Handel + Haydn's Messiah soars again

H+H first performed excerpts from Handel’s Messiah at its inaugural concert on Christmas Day in 1815 and performed the complete work three years later. The oratorio has been performed every December since 1854. This year’s performance played to a sold-out Symphony Hall and was well-received despite rather variable performances by the four soloists. The soprano, Sophie Bevan, was magnificent, and the contralto, Emily Marvosh, had a clean clear voice. The baritone, Christpher Purves, had a fine voice but little stage presence. The weakest link was tenor James Gilchrist, whose voice was thready and mannerisms annoying. Outstanding work by the H+H chorus meant that whenever the full chorus was center-stage, the performance soared. The wonderful period orchestra took second place to the vocals, but performed flawlessly, with special kudos to Ian Watson at organ and harpsichord and Jesse Levine on trumpet.

BSO presents a study in contrasts

This week’s BSO concert was a study in contrasts. The opener was a bitter-sweet add-on: a glorious rendition of Bach’s Air on a G String, sweet to hear but added as a tribute to Joseph Silverstein who recently died. Next up was Haydn’s Symphony #30 – the Alleluja. Just as “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee,” it is hard to dislike a Haydn symphony. These were largely composed as easy listening for the Esterhazy family and friends, and are pleasant to the ear but rarely dramatic. Of course the orchestra’s playing was flawless. After this came Bartok’s Piano Concerto #2, a piece that represents everything I dislike about 20th Century composition. Yefim Bronfman attacked the piano. The first movement featured a battle between the piano and the brass section, which probably ended in a draw. The second movement revived the strings, which had sat mutely for the first, in a remarkably contrasting section of sweetness. Mr. Bronfman is a titan of the piano, and many in the audience were wildly appreciative, but I found the piece atonal and hard on the ears. After intermission, another contrast: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #1, “Winter Daydreams.” An evocative piece that draws on Russian folk themes, the orchestration and complexity showed how far the symphonic form had evolved over the century between Haydn and Tchaikovsky. Of course, Andris Nelsons' gyrations at the podium always add to the visual impact of the BSO.

NBSO goes 3 for 3 with homeruns

We were sure we would enjoy the Rachmaninoff and the Beethoven, but came not knowing what to expect from the opening work, Sea Portraits by composer Stephen Paulus. I tend to associate most classical works composed after the early part of the 20th century with atonality and dissonance. Much to our delight, Sea Portraits was a lyrical celebration of the South Coast, open and accessible. Commissioned by the Symphony for its 90th anniversary, it is a work in four movements: Sunrise, Sailing, Storm and Moonlight on the Sea. For this Centennial performance, the Symphony had a marvelous addition: a visual portrait of the South Coast by artist John Robson that filled the backdrop behind the symphony. Described by Mr. Robson as “a stream of consciousness in color, shape and form,” the images perfectly accompanied the music. Next up was pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, a world-class performer whose mastery of the complex work was a marvel. The rhapsody involves a delightful back-and-forth between soloist and orchestra, and was performed by both with bravado. The orchestra was in full voice, with harp and three percussionists added to strings, brass and woodwinds. After a well-deserved standing ovation and curtain-call, Ms. McDermott rewarded the audience with a delightful short work by Liszt as an encore, a very common NBSO tradition. After intermission came Beethoven’s 7th – a late work showing his mastery of the symphonic form. Here we had no multi-media and no soloist, just a thoroughly polished symphony orchestra doing full justice to this magnificent work. If you missed this performance, it is a shame – but be sure not to miss the rest of the season.

African-American experience 1945

Growing up in Canada in the 1950’s, I had very little experience with African-Americans and thus had a shocking exposure when I went on a spontaneous drive to Florida around age 13 with my uncle and some older cousins. We drove uneventfully from Montreal as far as Washington and then entered the south. My jaw dropped when I saw rest rooms and water fountains labeled “whites only” and “colored only.” I was thus looking forward to the Lyric Stage’s production of “Saturday Night/Sunday Morning,” which centered around a fictional black beauty parlor in Memphis in 1945, a time not that different from the 1950’s. While there were some stirring moments, such as the comment by the black postman, saved from military duty by his polio-afflicted leg, “why fight for freedom over there when we need to do it here?” Another dramatic highlight was the story told by a customer whose husband went in uniform with his family to get supplies only to be sneeringly told: “you might have been a soldier there, but here you are just a nigger.” Unfortunately, these dramatic moments were drowned by the mundane day to day chatter among the boarders/assistants at Miss Mary’s shop. The dialog was tedious, and the accents, perhaps authentic, made the story hard to follow, though easier with repetition. It was hard to really care about the characters. More could have been done with this raw material.

Baroque Venice in Boston

Venice, built out of the sea, was devoted first to commerce and second to religion. Its musical tradition developed later, and was centered on church music. By the 16th century, Venice was an important center of music, and its best-known composer to modern audiences is Giovanni Gabrielli. On Friday and Sunday, Handel + Haydn brought to Jordan Hall a feast of Venetian Baroque music, featuring works by Gabrielli and composers previously unknown to us, including Dario Castello, Biagio Marini, Giovanni Fontana and Michaelangelo Rossi. The works were clearly historically-correct. In addition to the organ, harpsichord and violins, we heard a trombone, dulcian and theorbo. Leading the ensemble was Richard Egarr, directing from the keyboard as well as playing a harpsichord solo. The instrumentalists took turns coming and going, with one piece featuring violinist Aisslinn Nosky on stage and the other two playing an echo from just off-stage. This was clearly chamber music with the small groupings of instruments, and was better suited to the smaller confines of Jordan Hall. The playing, as one would expect from H+H musicians, was superb, and Mr. Egarr’s obvious enthusiasm for the works and his brief introductory comments added to the enjoyment.