Symphony Review: A light in the darkness

It might seem counter-intuitive for a concert billed as “A Baroque Christmas” to feature only 20 minutes or so of actual Christmas music, but as far as I’m concerned, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert last Saturday (December 7^th) fully lived up to the spirit of the season.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

Patrick Dupre Quigley
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Christmas is, after all, only one of many festivals that owes its existence to the winter solstice. In the northern hemisphere, at least, late December is when we experience the shortest days and the longest nights. Back when nocturnal darkness was absolute and cold could easily kill you, that was reason enough to gather together and celebrate light, warmth, and a sense of community.

Which is exactly what “A Baroque Christmas” brought to the Lee Auditorium at Washington University’s 560 Music Center. Guest conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley led the SLSO in a celebratory night music of Bach, Telemann, Corelli, and Vivaldi guaranteed, in the words of the old carol, “to drive the cold winter away.”

The opening work, the Sinfonia from the second of the six cantatas that make up J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio,” got off to a slightly ragged start but quickly came together. Both here and in the next piece—the Sonata from Bach’s appropriately titled Cantata “Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret” (Heaven laughs! Earth exults)—the double reeds (English horns and oboes d’amore) sounded especially clear and bright. Slightly larger and darker in tone than the standard oboe, the oboe d’amore is rarely heard these days, so it was a pleasure to hear it played so well by Xiomara Mass and Principal Oboe Jelena Dirks.

Alejandro Valdepeñas
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Next was the Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6 No. 8 by Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713). It’s known as the “Christmas Concerto” because the first page of the score bears the inscription “Fatto per la notte di Natale” (“made for the night of Christmas”). In pre-performance remarks, Quigley went to some effort to tie some of the six short movements back to the Nativity story, although to my ears the only real connection is the final movement, marked Pastorale (Largo). It’s a gently rocking 12/8 “cradle song” that could easily be a lullaby for “le devin enfant.”

The entire concerto, though, was a wonderful showpiece for the SLSO strings, along with continuo players Andrew Cuneo (Principal Bassoon) and guest keyboardist Mark Shuldiner on harpsichord and portative organ. The organ was an especially welcome addition in the final movement. My only complaint is that the physical setup at the Lee Auditorium made it difficult to hear the give and take between the ripeno (ensemble) strings and the concertino (solo) group of Second Associate Concertmaster Celeste Andrews, Principal Second Violin Alison Harney, and Principal Cello Daniel Lee. Which is a shame since it was all done with superb precision and joy.

There was plenty of precision and joy in the next two works as well—the Viola Concerto in G Major by Georg Phillip Telemann (1681 – 1767) and the Piccolo Concerto in C Major, Op. 44 No. 11, by Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741). You rarely encounter concertos for the former and almost never for the latter.

Ann Choomack
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Indeed, the Vivaldi concerto specifies the solo instrument as a flautino which, back in his day, probably meant a sopranino recorder. In any case, Ann Choomack (the SLSOs primary piccolo player for over a decade) gave us a performance Saturday night of jaw-dropping virtuosity—and without a score, no less. I’m still amazed that she found time to breathe during the aural acrobatics in the score.

Associate Principal Viola Alejandro Valdepeñas played the Telemann concerto with just the right mix of virtuosity and emotional warmth. Both he and Choomack had a nice rapport with Quigley and a fine time was had by all, it seemed to me.

The evening concluded with Bach’s lively Orchestral Suite No. 3, composed around 1730. This ingratiating collection of an Air (often played by itself as the “Air on the G String”) and four dances preceded by a short "French overture" (the name referring to the form's origins in the ballets of Jean Baptiste Lully) was an appropriately cheerful way to end this celebration of light in the darkness. The bright trumpets and tympani the final Gigue sent us out into “the bleak midwinter” (yes, another Christmas carol reference) with a nice shot of holiday warmth.

Seasonal events by the SLSO continue for the rest of December, culminating in the annual New Year’s Eve concert at Stifel Theatre. Visit the SLSO web site for more information.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Review: Laurence Cummings' "Messiah" walks in darkness

'Tis the season for Handel's "Messiah." This past weekend (December 2-4), Laurence Cummings conducted the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (under guest choral director Patrick Dupré Quigley) in three traditional, Baroque-sized performances of Handel’s Greatest Hit.

Laurence Cummings
Photo: Robert Workman

Every conductor, in my experience, assembles their own “Messiah” from the 57 separate numbers Handel wrote. Handel himself had no hesitation about doing so. That means every “Messiah” is slightly different.

Cummings’s “Messiah” was less celebratory and more reverential than previous versions I have seen at Powell Hall. It felt more informed by the Passion aspect of the piece than, say, the bracing version Bernard Labadie gave us back in 2015 or even the more dramatic Matthew Halls “Messiah” from 2018. That made the work no less compelling, though, and added a sense that we were on a journey from darkness into light. Besides, any “Messiah” that doesn’t seriously mess with Handel is welcome at what Dickens calls “this festive season of the year.”

First performed on April 13th, 1742, in Dublin, “Messiah” was, at least during Handel’s lifetime, generally regarded as appropriate for Easter rather than for Christmas.  After all, only the first of its three sections is devoted to the Annunciation. Part two is all about the Passion and the Resurrection (which is why it concludes with the famous “Hallelujah” chorus), while Part 3 deals with Judgement Day. So, even though it was part of the SLSO’s Christmas programming, this was ultimately a “Messiah” that would have been an equally good fit for Lent and Easter.

Jonathon Adams
Photo: Ayako Nishibori

The tone was set in the opening “Sinfonia.” It’s a typical example of what’s called a “French overture,” with a slow introduction followed by a more lively, dance-like fugal section. Cummings’s tempos were on the slow side for both, signaling the more solemn intent of the performance. The following two numbers—“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people” and “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted”—reinforced that feeling, thanks to tenor John Matthew Myers’s commanding stage presence, ringing voice, and clear communication of the text.

All four of the soloists, in fact, had strong, flexible voices. Baritone Jonathon Adams was an authoritative “voice of God” in “Thus saith the Lord,” “Why do the nations so furiously rage together” and, with the crystal-clear accompaniment of trumpeters Julian Kaplan and Austin Williams, “The trumpet shall sound.” Soprano Amanda Forsythe had fewer solos, but they were all tremendously effective. The entire “There were shepherds abiding in the fields” sequence radiated joy and featured some stunning top notes.  She, Adams, and Myers all clearly knew their parts well, and reached out to draw the audience into the emotional core of their songs.

The alto role was sung by countertenor Key’mon Murrah—an unusual but by no means unprecedented substitution that goes back to Handel’s time. Like his fellow soloists he had a solid voice with a particularly impressive high end and, also like the other soloists, he had a good feel for the Baroque concept of vocal ornamentation—something that’s not always a given with contemporary singers. He did not, however, seem to be as comfortable with the music as the others, and appeared to be much more dependent on his copy of the score, rarely engaging with the audience.

Amanda Forsythe
Photo: Arielle Doneson

The chorus does most of the heavy lifting in “Messiah,” and here the SLSO chorus continued living up to the high standards it set during the tenure of Amy Kaiser, who retired at the end of the 2021-2011 season. Enunciation was crisp, with even the most heavily melismatic sections wonderfully clear. Examples include “For unto us a child is born” and the contrary movement of the vocal lines in “All we like sheep have gone astray” (one of the many examples of Handel’s word painting).

The singers delivered the more emotionally charged numbers with fervor, including “Glory to God in the highest” and the excessively famous “Hallelujah” that concludes Part 2. And they did it without overwhelming the orchestra even though, with over 70 singers, they were twice the size of the band.

Much as Handel did in his day, Cummings conducted from one of two harpsichords, with Mark Shuldiner backing him up on the second instrument.  Shuldiner switched to the positif organ for the choruses, which allowed Cummings to use both hands to conduct the singers and the orchestra. The organ had a surprisingly hefty sound despite its small size, which added a nice sense of weight to the choral sections.

John Matthew Myers
Photo: Fay Fox

Cummings displayed a good feel for the theatrical aspects of “Messiah.” Prior to “Messiah” Handel had been known for his many operas. Switching to sacred subjects didn’t dilute his dramatic edge, so a little staging never hurts. Cummings had the soloists seated at the far sides of the stage when they weren’t singing, allowing them to make theatrical entrances and exits for their moments in the spotlight. It was a nice touch and spared the singers from having to stay seated front and center when the focus wasn’t on them.

Placing the trumpets up in the dress circle for the jubilant “Glory to God in the highest” was another nice touch, allowing the Good News to literally descend “from on high.”

Last but by no means least, let’s hand out some holly wreathes to the members of the SLSO for their excellent work as both soloists and ensemble members. A tip of the holiday hat is due to, among others, Assistant Concertmaster Erin Schreiber in “If God be for us,” Principal Tympani Shannon Wood in “Hallelujah,” and oboes Philip Ross and Xiomara Mass in the choral passages.

Key’mon Murrah
Photo: SLSO

The bottom line is that “Messiah” is a work that supports a wide variety of arrangements and interpretations. Every performance I have seen at Powell Hall since I started covering the SLSO on a regular basis over a decade ago has been faithful to the score’s Baroque roots, and yet each one has been a winner it its own unique way. The Cummings “Messiah” made a fine addition to that illustrious list.

Next at Powell Hall: Dame Jane Glover conducts an all-Mozart program consisting of the Symphony No. 36, K. 425 (“Linz”), the Violin Concerto No. 4 (with Concertmaster David Halen as soloist), and the Symphony No. 38, K. 504 (“Prague”). Performances are Friday at 10:30 am, Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, December 9-11. The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio and Classic 107.3.

Review: A festive Baroque program with Richard Egarr and the SLSO

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) program this past Sunday (December 8th) didn't have a single piece of Christmas music on the bill but it couldn't have been more appropriate for what Charles Dickens called "this festive season of the year."

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

Richard Egarr
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Led from the keyboard by conductor/harpsichordist Richard Egarr, the concert of music by Handel and Bach was, indeed, consistently festive and celebratory in the "joy to the world" vein, beginning with a rousing performance of a suite compiled by Mr. Egarr of selections from Handel's "Water Music."

Commissioned by George I for a 1717 party on the River Thames, the "Water Music" is jolly stuff, and got a wonderfully precise and good-natured treatment by Mr. Egarr and the band. The trumpets and horns, placed on opposite sides of the stage for maximum antiphonal effect, sounded splendid, and Mr. Egarr found enough variety in the music to make it more than just a "joyful noise." I especially liked his subtle use of the tympani at the begining and end the first and last movements.

Kirstin Ahlstrom
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Handel's 1749 "Music for the Royal Fireworks," which concluded the first half of the concert, got an equally energetic and polished treatment. There was fine work from the trumpets and horns once again, as well as from the oboes and bassoons.

In between these two big, celebratory works was Handel's more modest Sonata à 5, HWV 288, for solo violin and two oboes along with strings and harpsichord. It was first performed in Rome in 1707, with the composer himself and the harpsichord and the solo violin part played by the composer/violinist Archangelo Corelli.

Sunday those roles were taken by Mr. Egarr and SLSO Associate Principal Second Violin Kristin Ahlstrom. Ms. Ahlstrom's performance was impressive, especially in the stormy closing movement with its novel "echo" cadenza. Mr. Egarr conducted with his head and body as he played the keyboard part with great style. The harpsichord was amplified, but minimally so, and sounded very natural from our seats in the dress circle boxes.

Angie Smart
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

For the rest of the concert, the focus shifted to Handel's equally famous contemporary J.S. Bach, with performances of his Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Orchestral Suite No. 3. Both works date from the time when Bach was the music director and resident composer at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (1717 to 1723) and fulfilled the prince's desire for what Paul Schiavo described, in 2012 program notes for the SLSO, as "lively secular instrumental music".

The two solo instruments in the fifth Brandenburg concerto are ostensibly the violin and oboe, although the harpsichord part, which becomes increasingly dominant during the first movement, is so important and so technically demanding that it might as well be a third solo instrument. Angie Smart of the SLSO's First Violin section and Associate Principal Flute Andrea Kaplan played with great virtuosity, as did Mr. Egarr at the keyboard.

Andrea Kaplan
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

The performance of the Orchestral Suite No. 3 that concluded the concert was lively and tremendously engaging, never losing sight of the fact that four of the five movements have their roots firmly planted in the court and country dances of the 18th century. I especially loved the vigor and clarity of the contrapuntal second half of the suite's opening "Overture" movement.

Next at Powell Hall: Stuart Malina conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra along with the Holiday Festival Chorus and soloist Rachel Potter in the Mercy Holiday Celebration Friday through Sunday at 2 and 7:30 pm, December 13-15. The program consists mostly of familiar sacred and secular holiday songs along with dances from contemporary American composer Terry Mizesko's "A Chanukah Celebration" and the annual "Holly and Jolly Sing-Along." The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Italian Passages VI: If it ain't Baroque...

 

[The sixth in an irregular series of commentaries on Minnesota Public Radio’s  Italian Passages classical music-themed cruise and tour of Italy, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the network's daily live concert program, Performance Today and led by PT host Fred Child.]

The Thursday and Friday of our first full Italian adventure week were largely taken up with day trips to, respectively, the town of Ravenna and the metropolis of Bologna.  We also had not one but two excellent programs of Baroque music.

The principal attraction in Ravenna was the basilica of San Vitale, with its Byzantine architecture and early Christian mosaics (pictured above), notable for the feeling of light and joy they convey. After overdosing on paintings and statuary in which the emphasis was on the later Roman Catholic obsession with blood, suffering, and death (what a friend of mine calls “martyr porn”), the simple cheerfulness of the glass mosaics was a welcome relief.  The town itself, with its narrow, mostly motor vehicle-free streets, was also a welcome change of pace.

Bologna has too many principal attraction to count, but the tour focused on the anatomy theatre at the University of Bologna, where students learned human anatomy by dissecting corpses, as well as the "Stabat Mater" library, named after Rossini’s famed choral work. With a founding date of 1088, it’s the oldest continuously operating university in the world. 

The tour also included the city’s stunning Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica (International Museum and Library of Music), which my wife and I first saw a few years ago.  Should you ever make it to Bologna (a course of action we can highly recommend; it’s a fascinating city) a trip to the museum is essential if you’re any kind of music lover. 

The first (and, for me, the best) of our two Baroque concerts took place in the lounge of our ship, the River Countess, when violinist Anthea Kreston, our musician in residence, played Biber’s Passacaglia and the monumental “Chaconne” movement from Bach’s Partita in D Minor.  Both works have in common the fact that they are essentially a series of variations on a bass line, but they are otherwise radically different.

The Biber piece is fairly straightforward set of 64 virtuoso expansions on a simple four-note descending motif that can be found in a wide range of compositions, including the Gethsemane scene in Jesus Christ Superstar and (as Ms. Kreston demonstrated in a humorous “audience participation” moment) the Ray Charles classic “Hit the Road, Jack.” 

The Bach is a different matter altogether.

Possibly inspired by the death of the composer’s first wife, Maria Barbara, this remarkable 15-minute work is a harrowing trip from darkness to light and then back to darkness again (but a different kind of darkness, because it’s Bach). The intimacy of the setting greatly enhanced the already significant power of the music, but it was Ms. Kreston’s muscular, impassioned performance that really put it over. When the last dramatic note sounded there was a brief hush, after which one of our party murmured “what a journey.”  Indeed.

The concert that capped our day in Bologna was less dramatic, but no less engaging.  Titled “Baroque Treasures,” it took place in the small Chiesa dei Santi Vitale e Agricola in Arena (the Church of Saints Vitale and Agricola in the Arena, named after two saints who were martyred in the gladiatorial games) and featured an excessively talented ensemble consisting of violinists Elicia Silverstein and Boris Begelman, cellist Mauro Valli, and the ensemble’s leader, Pedro Alcàcer, on theorbo and Baroque guitar. The lively and varied program included works by well-known composers like Purcell, Vivaldi, and Corelli along with music by lesser-known masters like Alessandro Piccinini (who essentially invented the theorbo) and the violin virtuoso Giovanni B. Fontana.

For me, though, the most memorable aspect of the program was the Allettamento No. 6 by Giuseppe Valentini, a work which has not had a public performance in three centuries.  In her introductory comments, Ms. Silverstein noted that the title translates roughly as “seduction” and that all of the movements have titles suggesting flirtation of some sort.  She and Mr. Valli gave it a fittingly seductive performance, in which their friendly interaction and Ms. Silverstein’s expressive face were major enhancements to their flawless playing.

Italian Passages IV: Seasonal Perspectives

[The fourth in an irregular series of commentaries on Minnesota Public Radio’s  Italian Passages classical music-themed cruise and tour of Italy, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the network's daily live concert program, Performance Today and led by PT host Fred Child.]

Anyone who thinks that spontaneity has no place in classical music would certainly have been disabused of that notion by the lively performance of Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) that capped our second full day in Venice.

The private concert at the Chiesa San Vidal featured the Venice-based Baroque ensemble Interpreti Veneziani (who were presenting a series of public Vivaldi concerts in the same venue) with the solo violin part performed by our tour's resident violinist, former Performance Today Young Artist in Residence Anthea Kreston. A highly regarded performer who also happens to be a very entertaining and insightful music blogger, Ms. Kreston had done some advanced preparation for the concert by learning the specific version of the solo part used by Interpreti Veneziani (including the specific bowing). But because of our tour schedule she had only 47 minutes of actual rehearsal time with her fellow musicians on the day of the concert.

That meant that there was plenty of give and take between her and the seven members of Interpreti during the performance, which included some modest but perfectly chosen ornamentation (the improvised elaboration of the solo line that is an essential part of Baroque performance practice) by Ms. Kreston. The lines of communication were so well established that someone who was unaware of the evening's background would probably have assumed that Ms. Kreston was a regular member of the group.

It was all quite impressive and great fun as well when matched with Fred Child's readings of the four sonnets that describe the scenes portrayed in Vivaldi's music. The poems are attributed to Vivaldi (although their actual authorship is uncertain) and are often presented in rather dated and stodgy translations in the English-speaking world. Mr. Child reworked them into something more conversational and witty and delivered them in the approachable, friendly style that will be familiar to Performance Today listeners.

It was, in a way, his own form of Baroque ornamentation.

Ms. Kreston's performance was revealed as all the more impressive the next day on the return bus trip from a tour of Palladian architecture in Vicenza, as she discussed in more detail that kinds of adjustments that a performer accustomed to modern performance practices is obliged to make when playing with an ensemble of Baroque specialists using reproductions of period instruments. Tuning, bowing, and other fundamental aspects of violin playing are very different—as are the bows themselves. I was somewhat in awe of the fact that she managed to absorb all of that and deliver a very idiomatic reading on such short notice.

"Brava," as the say at the opera.

Speaking of Mr. Palladio: the highlight of the Vicenza tour for me was a visit to the Teatro Olimpico. Designed in deliberate imitation of ancient Roman amphitheater (albeit with walls and a ceiling), the Olimpico boasts a stage on which is installed the original trompe de l'oeil set designed by Palladio in 1588 (and pictured above). The central street is a triumph of false perspective and such a convincing optical illusion that even after seeing how shallow the space is that houses it really is, it still seems to go on forever.

Unlike our trip, which seems to be flying by far too quickly.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of May 1, 2017

The Bach Society at St. Stanislaus Church

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The Bach Society of St. Louis presents Bach Chamber Music by Candlelight on Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m. "Join Bach Society principal orchestra members for a full-immersion experience of selected Bach chamber works by candlelight." The performance takes place at the Church of St. Michael and St. George, 6345 Wydown in Clayton, MO For more information: bachsociety.org.

The Bach Society of St. Louis presents a classical guitar concert on Sunday, May 7 at 3 p.m. " Join us for a unique experience with a twist: Hear some of your favorite Bach melodies transcribed for guitar! Featured artists include soprano Mary Henderson with guitarist Rod Stucky. Presented in collaboration with the St. Louis Classical Guitar Society, audience members will also enjoy hearing the Society's guitar orchestra. " The performance takes place at the Salem United Methodist Church, 1200 South Lindbergh. For more information: bachsociety.org.

The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis presents a concert of 20th century classics for flute, violin, piano and string quartet on Monday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. The program includes music by Prokofiev, Ravel and Stravinsky and takes place at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Washington in Grand Center. For more information: chambermusicstl.org.

The St. Louis Children's Choirs present a their annual Spring Concert on Saturday, May 6, at 2 and 7 p.m. "Children's Choir 1B and 1UC, Concert Choir, and Chamber Singers will perform a variety of music to include Americana, Broadway songs, spirituals, and music of the Renaissance." The performances take place in the J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts on the Lindenwood University campus in St. Charles. For more information: slccsing.org.

The St. Louis Science Center presents the Mizzou New Music Ensemble performing the Eclipse Symphony on Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m. Written collaboratively by four Mizzou composition students, the Eclipse Symphony is inspired by this summer's upcoming solar eclipse. The performance, which is free and open to the public, will be accompanied by eclipse-related images, graphics and video from the Planetarium's projector. The performance takes place in the Planetarium at the St. Louis Science Center in Forest Park. For more information: www.facebook.com/events/648482252014904/

David Robertson

David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus along with soloists Alan Held (bass-baritone), Marjorie Owens (soprano), Raymond Aceto (bass), Rodrick Dixon (tenor), Joy Boland (soprano), and Paul Appleby (tenor) in a concert performance of Wagner's opera The Flying Dutchman on Thursday and Saturday, May 4 and 6, at 8 p.m. Wagner's stormy tale of obsession, passion and drama awaits! Be transfixed by the musical journey of a shipwrecked captain banished to the seas for eternity unless he can find a faithful love. Don't miss this extraordinary season finale with an outstanding vocal cast joining the STL Symphony and an innovative lighting projection by renowned visual artist S. Katy Tucker. Performances take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Touhill Performing Arts Center presents The Arianna String Quartet: Masterworks on Friday, May 5, at 8 p.m. The ASQ closes out their 2016-17 St. Louis series with a gathering of masterpieces by three of the giants of the chamber music repertoire. The program consists of Haydn's Quartet in A Major, Op. 20, No. 6; Bartok's Quartet No. 4; and Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A Major, Op.81 with Sofya Gulyak, piano. The Touhill Performing Arts Center in on the University of Missouri at St. Louis campus. For more information: touhill.org.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a Guitar Gala on Thursday, May 4, at 8 p.m. The concert takes place in Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a Flute Choir concert on Monday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. The concert includes music by Rossini, Handle, and Scott Joplin, and takes place in the Pillsbury Theatre at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

Baritone Nathan Gunn

The Washington University Department of Music Great Artists Series presents baritone Nathan Gunn and pianist Julie Gunn on Friday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. The concert includes music by Britten and Argento along with traditional Irish songs, and takes place in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music Great Artists Series presents a Master Class with baritone Nathan Gunn and pianist Julie Gunn on Saturday, May 6, at 10 a.m. The free event takes place at the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a Celebration of the Life of Seth Carlin, Professor Emeritus of Music, on Sunday, May 7, at 5 p.m. Colleagues, former students, and friends will honor Professor Carlin with music and remembrances. Performers to include Bjorn Ranheim, James Buswell, a string quartet from the St. Louis Symphony, and Mr. Carlin's former students Vera Parkin, Michael Lu, and Yedda Li. The free event takes place at the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information, music.wustl.edu.

The Webster University Department of Music presents a special recital honoring the 80th birth year of the controversial American composer Philip Glass on Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m. The New Music Ensemble presents minimalist selections from Einstein on the Beach and Koyaanisqatsi alongside the instrumental works Metamorphoses and Music in Fifths. The concert takes place at the Thompson Building Recital Hall, 8282 Big Bend on the Webster University campus. For more information: www.webster.edu/fine-arts/departments/music.

Concert Review: Nicholas McGegan presents Bach family values with the SLSO, January 30 and 31, 2015

Nicholas McGegan
nicholasmcgegan.com / Steve Sherman

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony conducted by Nicholas McGegan
What: Music of the Bach family
When: January 30 and 31, 2015
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis

Sons who go into the family business are often less successful than their fathers. In the case of the J.S. Bach family, though, it was just the opposite. Four of the ten Bach children who survived to adulthood went on to careers as composers and the two represented in this weekend's St. Louis Symphony concerts—Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788) and Johann Christian (1735-1782)—went on to eclipse dad in popularity, at least during their lives.

These days, of course, the work of the Bach sons is heard far less often than that of Papa Bach who, according to bachtrack.com, was the third most-performed composer in 2014. So it was quite a treat to hear guest conductor Nicholas McGegan and the SLSO perform their music alongside that of their far more famous father. If what's on the bill this weekend is at all representative, I'd say that while J.C. showed less of his dad's influence (not surprising as J.S. died when the boy was only 15), C.P.E was by far the more adventurous and original composer.

Andrea Kaplan
stlsymphony.org

J.C. Bach was represented by his "Sinfonia concertante in C major for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra" (Warburton catalog number C43, in case you're keeping track) written in 1775 and first performed in March of that year in London, where J.C. made his home for many years (hence his sobriquet "The London Bach"). The sinfonia concertante—a symphonic work with two or more soloists—was a form on which the composer lavished a fair amount of attention (he wrote eighteen of them).

This one is certainly a classic example. The four soloists all get plenty of chances to show off (although I think the winds get the best stuff) and the piece is, overall, a typically charming example of the galante style, a school of composition characterized by elegant melodies and a lack of complex counterpoint. It's not especially absorbing music, but exceptionally well crafted.

That said the orchestra, and soloists, under Mr. McGegan's meticulous and energetic direction, made a credible case for the piece Friday morning. The soloists, all drawn from the SLSO, were Jennifer Nichtman on flute, Philip Ross on oboe, Ann Fink on violin, and Melissa Brooks on cello. Their playing had the kind of polish and grace that was a perfect match for the galante style.

Asako Kuboki
stlsymphony.org

Although written at around the same time as J.C. Bach's "Sinfonia concertante," C.P.E. Bach's "Sinfonia in D" (183/1 in Alfred Wotquenne's 1906 catalog of C.P.E.'s music) looks both backward to the Baroque legacy of his father and forward to the drama of the Romantic period. Filled with dramatic pauses and surprising modulations, the "Sinfonia" sounds rather modern even now. Mr. McGegan's interpretation was dramatic but never exaggerated, perfectly capturing the essence of this remarkable music.

If J.C. Bach perfectly captured a moment in musical history, C.P.E. Bach had an idiosyncratic vision that feels timeless. Maybe that's why we're seeing a major resurgence of interest in C.P.E. these days, with an uptick in recordings and performances and a new critical edition of his works published by the Packard Humanities Institute, in cooperation with the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, and Harvard University. Let's hope we see more of his works on local stages.

J.S. Bach was represented by three works this weekend: the "Sinfonia" (essentially the overture) to his secular cantata "Non sa che sia dolore" (BWV 209), the "Concerto in D minor for Oboe, Violin, and Strings" (BWV 1060), and his popular "Orchestral Suite No. 3" (BWV 1068). The "Sinfonia" featured a bravura solo performance by Associate Principal Flute Andrea Kaplan while the "Concerto" was distinguished by the impeccable playing of SLSO second violinist Asako Kuboki and Principal Oboe Jelena Dirks. Their performance styles were very different—Ms. Dirks seemed to be more engaged with the orchestra while Mr. Kuboki apeared more focused on the score—but the results were uniformly excellent.

Jelena Dirks
www.loree-paris.com

Mr. McGegan and his forces brought the concert to an energetic close with a thoroughly entertaining reading of the "Orchestral Suite No. 3," highlighted by spectacular work from Karin Bliznik and her fellow trumpeters. Those smaller high-pitched instruments are hard to play at any time, I expect, let alone in the morning. Concertmaster David Halen had an impressive solo in the opening "Overture." Mr. McGegan brought him to his feet for a solo bow at the end, along with the trumpet section and oboists Barbara Orland and Cally Banham.

Next at Powell Hall: Stéphane Denève conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with piano soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in music of Debussy, Dvorak, and Harold Macmillan on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., February 7 and 8. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Symphony Preview: Bach family values at Powell Hall Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31, 2015

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As anyone who has ever taken a "music depreciation" course knows, Johann Sebastian Bach was almost as prolific a father as he was a composer. This weekend, Nicholas McGegan leads the St. Louis Symphony in a concert that's a genuine Bach family affair, featuring music by both J.S. Bach and two of his musical sons.

"Statue of J.S. Bach in Leipzig" by Zarafa
at the English language Wikipedia.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
via Wikimedia Common

Bach and his two wives, Maria Barbara and Anna Magdalena, had a total of twenty children, ten of whom survived to adulthood (yes, child mortality in 18th century Germany was fierce). Four of the ten went on to careers as composers and the two represented in this weekend's concerts—Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian—went on to eclipse dad in popularity, at least during their lives.

But that, as they say, was then. Now, performances of the music of Bach's offspring are relatively rare. According to bachtrack.com, for example, J.S. Bach was the third most performed composer in 2014. The kids didn't even make the top ten. No surprise, then, that the "Sinfonia concertante in C major for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra" by J.C. on the bill this weekend is getting its SLSO premiere and the "Sinfonia in D Major" by C.P.E. hasn't been heard here since 1987.

C.P.E. Bach was born in 1714, when his dad was not quite 31. By the time he began composing in his 20s, musical styles were changing. While still heavily influenced by his father's strict contrapuntal principles, C.P.E. wrote music that was much more expressive and dramatic than anything J.S. would ever have considered. He was a proponent of something called empfindsamer Stil (literally, "sensitive style"), an approach characterized, in the words of the Encyclopedia Britannica, by "an emphasis upon the expression of a variety of deeply felt emotions within a musical work." In that respect, C.P.E. looks forward not only to the Classical period but to the Romantic as well.

"Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel 1"
by Franz Conrad Löhr (1735–1812)[1]
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,
Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, M.589.
Licensed under Public Domain
via Wikimedia Commons

Even today, some of his music has a decidedly "modern" feel. C.P.E. Bach's compositional style, as musicologist Ann Richards has written, "is miles away from the elegance and balance we associate with this period. Timelines are crisscrossed, he is endlessly stopping and starting, wrong-footing the listener and causing his audience to reconsider its relation to the music. In that sense, it's very postmodern, a kind of meta-music." As you'll hear this weekend, C.P.E.'s "Sinfonia in D Major" (which dates from around the time of the American revolution) is typical, filled with the idiosyncratic and unconventional touches that characterize his work.

Right around the time that C.P.E. was writing that "Sinfonia", J.C. Bach was writing his contribution to this weekend's program, the "Sinfonia concertante in C major for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra." J.C. Bach was born towards the end of J.S. Bach's life. His father was fifty when J.C. was born and would die when the boy was only fifteen. As a result, his music owes less to J.S. than does that of his older sibling. J.C. wrote mostly in the "galante" style, which Merriam Webster concisely defines as "a light and elegant free homophonic style of musical composition in the 18th century with rococo ornamentation as contrasted with the serious fugal style of the baroque era." Galante music pretty much abandoned counterpoint in favor of melody and accompaniment. It would, when combined with a renewed interest in counterpoint, form the basis of the Classical style that would find its greatest expression in the instrumental works of Haydn and Mozart.

J.C. Bach is sometimes referred to as the "London" Bach because he spent so much time there, eventually becoming music master to King George III's wife Charlotte. Unlike his older brother, J.C. outlived his earlier professional success. The galante style began to go out of style in the 1770s and J.C., swindled out of his wealth by his steward, died in poverty. Fortunately, Queen Charlotte covered the expense of his funeral and set up a small pension for his widow.

Johann Christian Bach, painted in London by
Thomas Gainsborough, 1776
(National Portrait Gallery, London)
en.wikipedia.org

There are three pieces by J.S. Bach on the bill as well: the "Sinfonia" (essentially the overture) to his secular cantata "Non sa che sia dolore" (BWV 209), the "Concerto in D minor for Oboe, Violin, and Strings" (BWV 1060), and his popular "Orchestral Suite No. 3."

Apparently written for the Leipzig Collegium Musicum (of which Bach was then the director) in 1729, the suite is an appealing collection of four dances preceded by a short "French overture" (the name possibly refers to the fact that the form first appears in the operas of Jean Baptiste Lully) with its characteristic majestic opening followed by a main section. As Paul Schiavo points out in his program notes, it's the most popular of the four suites, with a second movement that has become famous all on its own under the title "Air on the G String."

"At the season's New Year's Eve concert," recalls SLSO Principal Trumpet Karin Bliznik in an interview in the program book, "David Robertson excerpted and dedicated the Air--movement II of the Suite--to one of our ailing but now recovering colleagues. What a great reminder of the universal healing elements of classical music." She's also happy about the prominent role played by her instrument in the suite, reminding us that this is "the first of the orchestral suites to include not just one but three trumpets."

Finally, a quick note about guest conductor Nicholas McGegan. A specialist in what was once called "early music" Mr. McGegan is, as I have noted before, one of the most ebullient podium personalities you are ever likely to see. He bounds on to the stage, his face alight with a cherubic smile, his body language was saying: "this is going to be FUN!" If you think Baroque music is a stodgy business, you've never seen it conducted by Mr. McGegan.

The essentials: Nicholas McGegan conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in a program of music by the Johann Sebastian Bach family on Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m., January 30 and 31. Soloists are Andrea Kaplan and Jennifer Nitchman, flutes; Jelena Dirks and Philip Ross, oboe; Asako Kuboki and Ann Fink, violin; and Melissa Brooks, cello. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Symphony Preview: The Curious Case of the Second Premiere

Antonio Vivaldi
en.wikipedia.org

This weekend (December 5-7, 2014) the major work on the St. Louis Symphony program is the set of violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi known as "The Four Seasons." It's a popular work with performers and audiences alike. As I discovered in my research for this post, it also has a long and significant history with the SLSO.

But before we get to that, here's a bit of background.

Composed around 1720 (as with many aspects of Vivaldi's life, dates are foggy), "The Four Seasons" was originally published as part of a set of twelve concertos titled "Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione" ("The Contest Between Harmony and Invention"). Each of the four three-movement concertos describes—often very vividly—aspects of a particular season. They were even accompanied by sonnets (anonymous, but possibly by Vivaldi himself) that provide narratives for each concerto.

Combine that almost cinematic tone painting with Vivaldi's gift of melody and you have music that was destined to be popular. And it was, at least during Vivaldi's time. After his death, though, that all changed. Interest in his work faded, and copies of his music were hard to come by. "For nearly 200 years," writes Peter Gutmann at classicalnotes.net, "Vivaldi was a historical footnote, although a somewhat influential one…His only lasting recognition came from the fervent admiration of Bach, who modeled his own concerto style after Vivaldi's and adapted for keyboard nine Vivaldi violin concerti (even though Bach devotees tended to disparage the source)."

That began to change in 1926 when a boarding school in Piedmont discovered a huge cache of old manuscripts, including hundreds of works by Vivaldi. It aroused the interest of scholars and conductors, including Bernardino Molinari (1880-1952), who was then the conductor of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

He was also, is it happens, about to become a guest conductor at the St. Louis Symphony.

In researching this blog post, one of the books I consulted was "Great Orchestral Music: A Treasury of Program Notes" edited by Julian Seaman (Collier Books, 1962). Its entry on "The Four Seasons" is brief, but includes this provocative paragraph, attributed to the late Lawrence Gilman (1878-1939), music critic of the New York Herald-Tribune: "They [the concertos] were published in a modern edition prepared by Bernardino Molinari in 1927. Mr. Molinari gave the first American performances of the complete work with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in January, 1928."

Molinari in Jerusalem, 1945
en.wikipedia.org

The program notes for this week's concerts state that the first SLSO performance of "The Four Seasons" was on February 20, 1953, with Vladimir Golschmann at the podium. But if Gilman is right, the first performance was 25 years earlier, and an American premiere to boot. Obviously some detective work was necessary to determine which account was correct.

After an hour or two pouring over 1928 copies of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the St. Louis Public Library's downtown headquarters, it became clear that both the program notes and Gilman are right, in their own way.

Molinari did, in fact, conduct "The Four Seasons" in January of 1928, but he stretched the four concertos out over an entire month—"like the magazine serial stories," as the paper's music critic, Thomas B. Sherman, wryly observed in his review of the first set of concerts. "Spring" was performed in a pair of concerts on Friday and Saturday, January 6 and 7. "Summer" was the following week, and the final two concertos were performed in concerts on January 27 and 28.

Mr. Sherman doesn't state that these are American premieres, but I'm inclined to take Mr. Gilman's word for that. He loved the SLSO performance, in any case, calling it "ingratiating, warm and transparent" and describing the strings as "rich and unified."

So, yes, the first performance by the SLSO of "The Four Seasons" in a single night was in 1953. But the orchestra had played the music much earlier than that, and apparently introduced it to the USA. So when you hear "The Four Seasons" this weekend, remember that this music has a long and distinguished history with this band.

Interesting footnote: the Vivaldi was somewhat overshadowed in the January 27-29 concerts by the piano soloist. It was the "young Russian pianist" Vladimir Horowitz, who had arrived in the USA just two weeks ago and had already created a sensation with the New York Philharmonic under Sir Thomas Beecham. Mr. Sherman loved Horowitz ("a powerful tone and a sparkling and expertly controlled technique") but hated the piece he played, Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 3," calling it "as dull a thing as the noted Muscovite expatriate has ever done". History has rather overruled him that one.

Symphonic downsizing

Bernard Labadie

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When guest conductor Bernard Labadie takes the podium this weekend, he'll be leading a noticeably downsized St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. But never fear; nobody has been sacked. It's just that he's conducting a program of music written between 1763 and 1792, back when both orchestras and the halls in which they played were substantially smaller than they are now.

Although only three decades separate the earliest work on the program (a suite from Jean-Philippe Rameau's 1763 opera "Les Boréades") from the latest one (Haydn's 1792 "Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major," Hob. I:105), the difference in style is striking. Rameau had a very long and productive life (he died just short of what would have been his 81st birthday in September of 1764) and continued composing in the Baroque style long after it was seen as outdated and unfashionable. The developments in symphonic style heard in the Haydn and Mozart works on this weekend's program largely passed him by. Nevertheless, he remained popular and prosperous right to the end.

Kirstin Ahlstrom

Given that it was written the year before he died, it won't surprise you to learn that Rameau never saw "Les Boréades" performed. What is a little surprising is that nobody who was alive at the time ever saw it performed either. For reasons which are not entirely clear, the first fully staged performance didn't occur until July 1982, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival with early music champion John Eliot Gardiner conducting. The piece is technically a tragédie en musique, which means it's based on a mythological subject and includes a lot of dances. You'll hear eight of them this weekend, including a fanciful "Gavottes pour les heures" in which, as Paul Schiavo writes in his program notes, the composer has the "piccolos whirring over a rhythmically steady accompaniment to imitate the workings of a clock."

Philip Ross

The Haydn "Sinfonia concertante" is next. It dates from a time when the form of the solo concerto was not as well established as it would later become, so works for multiple solo instruments and orchestra were common. Haydn wrote his for the first of his two visits to London, a city that embraced him both artistically and financially (“I made four thousand guilders this evening,” wrote Haydn after the 1795 premiere of his 104th symphony).

It was apparently dashed off quickly, possibly in response to a bit of rivalry. "Londoners had become accustomed to the sinfonia concertante due to the energy of Johann Christian Bach," wrote Scott Fogelsong in the San Francisco Examiner in 2009, "whose many examples stand as some of the finest of the genre. Thus Haydn tossed his hat into the ring with his Sinfonia concertante in B-flat for violin, cello, oboe, and bassoon... His own student Pleyel had been making waves in the London concert scene during the same season, and quite possibly Haydn's work was a direct response to Pleyel's popular works. One gets a sense of Haydn grinning slightly and murmuring OK, hotshot, let the old man show you how it's done."

Andrew Gott

And show them he did. The piece was a hit. "A new concertante from HAYDN combined with all the excellencies of music," enthused the Morning Herald the next day; "it was profound, airy, affecting, and original, and the performance was in unison with the merit of the composition. SALOMON particularly exerted himself on this occasion, in doing justice to the music of his friend HAYDN." The soloists playing those "excellencies" this weekend are all members of the home team: Acting Co-Principal oboe Philip Ross, Associate Principal bassoon Andrew Gott, Associate Principal Second Violin Kirstin Ahlstrom, and Associate Principal cello Melissa Brooks. It's always good to see the local folks in the spotlight.

Melissa Brooks

The second half of the concert features symphonies by the two giants of the Classical period, Haydn and Mozart. We begin with Haydn's "Symphony No. 22 in E-flat major," nicknamed "The Philosopher" possibly because of what the late Harold Truscott described as "the quizzical, semi-ponderous opening Adagio." The name first appears on a 1790 manuscript copy of the score found in Modena, according to Wikipedia, although we don't know who is responsible for it. To me, that opening movement has always conjured up the image of a thoughtful academic carefully laying out a mathematical proof or explaining a complex philosophical issue, so the sobriquet seems right.

Opening a symphony with an Adagio instead of a conventional fast movement with a slow introduction, by the way, was regarded as quite a novel idea when the piece was composed in 1764. "Nobody up to that time had thought of starting a symphony with a noble slow movement," writes Mark Elder in The Guardian, "nor had anybody ever thought of the extraordinary sound that the symphony begins with: a chorale played by two horns and two cor anglais against an incessant pattern of notes in the strings. It all gives this movement a strange, unexpected beauty."

The final work on the program—Mozart's "Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major," K. 543—is the first of a set of three that the composer dashed off in the summer of 1788. Nobody is really certain of the source of what Arthur V. Berger (in a New York City Symphony program note) called the "sudden efflorescence of inspiration" that produced Mozart's last and, in the estimation of many writers, greatest symphonies, but the results speak (or rather sing) for themselves.

K. 543 gets less attention than the other two, much as a normal human being would be less noticed standing next to a pair of NFL linebackers, but that doesn't make it any less a great composition. "This symphony," writes musicologist Andrew Firmer, "is...a prime example of the composer 's genius that he is not only able to conjure up melodies, but weave them with apparent contradictions that seem to connect with impossible ease." Those contradictions include Mozart's assimilation of the contrapuntal techniques he got from the music of Bach and Handel. "It was this synthesis of 'learned' style with the clean clarity of classicism," writes Brian Robins at allmusic.com, "that caused so much trouble for Mozart's contemporaries, to whom his late style became increasingly 'difficult.'" Today, with over two centuries of hindsight, it's clear that this "difficult" music is both ingeniously complex and wonderfully clear.

Labadie with Les Violons du Roy

Finally, a few words about guest conductor Bernard Labadie. The founder of early music ensembles Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec, Labadie is widely regarded as a leading interpreter of music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Reviewing a concert by the former group at London's Barbican Center, the Telegraph called him "[A] fine instinctive musician. He moulds the phrases, plucks out all-important details in the texture and radiates an infectious joy in the music.” So we'll be hearing and expert's take on our Rameau, Haydn and Mozart.

The essentials: Bernard Labadie conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in a suite from Rameau's "Les Boréades," Haydn's "Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major" and "Symphony No. 22 in E-flat major," and Mozart's "Symphony No. 39" in the same key. Performances are Friday at 10:30 AM (a Krispy Kreme coffee concert, with free doughnuts), Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM, February 21-23, at Powell Hall in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org. The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio at 90.7 FM, HD 1, and streaming from the station web site. But, of course, it 's best heard live.

A Leipzig Christmas

The Symphony Chorus in full holiday mode

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It has been a heavy month or so for the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. On November 16th they performed Britten 's dramatic Peter Grimes at Powell, followed by a repeat performance at Carnegie Hall on November 22nd, Britten 's centenary. At the same time they were rehearsing the first three cantatas of Bach 's 1734-35 Christmas Oratorio for concerts this Friday and Saturday (December 6 and 7) with David Robertson and the orchestra.

That's quite a schedule. Interviewed in the symphony program, chorus director Amy Kaiser notes that the Britten and the Bach "are diametrically opposed to one another. Peter Grimes had 130 singers, singing all that passion and drama in full voice. Then to go to a group of 80 singers, where the precision of every 16th note is critical. We would rehearse Britten from 7 to 9, take five minutes for a drink of water, and then Bach. It is more than a mental and physical shift—you need to shift your entire idea of sound and language." This weekend's concerts, in other words, will give you a feel for just how versatile these singers really are.

Hearing only the first three of the six cantatas that make up the Christmas Oratorio doesn't mean you're getting an incomplete work, by the way. Although the cantatas do have key signature relationships that mark them as part of a larger whole, they were intended to be performed separately, as part of church services on the first through third days of Christmas (December 25-27, 1734) at the St. Thomas and St. Nicholas churches in Leipzig, where Bach was the Cantor at the Thomasschule. So each one stands alone as a dramatic entity. Indeed, the first three parts were written and performed an entire year earlier than the last three.

The first cantata deals with the birth of Christ, the second with the adoration of the shepherds, and the third with the circumcision and naming of Christ. The first and third are more dramatic while the second, as befits its subject matter, is more pastoral. For details on the cantatas, along with some solid musical analysis, I refer you to Paul Schiavo's excellent notes in the program.

Interestingly enough, the Christmas Oratorio cantatas almost weren't written at all—or at least, not at Leipzig. Bach was dissatisfied with the way his duties as a teacher detracted from his work as a composer, as well as with the way some of his compositions were received. The high drama of his St. Matthew Passion, in particular, was apparently met with bewilderment. By October of 1730, things had deteriorated to the point where Bach was seriously seeking another job. "Unfortunately," he wrote to his friend Georg Erdmann, "I have discovered that (1) this situation is not as good as it was represented to be, (2) various accidentia relative to my station have been withdrawn, (3) living is expensive, and (4) my masters are strange folk with very little care for music in them." He went on to complain of "constant annoyance, jealousy, and persecution" and asked Erdmann if he might know of opening in Danzig.

J. M. Gesner, our pal

Fortunately for Western music, most of these issues were cleared up with the appointment of a new rector (and therefore Bach's boss) at the Thomasschule, Johann Matthias Gesner. Gesner had met and befriended Bach when Gesner was the librarian and vice-principal at Weimar. He appreciated Bach's genius and supported his work as a composer in ways that his predecessor had not. As a result, we got not only the Christmas Oratorio but also—nearly 10 years later—the titanic B Minor Mass as well. We owe Mr. Gesner a lot, it seems.

When you see the concerts this weekend, note the way the strings are arranged. First violins will be on David Robertson's left, second violins on the right, and cellos and violas in the center. The double basses will be behind the cellos. That will enable some interesting antiphonal effects that would be less clear if the violins were all on one side, as is often the case with later music.

Baroque oboe d'amore

You'll also get to her the oboe d'amore in action. It's slightly larger and has a somewhat richer tone than the regular oboe, with a range in between that of the oboe and the even darker-sounding cor anglais (English horn), with which it shares a characteristic pear-shaped bell. The oboe d'amore was relatively new in Bach's time (it was invented in 1717 or thereabouts) and Bach used it often. In this weekend's concerts Cally Banham and Phil Ross will be playing the oboe d'amore, with Barbara Orland and Michelle Duskey doubling on regular oboe and English horn.

To recap: Parts 1 through 3 of the Bach Christmas Cantata will be performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under David Robertson this Friday and Saturday, December 6 and 7, at 8 PM at Powell Hall. The vocal soloists are Dominique Labelle, soprano; Kate Lindsey, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Stephen Powell, baritone. The Saturday concert will be broadcast on St. Louis Public Radio, 90.7 FM and HD 1, as well as via the station web site. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

TPTBT (The Place to Be Tonight): Wednesday, May 1

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Maryse Carlin

What: Baroque Winds
Where: Goldberg Formal Lounge, Danforth University Center (Washington University campus)
When: Tonight at 7:30 PM
Why: Jennifer Nitchman (flute), Michelle Duskey (oboe), Andy Gott (bassoon), and Maryse Carlin (harpsichord) get together for an evening of music by Couperin (Suite No. 2 in A minor for harpsichord c. 1660), Zelenka (Sonata No. 2 for flute, oboe, bassoon, and continuo in G minor, 1720-1722), Telemann (Trio in E minor for flute, oboe, bassoon, and harpsichord, 1733; Sonata in A minor for oboe, bassoon, and harpsichord, TWV41, 1728), Fasch (Sonata in C Major for bassoon and harpsichord, 1720), and Bach (Sonata in G minor, BWV 1020 for flute and harpsichord, before 1735). 

Admission is free (which is a plus) but the real attraction is the performance space.  This is music that was written to be performed in formal drawing rooms and other small spaces.  The Goldberg Formal Lounge should be just the right size to let you appreciate how this music was intended to be heard.  The event is part of the Danforth University Center - Chamber SeriesFor more information: 314-935-5566 or
music.wustl.edu