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5 September 2011
Early Baroque treat for concert patrons
Concerts involving the harpsichord are rare, so there would have been plenty of interest in this concert centred on the antecedents of the later Baroque music of such composers as Bach, Handel and Vivaldi whose music is widely known and admired.
Titled Stile Moderno (Modern Style) this rather esoteric programme ranged over music of about a dozen 16th and 17th century Italian composers, most of whom would have been unfamiliar to the audience, but who were all part of the development of polyphony. This is true of chamber music, and with almost no vibrato in the strings to help project the sound, it is ideally heard in a much smaller chamber than the Napier Municipal Theatre. Consequently, there were some problems of balance. In the ensemble items, the harpsichord and the viola da gamba, and the similar sounding lirone, did not carry as well as the baroque violin with its elaborate melodic melissmas and higher pitch.
However, there was no problem with the harpsichord was played solo and Donald Nicholson showed his mastery of the instrument in several skilfully played solo items. Each of the players spoke of their art - the special quality of the sound of the viola da gamba, the mean tuning of the harpsichord as opposed to equal temperament, that the music could be played by a variety of unspecified instruments of the period, and the sparseness of notation on the printed music, giving rise to the extensive use of improvisation that was an impressive feature of the concert.
Each player is a specialist in baroque music performance and all deserve the reputation they have for the authenticity of their playing and interpretation of early Baroque music.