Carnival in Venice |
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La Serenissima! Echoes from
that most serene, much romanticised city rang around Holy Trinity,
Minchinhampton, where the Carnevale arrived
early on 17th February.
We heard works by Vivaldi, Caldara, Albinoni and Stradella, all associated in varying degrees with the high point of Venice’s musical life in the 17th and 18th centuries. The programme began with Vivaldi’s Laudate dominum omnes gentes, the first of three Vesper Psalms, short, harmonious and rousing. Antonio Caldara’s Crucifixus followed, a truly beautiful setting in sixteen parts, contrasting slow, angular, melodic phrases with faster, driving rhythms. This is a highly emotional piece, created by the fusion of baroque techniques with the old polyphony. Taken from Caldara’s considerable sacred output, this special music must have presented a considerable challenge even to Cappella, but the full sound was a joy to the ear. Bellissima! We were then treated to a brisker composition, Vivaldi’s Credidi propter quod, in which the five voice parts are all doubled by instruments. Albinoni’s melodic Oboe concerto in D minor (opus 9 no 2) followed, in which the solo part was beautifully played by Sophia McKenna. An energetic, quite jolly first movement was succeeded by the more intensely melodic second, ending with a lively giga, all performed with much gusto. Hannah Grove Atherton (soprano) sang Vivaldi’s motet, Nulla in mundo pax sincera, swaying effortlessly to gentle breezes supplied by the violin. The first half ended with choir and orchestra performing Beatus vir by Vivaldi, a single movement in ritornello form. Kate Thatcher, bravely standing in at short notice, sang the alto solo, which alternated with sopranos in two parts and four part choir. Following the interval, we were regaled with a fine valveless trumpet solo by Gavin Wells, accompanied by the strings, playing the Sinfonia from Alessandro Stradella’s wedding serenata, Il Barcheggio. The same trumpet led us neatly into the familiar opening bars
of Vivaldi’s Gloria in excelsis Deo. Philip Colls gave us an
excitingly different perspective on this work by performing it with an
all-ladies chorus, the tenor and bass parts being sung by sopranos and altos an
octave higher than notated. This is quite possibly the authentic sound, as
Vivaldi worked for many years at the Pieta, in whose chapel it is
believed sacred music was performed only by girls, hidden from public view
behind a screen - but Philip dispensed with the screen!
Set in twelve movements, featuring varied scoring, Vivaldi’s most famous choral work provided a fitting climax. No gold masks were spotted amongst the 100 strong glitterati in the audience, only appreciative smiles and enthusiastic applause at the end of a delightful evening. TP |
The
Cappella Singers, some three dozen strong, were conducted by Philip
Colls and accompanied by a Baroque Orchestra of period instruments including
strings, oboe, trumpet, organ and a
