SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Bach Orchestral Suites and Cantatas: Soloists of Juilliard415, Monica Huggett (conductor), Peter Jay Sharp Theater, New York City, 8.10.2010 (SSM)

Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066

Cantata BWV 151: Süßer, Trost, mein Jesus kömmt
Cantata BWV 82a: Ich habe genug
Orchestral Suite No. 4 in C Major, BWV 1066

Let me begin with what would normally be the final line of this review. Regardless of the small complaints I have, this concert was great fun, as much from the performance as from the thrill of seeing young and talented people taking up, with obvious pleasure, the playing of Baroque music. It was also encouraging to see so many prominent names associated with Juilliard’s Historical Performance Faculty: Monica Huggett, Kenneth Weiss, Arthur Haas, William Christie, Jordi Savall and others. Over the years New York City has buried almost all of its Baroque orchestras, the latest being The New York Collegium, founded by Andrew Parrott in 1999. Perhaps one or more graduates of this school might find the right formula for an Arts Florissants based here.

There was nothing easy about the pieces chosen for this concert, nor was there any attempt to slow down, even when tackling technically difficult ones. From the slightly hesitant and constricted start of the first movement of the First Suite to the leave-no-man-alive Réjouissance of the Fourth Suite, the players seemed to grow in confidence. Aside from the Second Suite which highlights the flute, I had never noticed how much the Orchestral Suites resemble concerti grossi. This similarity was made even clearer by having the instrumental soloists stand in front of the orchestra as would be done for any concerto. In the First Suite the soloists were two oboists and a bassoonist. This trio played well but couldn’t quite get the propulsion to lift the suite off the ground. Specifically, the Forlane, a rhythmic dance in double time, suffered from a lack of pulse. In the trio sections of the first movement one could not help noticing the often ignored bassoonist who in a quiet way was playing amazing runs with virtuosic ease.

The next piece on the program was a short cantata, Süßer, Trost, mein Jesus kömmt. Soprano Ying Fang has a lovely whitish voice appropriate for the opening aria. Mezzo-soprano Lacey Jo Benter has a wonderfully dark rich voice that added substance to the lilting rhythms of the aria in Jesu Demut kann ich Trost; Bach here is picture-painting the words “His wonderworking hand will weave a wreath of blessings for me.” The tenor Spencer Lang, who looks and sounds like Ian Bostridge, also has a beautiful voice, but unfortunately sang just one recitative.

The second cantata on the program was the justly popular Ich habe genug. I was slightly disconcerted when two sopranos, rather than the usual male singer(s) walked onto the stage. But in fact, Bach thought so highly of this piece of music that he wrote several versions which can – and have been – performed by baritones, basses, sopranos, counter-tenors and tenors like Ian Bostridge. The heart-wrenching opening aria stands with Erbarme Dich from the St. Matthew Passion near the apex of vocal music. Deanna Breiwick’s rendering was lovely. Also to be commended is the flutist, Emi Ferguson, who played the accompaniment without reading from the score. The orchestra at times drowned her out which was a shame because her playing was charged with considerable emotion.

The concert ended with a rousing rendition of the Fourth Suite. It takes a master conductor to achieve what Ms. Huggett did here. She and the orchestra performed the work successfully without four of the twelve instruments required by the score (three trumpets and tympani). Ms. Huggett conducted the piece as if these instruments were never part of Bach’s manuscript: at times the music that you would expect to hear was simply not there. For example, the score calls for the opening upbeat to be performed by the three trumpets and tympani. Instead Ms. Huggett began on the second measure rather than the first. Each movement was taken at the fast end of the acceptable slow-to-fast scale, so much so that you felt pity for the oboists who played almost non-stop. The final Réjouissance was played faster than I ever heard it performed, and it was a fitting conclusion to an adventurous concert.

Stan Metzger