. It is tough to imagine that Mozart didn’t just like the flute, after which went on to jot down such an exquisitely lovely second motion (not that the opposite actions have been missing). As great because it was in toto, Brown on an early-music flute made it sound simply as pure and delightful as on any modern-day instrument.
The group concluded their sojourn in Los Angeles with a motion from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, unquestionably among the many masterpieces in music. While it accommodates nice complexity, particularly with the interchange between a number of devices, it was as clear as one would want. That readability inside complexity is a daily facet of Bach’s compositions, and this manufacturing was proof of each.
There was, as one would possibly anticipate, an encore: one other rendition of ‘In Dulce Jubil’, this time with Rachel Brown and Silas Wollston accompanying the others with bells. It was charming, regardless that one of many bells was not cooperating with harpsichordist Wollston. The live performance earned and deserved the grand and trustworthy ovation it obtained. I used to be fortunately a part of it.
Douglas Dutton