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Alix Goolden Performance Hall
February 10, 2012
The theme of this year's Pacific Baroque Festival is "Music for the Sun King", but Louis XIV would have heard only two of the selections on this evening's programme. He would have been present at a performance of Lully's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, from which we heard a suite of dances. Similarly, Louis would have seen a production of Alcione, from which Marais extracted a Suite des Airs à jouer. The other works on the programme (some of the movements from Couperin's L'Apothéose de Lully, a suite of dances from Rameau's Les Indes Galantes and a Suite in D Major for viola da gamba, strings and b.c., TWV 55:d6) were all composed after the King's death in 1715.
I have always thought of Destrubé as being on the Italian side in La Guerre des Bouffons - he is a master of Italian baroque music - but right from the beginning of this evening's programme it was apparent that he is equally at home with French repertoire. The Lully suite was delivered with the elegance and delicacy that French classique music demands. When the music needed to be a bit more emphatic, it was - but never at the cost of politeness. Perhaps the highlight of the Lully was the concluding Chaconne (I always like a nice chaconne) which was taken at a brisk pace. The brisk pace was only unfortunate in that an already short movement was over far too soon.
Next up were the first eight movements of Couperin's L'Apothéose de Lully. This is one of a pair of works Couperin wrote to celebrate the paradigms of the French and Italian styles. (The other is Le Parnasse, ou L'Apothéose de Corelli.) Couperin's avowed goal in these works was the unification of the French and Italian tastes. I have always had difficulty hearing the Italian influence in these works. They are sonatas, which is an Italian form, but stylistically they sound pretty French to me. (Actually, Couperin used the term sonade to describe these works, to rhyme with ballade.) Destrubé led the ensemble (which included Pandolfo) in an appropriately polished and poised reading of the work.
The Marais continued in very much the same vein. Even the Tempête seemed less violent than an Italian tempesta would have been. The addition of the bassoon to the orchestra added a dollop of chocolatey goodness.
Listening to the Marais, I was reminded of a remark made by T.S. Eliot. He wrote that "beyond the nameable, classifiable emotions and motives of our conscious life when directed towards action...there is a fringe of indefinite extent, of feeling which we can only detect, so to speak, out of the corner of the eye and can never completely focus." Dramatic poetry he believed can explore this realm of emotion but, he suggested, so can music. These elusive emotions are the "feelings which only music can express". On this occasion, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra perfectly captured that sense of elusive emotion.
To my mind, Rameau is the greatest of the French baroque composers and this performance only confirmed my impression. This performance was full of nice touches, such as the use of the harpsichord's buff stop to reinforce the delicacy of the Entrée des quatre nations and the pair of piccolos in the succeeding Contredanse. The Air pour l'adoration du soleil was rendered with all of the reverence of a British Columbian on a dreary February day. The brief Orage was followed by a soft Zéphire. Let us hope that life imitates art in this respect.
The concert concluded with the Telemann suite. At first, the viola da gamba was woven into the texture of the piece, but Pandolfo gradually assumed more prominence and his great virtuosity was allowed free rein. The viol, particularly in the hands of such a master, has a beauty of tone that puts the violin family to shame. It is, however, at a disadvantage when it comes to volume. Telemann was aware of this and keeps the orchestra in check at several points. One poignant moment saw the viol accompanied only by the second violins, violas and cello. At another - it was unclear to me whether this was Telemann's idea or Destrubé's - the viol was accompanied by the strings playing one to a part. In the concluding gigue, the orchestra pauses altogether for a time to allow the viol to enjoy the uncontested limelight.
The audience responded with great enthusiasm to Pandolfo’s playing and he responded with a big Italian smile. Everyone went away happy after an evening of delightful music.
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