Baroque Harp: Hannah Lane; Theorbo: Nicholas Pollock; Violins: Tim Willis, Shane Lestideau, Stephanie Eldridge, Taé Heine; Cello: Josephine Vains; Viola da Gamba: Laura Vaughan; Harpsichord: Linda Kent.
Works by Allegri, Marini, Uccellini, Merula, Legrenzi, Falconieri, Vivaldi, Bassani, Corelli and Handel.
The Melbourne Baroque Orchestra continued their Tenth Anniversary series with an unusual and highly engaging concert of Italian instrumental music of the Seventeenth Century, plus a decade or two. The featured guest performers, Hannah Lane and Nicholas Pollock, also devised the program, a generous selection of striking and often unfamiliar works. Also less familiar than it deserves, is the sound of the Baroque Harp, especially when played with such seemingly effortless mastery and fresh tone quality.
The early Seventeenth Century is one of the most freewheeling, eclectic times in music history, and the first half of the program displayed that to the full. Several items were based on dance forms old and new, from the opening courtly Ballo by Lorenzo Allegri, through the eccentricity of Uccellini’s Tarantola to Falconieri’s delightful take on the Folia. Other ground basses figured prominently, the tonal simplicity offset by passages of bizarre harmonies, which the performers handled with great relish. The bustling violin writing was conveyed with a perfect balance of flamboyance and control, while the passage for the plucked instruments alone provided an effective contrast in sonority, again combining a feeling of freedom with complete technical assurance. The same qualities were evident in the pieces arranged for harp and theorbo, which were handled with a level of aplomb which belied the technical challenges posed, in particular in the works by Tarquinio Merula. The frequent transitions between sections and capricious tempo changes typical of the period created the mood of a startling ride which still always stayed on the rails.
The second half moved to the time around the turn of the century, with some more familiar names. The Vivaldi was compelling, with fine ensemble work throughout; here the unusual Largo presents the greatest challenge. The two Trio Sonatas which followed showed inventive approaches to the form, contrasting not just with each other but with the regular structure of most later specimens. Bassani’s bright Sonata Quarta was in a single movement of many sections, the final one an Adagio played with affecting tenderness. Corelli’s ingeniously evolving Ciaconna was given a compelling performance both in small details and overall structure. Corelli the virtuoso was brought to life by the leader of the violins, Tim Willis, in two movements of the C major Sonata, the Adagio for which we have “Corelli’s Own Graces”, played exquisitely like a delicate filigree, and the following Allegro with its extravagant string crossing. Whether Handel’s Sinfonia in B flat, HWV 339 before or after his arrival in Italy is disputed, but it certainly displays his familiarity with Italian music, and has a driving energy which brought the concert to a rousing close.
A distinctive feature of this concert was the collective of plucked strings in the continuo. Any suspicion that this might have too much of a good thing was thoroughly dispelled by the mutual consideration and technical assurance of the three performers. Hannah Lane’s beguiling harp, Nicholas Pollock’s clear theorbo and Linda Kent’s judicious harpsichord combined in a delicious tapestry of sound.
Allegri | Bassani | Corelli | Falconieri | Handel | Hannah Lane | Legrenzi | Marini | Melbourne Baroque Orchestra | Merula | Nicholas Pollock | Uccellini | Vivaldi
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Melbourne Baroque Orchestra acknowledges the sovereignty of the people of Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands we perform and share our love of music. We acknowledge their Ancestors and Elders past and present.