Friday April 27, 2007 SGN.org |
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Volume 35 Issue 17 |
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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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Lively, undressed Bach at Town Hall |
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| Lively, undressed Bach at Town Hall | ||
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by Rod Parke -
SGN A&E Writer Bach's 'Mass in B Minor' is a work astonishing richness. Jos van Veldhoven led The Netherlands Bach Society in a performance at Town Hall that revealed much of that wealth. With a mere 35 musicians and soloists, the complexities of the music were laid bare; it was almost a case of musical nudity. With such small forces, the slightest error in aural balance between the instruments or singers would have stuck out, ruining the coherence of Bach's compositional genius. Indeed, the acoustics of Town Hall sometimes played a part in upsetting the wanted balance. Specifically, most of the vocal soloists could not be heard sufficiently well at the back-center of the hall, with only their upper registers coming through clearly. (I was assured by friends closer to the stage that such was not the case there.) Where we sat, for instance, bass Peter Harvey did not sound like a bass at all; for all we heard were the buzzing overtones of his voice, missing (except for brief moments) the warmth of his body resonance. Only the superb male alto of Matthew White cut through at all times so that we could appreciate his phrasing and ornamentations. Even the stunning, very soft repeat in one of his solos carried to the apparently dead spot we were in. Soprano Catherine Webster, who was a superb Drusilla in the Early Music Guild's recent production of Monteverdi's 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea,' substituted for an indisposed soloist. She did remarkably well, considering she obviously had had little experience singing with this group from Holland. But generally the balances of the choir (2-3 voices to a part) and period instruments were perfect. The overall sound was full-bodied and often quite loud. Conductor Jos van Veldhoven chose tempi that were just right and often exhilarating. His beat was a model of clarity, to which the musicians always gave full response. Although the strings and vocal soloists kept vibrato to a minimum, this was anything but an antiseptic reading. The amount of dynamic variation within phrases was almost shocking, and made for much greater interest and expression. Indeed, this maestro expertly maneuvered the line between sterile, academic practice and an excessive personal style. His choices were almost always pleasing. It goes without saying that the use of "period" instruments added welcome color to whole texture. Of particular delight to me was the use of a small organ with some baroque character, although I would have welcomed more chiff (that little percussive sound at the beginning of each note). The true test of a performance of a great work is whether it gave the audience an experience of the composer's genius throughout. The Netherlands Bach Society certainly did that with generous effect. I thank the Early Music Guild for including this group in its 30th Anniversary Season. Reviewer Rod Parke can be reached at rmp62@columbia.edu. |
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