Classical music: The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble excels again in a varied program of rarely heard Baroque vocal and instrumental music
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble offered its latest specimen of intimate Baroque chamber music at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Regent Street last Sunday afternoon.
As always, each of the performers—six in this case—had one or two opportunities as soloist.
Mezzo-soprano Consuelo Sañudo (below), for instance, was featured in two solo cantatas.
One, by Giovanni Bononcini was on conventional emotional themes.
But the other was a real curiosity. By the French composer Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, it was written for the Nativity season, and has been given a French title as "Hymn of the Angels." But its text was no more or less than the Latin words of the Gloria section of the Mass Ordinary.
A new member in the group, recorder player Sigrun Paust (below), delivered the Sonata No. 1 from a 1716 collection of works written by Francesco Veracini alternatively for violin or flute.
For flutist Monica Steger (below) the vehicle was a Sonata Op. 91, No. 2, for Flute and Harpsichord duo, by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
The spotlight was on viola da gambist Eric Miller (below) in another duo with harpsichord, no less than the Sonata in D Major, BWV 1028, by Johann Sebastian Bach, but Miller also participated in continuo functions elsewhere. (You can hear the Bach sonata in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Likewise active in continuo work was viola da gambist Anton TenWolde (below), but he had one solo, a Capriccio for cello, by Joseph Ferdinand Dall'Abaco.
And the harpsichordist Max Yount (below), also involved in continuo roles, presented two contrasting keyboard pieces, a Toccata by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and a Fantasie by Johann Jakob Froberger.
For a colorful finale, Paust and Miller joined TenWolde and Steger (on harpsichord) in a Trio Sonata in F by Georg Philipp Telemann.
The artistry of these performers (below) was fully up to their own high standards, and their delight in trading off assignments to play together is palpable.
St. Andrew's Church (below) on Regent Street may have been a bit bigger than a Baroque salon or parlor, but still served well as a setting for this kind of amiable gentility in musical substance.
The group's next Madison concert is at St. Andrew's on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. No program has been announced.
Tags: American Record Guide, angels, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Boismortier, Bonocini, BWV, Cantata, Capriccio, Cello, Chamber music, church, Classical music, Clerambault, Concert, continuo, Dall'Abaco, Dutch, Early music, emeritus, Episcopal, Fantasie, fantasy, flute, French, Froberger, German, Gloria, harpsichord, hymn, Isthmus, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Latin, lecture, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, mass, Medieval, MEMF, Mezzo-soprano, Music, nativity, parlor, professor, recorder, salon, Sonata, St. Andrew, Telemann, text, title, toccata, trio, trio sonata, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Veracini, Viol, Viola, viola da gamba, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, words, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble performs a varied program of French, German, Italian and Dutch music on Sunday afternoon
ALERT: There will NOT be a Noon Musicale this Friday at the First Unitarian Society of Madison. The weekly series resumes next week.
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble will perform a very varied concert of baroque chamber music on this coming Sunday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church (below), 1833 Regent Street, on the near west side of Madison.
Members of the ensemble include Eric Miller, viola da gamba; Sigrun Paust, recorder; Consuelo Sañudo, mezzo-soprano; Monica Steger, traverso flute, harpsichord; Anton TenWolde, baroque cello; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
Tickets at the door only are $20 for the public, $10 for students.
For more information, visit www.wisconsinbaroque.org
A reception will be held at 2422 Kendall Ave, second floor after the concert.
Johann Sebastian Bach – Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord in D major, BWV 1028
Francesco Maria Veracini (below) – Sonata No. 1 for recorder and basso continuo in F major
Jan Peterszoon Sweelinck, Toccata in C
Johann Jakob Froberger, Fantasie
Giovanni Bononcini, "Vorrei pure pianger"
Joseph de Bodin de Boismortier – Sonata for flute and harpsichord, Opus 91, No. 2
Francois Couperin – "Le Dodo ou l'Amour au Berceau"
Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco – Capriccio for solo violoncello No.
Louis-Nicholas Clerembault – Hymne des Anges
Georg Philipp Telemann – Trio sonata for recorder, viola da gamba, and basso continuo, TWV 42:F3 (heard in the YouTube video below)
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Boismortier, Bononcini, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Clerembault, Couperin, Dall'Abaco, Dutch, flute, François Couperin, France, French, Froberger, German, Germany, harpsichord, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Mezzo-soprano, Music, Netherlands, recorder, Sonata, Telemann, traverso, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Veracini, Viola, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, YouTube