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University Centre Auditorium
March 12, 2006
The fourth concert in Victoria Symphony Orchestra's Classics series gave us an indication of just how profound the impact of the early music movement has been on mainstream music making. Historical performance practices were widely in evidence. The entire afternoon went by with scarcely a hint of vibrato. I counted three non-Tourte (or "baroque") bows in the Orchestra. One of the cellists played without using an endpin. Careful attention was paid to making the number of the musicians appropriate to each of the pieces played. In one piece (by Zelenka), Yannick Nézet-Séguin directed from the harpsichord while realising a figured bass. (The Early Music Society of the Islands lent its very fine Beaupré harpsichord for this event.) At the same time, this programme retained a great deal of the sound space of the modern orchestra.
Speaking of programmes, not much remained of the originally advertised programme. Pachelbel's Canon and Gigue was substituted for Vivaldi's Concerto in g minor, RV 152. A Concerto in G Major by Zelenka was substituted for the advertised Sinfonia à 8 Concertanti in a minor. A ballet suite by Rameau and Bach's Brandenburg Concert No. 5 were performed as scheduled.
The performance began with the Rameau. Seven dances were excerpted from his opera, Les Indes Galant. These pieces established the approach to eighteenth century music favoured by Nézet-Séguin. Rameau was presented as on the Gallic side of La Guerre des Buffons (the war between the French and Italian styles). Grace and delicacy (via moderate tempi and a fairly restricted dynamic range) were the dominant characteristics in Nézet-Séguin's interpretation of these pieces.
The orchestras at Rameau's disposal had a wide range of woodwinds and brass and he wrote masterfully for the large orchestra. The VSO's winds rose to the occasion and gave a very good account of themselves. At the conclusion of the piece Nézet-Séguin invited the wind players to take a well-deserved collective bow.
The Zelenka Concerto was described by its composer as being "à 8". Four of these parts are the concertino of two violins (Pablo Diemecke and Christi Meyers), bassoon (Jennifer Gunter) and cello (Lawrence Skaggs). (The other four, presumably, are first violins, second violins, violas and basso continuo.)
As Nézet-Séguin noted in some remarks at the beginning of the concert, Zelenka's Concerto is quite Italianate. This being the case, I felt that Nézet-Séguin might have gone a littler closer to going over the top: the Italian style was extravagant where the French was refined. Still, this was a nice introduction to a valuable discovery. This is a piece that deserves to be played more often and Zelenka is a composer who deserves to be heard. The members of the concertino ought to be singled out. The first violin, in particular, gets a bit of a workout and Diemecke gave the part a stylish reading. Unfortunately I could not hear the harpsichord clearly. I am not sure whether this was because of a quirk in the hall's acoustics or because of the problem a harpsichord has standing up to a modern orchestra.
The second half of the concert began with Pachelbel's ubiquitous Canon and Gigue. It was taken slowly. You can think of the famous Jean-François Paillard version (if you have heard only one recording of the piece, this is probably the one you know) but with about half the strings and none of the vibrato. In some circles, it has become fashionable in recent years to play the Canon very quickly. Reinhart Goebel, for example, leads Musica Antiqua Köln through the Canon and Gigue in less time than it took Nézet-Séguin to get through the Canon alone. I have to say, however, that I welcomed a return to a slower reading of this piece. Believe it or not, I was actually content to hear the Canon. It is a pretty piece and I hadn't heard it in about a decade. I will be ready to hear it again in another ten or so years.
Nézet-Séguin led Brandenburg No. 5 while giving a good account of the demanding harpsichord part. (Fortunately, the harpsichord was more audible when its lid was installed to direct the sound towards the audience.) Again Nézet-Séguin favoured tempi that are slower than is common, particularly among the period instrument crowd. While I was sympathetic to him in the Pachelbel, I was not convinced here. I felt a little more nervous energy would have been in order. Besides Nézet-Séguin, the members of the concertino were Pablo Diemecke and Richard Volet (flute). Particular mention should be made of Richard Volet's lovely playing. Volet has a fair bit of experience with baroque music and it stood him good stead here.
All in all, this concert was a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I am certain that no one in the large (near sellout) audience regretted for a moment spending the afternoon in doors when it was sunny and mild outside. I look forward to hearing more baroque programming from the Victoria Symphony.
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