Prepared

Adhoc Baroque presented its first concert of the year and it was one work: Il giardino d'amore by Scarlatti. It's a work for a small ensemble with two singers, soprano and alto. Greta, soprano, played the part of Adonis to Maartje's alto Venus as they sing of their love and call on nature to witness it. It's a strange experience hearing a soprano as male, but presumably a counter-tenor would have sung it in its early days. Now it's two women, but these are times of gender fluidity so we are prepared. The orchestra was four violins with cello, bass, organ, recorder and trumpet. As I'd expect from Greta, Maartje and Peter, it was a notable team of accompanists led by BJ Gilby. The music is dignified and uplifting and seemed not overly demanding, at least on the instrumentalists, although the voices seemed to have a challenge with intricate, embellished lines. For once, I followed the words (sung in Italian of the time and translated in the program). It was florid and even amusing to a modern reader. who knows not the ways of aristocratic chambers of the time. Thus the disconsolateness of the surroundings, Venus' amorous beauty and Adonis as pitiless and grasping, the loss of interest in the pretty nightingale and cruel depths where she hides. This is tragic while flowery how it does about it but the lovers eventually come together: "come, fly, sweet content, and bring back peace to our hearts". So it worked out for the pair in the end and we left just a little befuddled by the story but nicely satisfied by the performance. Always a pleasure to hear our not at all Adhoc Barockers.

Adhoc Baroque performed Il Giardino d'amore by Domenico Scarlatti at St Pauls Manuka. Adhoc Baroque is Great Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto) and Peter Young (harpsichord, director) with guests Barbara Jane Gilby, Jack Chenowyth, Pop Thompson and Matthew Witney (violins), Sam Payne (cello), Kyle Daniel (bass), Robyn Mellor (recorder) and Justin Lingard (trumpet).

A Baroque meet

Two of all things: two baroque concerts this weekend; AdHoc Baroque combining with Limestone Consort for one. This was a concert of the meeting of AdHoc and Limestone at All Saints, although there's a certain degree of Venn diagram overlap between these two. I'm sure I've heard at least one of the singers, Greta or Maartje, performing with Limestone Consort, and cellist Clara is common to the two groups and their programs pretty much overlap in period. This was a nicely mixed concert with varied combinations of performers, one or two or no singers, one or two violins, double bass and viola or not. And introductions were also varied, by Limestone's Lauren or AdHoc's Peter. The works were Purcell, two Telemann church cantatas, the Swedish composer Roman, Geminiani and Hasse. They were mostly religious works, instructing the congregation to stifle their eagerness to indulge in a spiritual life, or to shake off darkness and enjoy the light of the peace of the Lord in a harmonious world. Sounds good. We heard of connections, of Geminiani to Avison, of Roman to Handel and Bach's brother, of Hasse to a young visiting Mozart. It must have been a vibrant period of music. We heard of Telemann's financial successes and his readiness to adjust to his consumers (as we would envision it these days) and a hint at an unreadiness to stifle his eagerness and of working for the church or the big kahuna, Emperor Frederick the Great. Notes would have russled in that court. And we heard the music, jigs and aires and minuets, larghettos and allegros and recitatives and pomposi, and Salve Reginae and benedictiones. I loved the voices, especially in harmony; I was physically close to the viola for once and came to better understand its responsive role; I followed the bass and cello and their similar parts and bowings; I drifted with the loud but less assertive organ tones; I followed the violins, in harmony, or Lauren's leading melodic role. The playing was a pleasure and the music was delightful. Two makes one, when AdHoc met Limestone.

AdHoc Baroque met Limestone Consort at All Saints, Ainslie. Performers were Peter Young (keyboard), Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Lauren Davis and Matthew Witney (violins), Michelle Higgs (viola), Clara Teniswood (cello) and Kyle Daniel (bass).

Not just at Christmas

Handel's Messiah is a piece for all seasons. Why just Christmas? An expanded Coro with chamber orchestra performed it over the weekend and it was a thing of wonder. These are great voices with some of the best musicians around town. Performed with just two rehearsals and a full day workshop. And that's for a performance extending to 3 hours (including an interval). Reading this? I was overwhelmed by some of Kyle's quiet but certain bass playing, although he admitted some struggle in playing and just seeing it without a light during the darkening afternoon performance. It's not easy; it's not at all short or repetitive. What a reading job it was! And not just for Kyle, of course. The singers all had their charts and read the semi-quaver lines (a chorister mate in the audience commented on Coro's renown as sight singers), as did other strings and Calvin on harpsichord. The trumpets and timpani mostly sat, but when they let go, the roof lifted with life and the heavenly tone of baroque trumpet. Just not so often. Messiah is has over 50 numbers in three parts. There are choral segments and solos, recitatives and airs from sopranos and alto, male and female, and tenors and basses, telling the story of Christ, of birth then death then resurrection. So this is not just a thing for Christmas. These are more secular days (even if we still stood for the Hallelujah Chorus) but the work remains a thing of immense satisfaction and Coro did an immensely satisfying job on it. Not the huge 300-voice thing it often is, but a chamber take (1742 Dublin version). Just occasionally I missed the immensity but there was plenty of capability. The strings were strong; I strained to hear Calvin's harpsichord; the trumpets and timp were infrequent. There were various soloists, often from within Coro. I particularly enjoyed Emma Griffiths (soprano) and Andrew Fysh (bass) from the two ends of the pitch spectrum, and Paul McMahon (tenor) in between. The whole was led with plenty of energy by Joseph Nolan, visiting from St George's Cathedral, Perth. I can just wait in anticipation for Christmas when someone else will be taking it on again. I met a follower of Wagner Ring cycles (she's attended a dozen or so around the world) and one of the choristers had sung in 15 Messiahs. I could see myself attending a few more of these.

Coro presented Handel Messiah in the 1742 Dublin version at St Paul's Church, Manuka. Principals were Joseph Nolan (conductor), Barbara Jane Gilby (violin, orchestra leader), Calvin Bowman (harpsichord continuo), Greta Claringbould (soprano), Emma Griffiths (soprano), Rebecca Alexander (alto), Veronica Thwaites-Brown (alto), David Yardley (counter-tenor), Paul McMahon (tenor), Andrew Fysh (bass), Peter Tregear (bass) and Tobias Cole (choirmaster). Too much to list all the others, but for my bass comprehensiveness, Kyle Daniel (bass).

The joy of visitors

It's fun to have visitors. We've just had Chicago and Somerset and Norway for dinner. Limestone Consort had Pennsylvania and CSO (local, but again a visitor) for their last concert. It's intriguing how the differences are so minor these days; the discussion and experiences so shared. For Limestone, it was JS Bach Cantata 51. So beautiful and so international and even so perfect. They did it justice, too. Limestone were the best ever. This was a stunner. The Bach sang of "Jauchzet gott in allen landen" (Praise ye God in all land). The rolling phrases and the glorying joy that is Bach. Anne Gross is a friend of LC leader and one-time fellow student, Lauren Davis. She sang the soprano part with smiles and blissful joy. How could you not? The other visitor was from closer at hand, the Canberra Symphony, but Justin Lingard's piccolo trumpet sang with majestic glory and surprisingly controlled volume. This was a rewarding program, with a lovely string serenade from Kalinnikov (G minor), an Avison Concerto grosso (D minor) and Mendelssohn String symphony no.10 (B minor). All impressive and satisfying. But the work that particularly surprised me was Heinrich Biber's Battaglia à 10 (composed 1673) that used paper under strings to simulate a snare drum rattle, snapped strings for cannon fusillades and a fascinating movement that layered numerous songs to represent soldiers singing before battle. Lauren spoke of modern composers revisiting early periods but this was a composer, 350 years back, predicting the most modern conceits of today's music. Breathtaking! This was a particularly satisfying and challenging concert from Limestone Consort and I can only look forward to more.

Limestone Consort comprised Lauren Davis (leader, violin), Alison Giles, Michelle Higgs, Michael Horsley (violins), Hannah Keese, Elysia Fisher (violas), Poppea Dorsam, Clara Teniswood (cellos), Kyle Daniel (bass), James Porteus (chamber organ) with guests Anne Gross (soprano) and Justin Lingard (trumpet). They performed at All Saints Church, Ainslie.

To the Queen

It's the weekend we're all happy to have a Queen. And, I guess, to have knights and dames. Limestone Ensemble took the opportunity to present a concert of English music. Handel counts because we was the German composer brought to England when Hanover-born inheritor of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince-elector of Hanover became King of England on the death of Queen Anne because over fifty closer blood relations were Catholics. Go figure. At least the star of this show, Charles Avison, was born in England. Apparently his music has just been rediscovered and the Limestone Ensemble has got a pre-publication print of the sheet music. Good on Limestone, our local Aveson experts. They played two pieces by Aveson, both from his Opus 6, which display a change from concerto grosso style to the beginnings of sonata form. So says the program. I heard his music as dignified, rich in sequences, conversational within the ensemble, and wonderfully ordered. The Consort also played Elgar's Elegy, short and meditative. Handel, of course. We were told that Beethoven said of Handel that "I would bury my head and knee at his grave". Certainly, he's popular and appears frequently. I caught his Dixit Dominus this morning on ABC FM's Top 100 Baroque and before and it's as extravagantly indulgent as much other Handel. It seems impossible not to love this man's music. Also Hubert Parry. He's a much later composer, later 1800s, after the classical period, with richer harmonies, more subtle development and a touch of romance. Think Victorian garden parties and period costume. Limestone Consort are a lovely gathering of likeminded and nicely trained performers. It's a compact chamber string orchestra (12 players), heavy on violins, with organ included for the baroque works. They do it nicely and obviously enjoy the performances. They are now in their third season; just proof of the pleasure of it all. This is a lovely job done on an intriguing branch of the Queen's music.

The Limestone Consort were led by Lauren Davis (violin) with Vanessa Driver, Alison Giles, Sarah Ingram, Alys Rayner and Jacqueline Smith (violins), Elysia Fisher and Hannah Keese (viola), Clara Teniswood and Anneliese McGee-Collett (cello), James Porteous (chamber organ) and Kyle Daniel (bass).

Venezia d’amore

Period or not is surrounding me at the moment. I heard Limestone Consort on Sunday and they were playing with modern instruments, other than one viola d’amore. It was a strong and vibrant sound. Very different from Aust Haydn Ensemble, live, with their period instruments, and the CD that Asanka just lent me, of John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Beethoven symphonies with a period orchestra. The difference is dramatic but I remain open to either.

Limestone Consort is a local chamber orchestra. They are part of the All Saints family and I’ve written of them here before. They are another of the hidden gems of Canberra. They are a mix of young and old, and presumably professional and not. I know that Kyle is studying for his PhD on the Double Bass but Clara’s PhD is in the Physics Department. As for the others, some young ones might be schoolkids and at least one may be retired. This concert was dubbed Vivaldi’s Venice. Apparently they were seeking a theme to broaden the repertoire a little, so there was considerable Vivaldi but also Albinoni. I was stunned by the first confident notes that rang out from Vivaldi’s Concerto for strings in D. This is ordered music, formal, structured. The bows move evenly and the dynamic changes are simple and evident. I can imagine the Doge as well as the delectable and the witty and the gloriously presentable. This is not the music of German courts, but of warmer climes and an Italian vita delectosa. I was once in Venice for Martedi Grasso, the Carnevale, and I have etched on my mind one couple, richly dressed in period costume, elegant, dignified, formal, so much Venice and not the tourist throngs. This music is of that life. Vivaldi taught girls (perhaps illegitimate children of the aristocracy) as the Red Priest, so he wrote for female voices. We had several tunes for voices, alto Maartje Sevenster and soprano Veronica Milroy. They sang together for Laudamus te from Vivaldi’s Gloria and independently for Nulla in mundo pax sincera (Veronica) and the lengthy Nisi Dominus (Maartje). I loved the interplay of voices when they sang together, but also the beauty of individual voices and the dignity of ornamentation when they sang apart. I mentioned Albinoni and he was obvious when he was played. What is it that is so obviously Albinoni? Maybe it’s his harmonies or how they move. He was introduced as providing Bach with some melodies so he was respected in his day. I’ll also mention the sound of two other instruments. Firstly, the chamber organ played by Peter Hagen. This particular organ makes a common appearance at All Saints, and it’s a delightful, small, beautiful instrument that added a lustre to this music. Also, the viola d’amore, played by Ross Mitchell. It’s a period instrument, with seven playable strings and another seven resonating strings. I expect it’s a pain to tune. I found it lighter than a modern viola and more squeaky and I strained for resonances from those extra strings but you have to admit some (imagined?) authenticity.

Limestone Consort is a wonderful local chamber orchestra with a wide repertoire: this time, Vivaldi and Albinoni; last time Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Bottesini and Holst. I enjoyed this concert immensely. Their next is not till November, with a guest leader from ACO2. It’s not a busy concert schedule, but it’s worthy and well played. A local gem.

The Limestone Consort featured guest performers Maartje Sevenster (alto), Veronica Milroy (soprano) and Peter Hagen (chamber organ). The Consort’s members were Lauren Davis (violin, leader), Toby Aan (violin), Kyle Daniel (double bass), Elysia Fisher (viola), Jack Hobbs (cello), Hannah Keese (violin), Ross Mitchell (viola, viola d’amore), Eric Shek (violin), Jacqueline Smith (violin), Mia Stanton (violin) and Clara Teniswood (cello).

Bottesini bass

I have the idea that I don’t like unaccompanied strings – strings en masse can strike my ear as shrill - but I thoroughly enjoyed the Limestone Consort the other day. They are just strings; one cello, two basses with violins and violas. There were a few times I found them a little edgy but mostly this was comfortable, nicely intoned, lyrical, and despite a few very popular pieces in the program, I didn’t find it uninteresting. I actually thought it was a really good mix of popular with less common and it was all attractive. Maybe it was the chatty introductions that turned tunes into historical expressions. The Mendelssohn sinfonia (no.7, Dmin) was a pretty straightforward work, but it gets a place in time when you realise he wrote it aged 12 or 13 and doubly so given that he died so young, in his late thirties. But I was really there for the Bottesini. Kyle Daniel was performing a double bass concerto (no.2, Bmin). It’s a starring piece for a bassist. The bass doesn’t get too much chance to feature, but it does here. Kyle played on a bass with solo tuning where the strings are one tone higher than standard. I wonder if it changes the fingering, of if the work is transposed to a different key with standard tuning. I’d heard fellow ANU student, Rohan Dasica, playing this piece several months before. Kyle thought Rohan’s was performed on standard tuning. I guess that means it’s transposed, so played in Amin. If not, fingering and harmonics would be mightily changed. Kyle mentioned Bel Canto in his introduction and this is certainly lyrical playing. It’s also high on the neck, to the harmonics two octaves up. It’s clearly challenging in performance but not at all in listening. This is pretty, nicely phrased, Italian music. Sweet and tuneful and quite unexpected from a double bass. The Consort also played some short works: Andante festivo from Sibelius, Faure’s Pavane and Grieg’s Death of Ase. Also a longer work from Holst, St Paul’s suite. I also noticed the fitting acoustics in All Saints: open and direct, nicely sized for a chamber ensemble and with a gentle but definite reverb. This was a lovely concert with a range of interesting material and that unusual Bottesini double bass piece.

The Limestone Consort were Lauren Davis (violin, leader), Toby Aan, Claire Phillips, Jacqueline Smith, Mia Stanton, Alison Giles (violins), Mitzy Pepper, Elysia Fisher (violas), Clara Teniswood (cello) and Kyle Daniel, Kinga Janiszewski (double basses). Kyle performed the Bottesini concerto.