All were called on to perform the music of the Baroque era, stretching back nearly 400 years, as well as that of an upstart youngster, Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote a piece emulating the Baroque masters almost 200 years after the era.
To explain, the members of the chamber orchestra seated at the first chair of their sections, brought the music of Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Mendelssohn to life in a rather brief concert — the music lasted a mere 60 minutes — but with an impact that left the audience applauding and satisfied.
The concert opened with a Purcell sort of dance that many call a chaconne, the Chacony in G-minor. Leader-violinist Batjer kept the 14-member chamber group assembled from the larger chamber ensemble at a lively pace. Shulman moved to the front of the stage and demonstrated not only exceptional command of his instrument but an alarming ease as he parsed each phrase in a full and gorgeous sound. Shulman performed the Vivaldi Cello Concerto in C-minor, a 1728 work that has all the elements of the composer’s famous “Four Seasons” but looms with dark and somber tones in the second movement.
Here, solid support was given by fellow cellists Armen Ksajikian (who serves as associate principal in the orchestra) and Trevor Handy, plus bassist Susan Ranney.
Baroque almost wouldn’t have happened without Bach, and the orchestra included two pieces by the venerated composer — one the Concerto in D-major for Three Violins and the other, the Oboe d’amore Concerto in A-major.
For the Three Violin work, Stanislav, Vergara and Thornblade put on what could only be called a sparkling display of virtuosic performance. Vogel, longtime, and really celebrity oboist with the orchestra, put his well-known artistry up for all to enjoy playing on the very difficult oboe d’amore, an instrument used briefly during the Baroque period, but abandoned due to a number of difficulties, including players not being able to play in tune. Vogel suffered none of those issues, as he gave his usual exquisite performance.
About the writer BILL PETERS has reviewed the Southern California classical music scene for the past 12 years.
