Irish Baroque Orchestra at University Church, St Stephen’s Green, 25 September
None for ages, then three come all at once: the bus cliché has certainly held true for Dubliners curious to hear music that falls into the transition between late baroque and early classical. Tonight’s performance by the Irish Baroque Orchestra, following recent concerts by Ensemble Marsyas and Fishamble Sinfonia, have unintentionally constituted something of an unofficial festival of the ‘galant’ style over the past few weeks. The theme of this concert, entitled ‘Oh Bohemia’, celebrates the many composers and musicians born in what we now call the Czech Republic, most of whom had to travel and work away from home – the musical nationalism of the 19th century was still a long way off. The contribution of the ‘Bohemians’ to the musical life of the courts and cities of Europe was immense and it is great to have the chance to hear some of this material live in concert.
The music of Josef Myslivecek – ‘il Boemo’ to his Italian audiences, who were unable to pronounce his name – begins proceedings, with a short ‘symphony’ (an overture in all but name). The IBO establishes a strongly cohesive blend from the start, easily bringing out the music’s clean lines. The wind players step out for the next two pieces: Franz Benda’s Sinfonia in D for Strings, congenial and witty, with the strings bringing out a lovely singing tone in the slow movement, and then another Myslivecek work, his Violin Concerto in D. For this work, director Monica Huggett takes the solo role. Her brilliant playing expresses the virtuoso writing with gusto, the soloist’s soaring lines contrasting strongly with the sustained playing of the ensemble. Huggett’s technique may not be to everyone’s taste: the intensity of her style at times verges on brittleness, as if she has some technical point to prove, but the characteristic energy with which she leads the ensemble is undeniable.
The second half takes us back a generation to the baroque richness of Jan Dismas Zelenka, but not before Huggett addresses the audience, noting with regret the recent passing of the great conductor and musicologist Christopher Hogwood, to whose memory this concert is dedicated. The string band is rejoined by the horns, oboes and bassoon for Zelenka’s Capriccio No. 2 in G, a work in which, as Huggett describes, the horns ‘are busy’. Bohemian wind players – especially the horns of the Dresden court, where Zelenka was – were renowned, and this work certainly highlights the abilities of the two horn players, Jeroen Billiet and Gilbert Cami Farras, with some wonderful call-and-respond volleys between brass and strings. In many ways, though, the IBO saves the best to last, with a jump forward in time from Zelenka to close the concert with Johann Baptist Vanhal’s Sinfonia in C. Going from the earliest (c.1720) to the latest (1776) piece in one bound is an imaginative piece of programming, and the contrast certainly brings out the Haydnesque cosmopolitan style of Vanhal all the more. The number of players remains the same but, instead of a chamber ensemble, it is now as if we are hearing a small orchestra, with a renewed richness and depth of tone. The wind players’ long sustained lines in the central ‘cantabile’ movement reinforce and underpin a smooth singing tone from the strings, which builds to an energetic finish. The audience responds at the end with long, enthusiastic, and well-deserved applause.
PROGRAMME:
Josef Myslivecek: Symphony No. 27 in A major, F27
Franz Benda: Sinfonia in D major
Josef Myslivecek: Violin Concerto in D major, F158
Jan Dismas Zelenka: Capriccio No. 2 in G major, ZWV 183
Johann Baptist Vanhal: Sinfonia in C major