The debut concert of new and exciting ensemble, Albion Baroque, took place in the splendid setting of St Alfege’s church, Greenwich. Designed by the famous architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, and completed in 1718, the church was renowned for having the largest unsupported ceiling in Europe at the time. The stage for this evening’s recital of 18th-century musical treasures was set before the richly coloured backdrop of James Thornhill’s trompe l’oeil painted apse.
Albion Baroque is a period-instrument ensemble with a focus on exploring music that was being performed and created in Britain during the Baroque era. As the program title suggests, this focus was also the evening’s theme. Albion Baroque’s approach to historically informed performance forefronts the performer as that essential component for ‘completing’ the music, since it is through imagination and creative experimentation that the score, or pretext, is communicated to the listener in an emotionally expressive manner.
‘The intention of musick is not only to please the ear, but to express sentiments, strike the imagination, affect the mind, and command the passions.’
Francesco Geminiani, The Art of Playing Violin (London, 1751)
Joining Albion Baroque to perform G.B. Pergolesi’s setting of Stabat Mater were the soloists Timothy Wayne-Wright (countertenor/ alto) of the King’s Singers, and Daisy Brown (soprano), a finalist in this year’s London Handel Festival Singing Competition.
Completed in 1736, this work is one of several that are believed to have been completed by Pergolesi on his deathbed, and, according to Villarosa, was commissioned by the ‘Cavalieri della Vergine dei Dolori’ brotherhood for the annual Good Friday meditations as a replacement for an older commission written by Scarlatti. While both Scarlatti’s and Pergolesi’s settings of Stabat Mater are originally arranged without choral parts, Scarlatti’s composition demonstrates a very traditional style whilst Pergolesi’s displays a more forward-thinking approach.
A distinct feature of Pergolesi’s setting that was conveyed with effect is the creation of an interweaving discourse that passes seamlessly through an array of emotions. The composer achieved this by combining more than one stanza within an aria and attributing different musical material to each. For instance, the 9th movement, ‘Santa Mater, istud agis’, combines 5 stanzas into an aria shared between the alto and soprano.
The first stanza, passionately sung by Brown, implores the Holy Mother to ‘grant that the wounds of the Crucified drive deep into my heart’. This wish to share the pain of Christ is reasserted in the second stanza. Here Wayne-Wright and the orchestral ensemble effectively highlighted the musical dissonance, underscoring the reference to ‘the wounded son, who so deigned to suffer for me’. Moving on to the third stanza, Brown’s intensity and depth, paired with the more delicate timbre of Wayne-Wright’s countertenor register painted a comprehensive account of devotional sincerity: on the one hand it may manifest as intense emotional fervour, and on the other hand it can be quiet surrender. In the fourth stanza, this passion and desire reaches a climax as the narrator wills to stand beside Jesus on the Cross and share in weeping with the Holy Mother. Here Brown’s emphatic vocal delivery and facial expressions possessed superb and moving credibility. The dramatic intensity then momentarily softened with Wayne-Wright’s solo at the beginning of the aria’s fifth stanza: ‘Chosen Virgin of virgins, be not bitter with me’, before turning passionate once more as the soprano joins the alto.
A throbbing bass line beneath eerily whispering strings evocatively underscored the final stanza of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, whose text:
‘When my body dies,
grant that my soul is given
the glory of paradise’
must have held particular significance for the ailing composer. A brief, fugal Amen brought the work to a majestic ending that was greeted with enthusiastic applause.
During the Baroque Era, the development of purely instrumental music flourished as it came to be considered as of equal importance to vocal music. The concerto grosso and concerto both emerged in the late 17th century. However, on the Continent, the former genre eventually lost favour to the latter on account of its greater potential for dazzling display being more suited to the needs of the virtuoso soloist/composer. On the contrary, in England the concerto grosso continued to grow in popularity through the 18th century due to demand from amateur music societies. Professionals could play the concertino parts whilst the amateur musicians could play the easier ripieno parts.
With the second half of this evening’s concert being devoted to this popular instrumental genre, we heard Albion Baroque perform Charles Avison’s sparkling concerto grossi nos. 3 and 11, and Francesco Geminiani’s concerto grosso no. 12 after Corelli’s ‘Folia’. The concertino was formed by Kinga Ujszászi (violin 1), Hilary Michael (violin 2), and Jonathan Rees (cello), with Pawel Siwczak on harpsichord.
Avison’s set of 12 concerti grossi, Op. 2, are orchestral arrangements inspired by the London publication of D. Scarlatti’s 42 harpsichord sonatas in 1739. Due to the fact that many of these sonatas were fast, Avison faced a challenge when producing these concertos. In order to conform to the usual structure of slow and fast movements Avison needed to rework some fast sonatas into slow movements; the key was also transposed when necessary to keep a logical harmonic sequence, or he even composed a suitable movement himself. Nonetheless, Scarlatti’s ‘bold and inventive’ compositional manner, commended by Avison in An Essay on Musical Expression (London 1752), and his distinct keyboard style, is successfully captured in these orchestral settings.
Following the dramatic Largo Andante opening of concerto grosso no. 3, the 2nd movement, marked Allegro Spiritoso, heard Ujszászi and Michael launch into an animated, crisply articulate exchange. This mood gave way to tender romance for the Amoroso 3rd movement. Now the 2nd violins warmly accompanied the 1st violins’ sensual and melodious lines whilst the harpsichord added delicate sparkle to the sound. Vibrant energy returned for the final Allegro movement where Albion Baroque’s performance brought out an array of details such as the chasing crescendos, brief and dramatic rests, echoing effects between 1st and 2nd violins, suspensions and emphatic interjections reminiscent of the opening.
Aegis Live Arts, a theatrical street ballet company, joined Albion Baroque to perform a choreography dance to Avison’s concerto grosso no.11 in G major. With the opening strains of the Con Affetto, two dancers in simple, floating dresses, one green (Chiara Favaretti) and the other peach (Michelle Buckley), processed up the central aisle. Upon reaching the stage area, they separated to weave around the church with balletic movements and fluid upward-reaching arm gestures, before making their exit. As the ensemble began the sunny Allegro, Finella Kennedy, in an ivory dress of the same style, then danced up the central aisle. Soon joined by Favaretti, and then Buckley, the three dancers playfully mirrored the interweaving of musical lines: sometimes together in twos or threes, sometimes diverging apart. Once again the dancers swept off as the movement came to a close. In the Andante Moderato, emotively performed by the ensemble,the mood turns bittersweet and pensive. This time Favaretti and Buckley entered together, followed by Kennedy. As they weaved through the space, the dancers intermingled with each other and performed detailed gestures as if to relate a story reflecting the dramatic tone of the music. Two enigmatic finger clicks from the dancers marked their third exit. Reflecting the joyful energy of the Vivacemente, the choreography of this final movement abounded in skips, pirouettes and leaps before the dancers finally swept up and down the aisles for the last time.
The final item of the evening’s program was Geminiani’s concerto grosso no.12, (after Corelli’s Sonata, Op. 5, No. 12, ‘La Folia’). La Folia is a musical framework that has been traced back to 15th-century Portugal, although its actual origins predate any surviving musical sources. This framework has remained highly popular throughout its history, inspiring countless compositions, including sets of variations written by Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Corbetta, and of course Corelli. In Geminiani’s concerto grosso arrangement of Corelli’s violin sonata, the lead violinist principally carries the solo part creating an effect that is close to a concerto. Indeed, the sound of Ujszászi’s violin shone out of the ensemble with thrilling exuberance.
The piece opened with a grand, somewhat haunting, statement of the ‘Folia’. In the following series of variations we heard Albion Baroque deliver an array of dynamic effects and character changes: from grave and serene, to spirited animation in firework exchanges between the concertino members. The whole ensemble built an exhilarating crescendo in the last variation to bring their debut concert to a glorious finale.
A standing applause from the audience greeted the ensemble, with special cheers for lead violinist Kinga Ujszászi, director Miguel Esteban, and Aegis Live Arts who were called back on to the stage.
This certainly was an exciting debut concert, demonstrating impressive musical detail and virtuosity on behalf of Albion Baroque, and their guest performers.