Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup mills-tuning-list Review of SoHo Baroque Opera Concert in New York

March 19, 1998 -- by Joe Monzo

Review of WHEN MOZART WAS A NINE YEAR OLD
Presented by SoHo Baroque Opera Company
New York City -- Monday, March 16, 1998

Humorously called by harpsichordist Elaine Comparone "A Review, not a
Pastiche", this free 4-hour concert, the third and final one in a series
that was open to the general public (but very limited in terms of space),
presented selections from six practically unknown French, Italian, and
German Baroque operas, utilizing Werckmeister III temperament, one of the
so-called "Well Temperaments" (the tunings Bach intended for the
"Well-Tempered Clavier").

The concert was held in the loft which is both home and workshop for
Robert Beucker. He built the harpsichord used in the performance. This
instrument has a resonant, crystalline sound. There is another in the
room which functioned as the lobby, which has a unique shape great for a
small space. The audience numbered about 55 people.

The atmosphere intended was more of a party than a concert. It was
wonderful to have great performances by talented musicians in such a
casual and informal setting. It's the first time I've ever sat through a
four-hour concert without dozing off. And that it was free speaks to the
devotion these people have to their art (the musicians were paid).

It must be stated from the outset that *these* ears were listening
especially for intonational accuracy. Before anyone's performance is
critiqued, let it be said that everyone involved deserves much applause
for their effort and ability in providing such a delightful (and
delightfully *long*) evening of musical enjoyment free of charge.
(Donations were encouraged, and well deserved.)

Johnny Reinhard, well known among "tuning people" as director of the
American Festival of Microtonal Music (each spring in New York) and
tireless champion for the causes of correct intonation and of what he
calls polymicrotonality - that is, an unbridled willingness to experiment
with various different tunings (sometimes all in the same piece), acted
as tuning consultant and also played bassoon in the orchestra.

Although tunings (especially temperaments) are usually calculated
starting from C, there was no standard reference frequency in use at the
time these pieces were composed -- Ellis' Appendix to Helmholtz' "On the
Sensations of Tone" lists standard frequencies for A in these countries
at that time ranging from 376 Hz to 455 Hz. So Reinhard's solution was
to tune to A=440 Hz (our modern standard reference frequency), and
calculate the Werckmeister temperament from A. He described it by saying
that F# is tuned a 12-equal "minor third" (300 cents) down from A, and
every other note is from 2 to 12 cents sharper than 12-equal, C being the
sharpest.

Overall, the Werckmeister III tuning gave the music a sweetness and
softness it wouldn't have had in the usual 12-equal tuning. It was
beautifully appropriate for these virtually unknown, and so joyously
resuscitated, Baroque selections. Please -- let us hear all of Bach's
glorious music in its proper tuning! (The rendition of "Ei, Wie der
Kaffee ist Susse" from Bach's "Coffee Cantata" done at last year's AFMM
"Jewel" concert by Meredith Borden, Andrew Bolotowsky -- two of tonight's
performers -- and Rebecca Pechefsky, was a knockout!)

The first opera presented was indeed written when Mozart was a 9-year-old
(1765), and each subsequent opera was written earlier than the one
before, the last one dating from 1710. Elaine Comparone led the ensemble
from the harpsichord more than ably.

The opening selections came from "Tom Jones" by Francois Andre'Dancian
Philidor. After a lively Overture came a male trio singing a hunting
song, then a "Drinking Quartet" which was a capella. Aaron James
displayed a beautiful voice with a full, round tone, typical operatic
vibrato, and not particular sensitivity to the tuning, although he did a
decent job. Oreen Zeitlein also projected well.

The slow movement of the "Sinfonia" from Tommaso Traetta's "Ippolito ed
Aricia" was particularly beautiful -- Cornelius Dufallo's sweet violin
lead was gorgeous. None of the singers could be faulted. Meredith
Borden's coloratura soprano was a standout, with her not-too-wide vibrato
(praise her!) and a limpid grace. While blending in perfectly with the
instruments, she was yet able to project above them without increasing
her volume -- a tough feat, and probably mostly attributable to her
excellent intonation. (She gets a lot of practice as a member of
Birdhouse, the group headed by Jon Catler.) Phillip Anderson's
intonation was even better in the next piece. Before he sang, Elaine
called our attention to his phrasing, which was indeed flawless.

Comparone called the selections from J. Bodin de Boismortier's "Don
Quichotte ch�z la Duchesse" "the most charming music of the evening" --
it was that. The ending of Scene 3 was lovely -- Mary Hurlbut's
*soprano* provided the *bass* for a quintet that included the 2 flutes
and 2 violins.

Following the first of two intermissions, Anderson's aria from Leonardo
Vinci's "Didone Abbandonata" was a kind of Baroque Italian equivalent to
the Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" -- a feature of the pieces
selected for performance was their dramatic or fun element; several of
the pieces referred in some way to getting drunk, quite in keeping with
the general ambience of the evening. Marshall Coid's aria from Act 2 was
given the most dramatic presentation of the evening; his counter-tenor
was the match of any female alto I've heard.

In the next opera, Marshall also displayed his talent as a violinist,
playing the solo part from the "Concerto" which opened the Telemann opera
"Der Neumodische Liebhaber Damon". This piece (and in general, this
opera) had harmonies and modulations all over the place, and predictably,
this is where the Werckmeister III tuning really showed its stuff.

The 2 violins frequently played unison passages that were just far enough
away from exact unison to be a bit grating to the ears. I'm familiar
with Tom Chiu's work with AFMM, so I suspect that it was Cornelius
Dufallo who was slightly off. Cornelius, however, had a glowingly warm
tone and phrasing.

In the middle of Zeitlin's aria "Liebe Mich" in the Telemann, was an
incredibly gorgeous passage where the strings played sustained G-major
and D-dominant-7th chords against the harpsichord's arpeggios -- the
intonation was sublime.

Constantinos Yiannoudes had *great* projection, and lots of excitement.
Mary Hurlbut's vibrato was rather wider than the other singers, and not
as much to my taste, at least for music of this period.

I was not surprised to read in Joel Hess's biography that he is "an
accomplished linguist" -- his enunciations and pronunciations were
exemplary. Both singing and playing in his Telemann aria were exquisite,
Johnny Reinhard giving his bassoon a real microtonally-inflected workout.

The Telemann was overall the most satisfying of the operas presented.
(By the way, were the Timpani also meticulously tuned to Werckmeister
III? chuckle, chuckle...) After this, the largest-conceived work of the
evening, came the second intermission.

Reinhard Keiser's "Croesus" (a singe-spiele) concluded the concert.
Again, the slow movement of the Sinfonia was beautifully played by the
strings and harpsichord. This points out the difficulty the winds have
adjusting to non-12-equal tunings. Those who had the hardest time with
tuning were the horns: the two horn players struggled valiantly --
against the nature of their modern valved instruments to produce 12-equal
or just/overtone pitches -- to play in Werckmeister III, adding a
piquancy (at best, really tasty, at worst, still quite interesting) to
every passage in which they had a part. Also having some difficulty were
the oboes, 1st violin, and viola. Jennifer DeVore and Mathew Fieldes did
okay on cello and bass, and Johnny Reinhard, Tom Chiu and Andrew
Bolotowsky displayed excellence in staying with the harpsichord's fixed
tuning.

Reinhard's facial muscles must have been sore as hell the following
morning from the exercise they got the night before. In the slow intro
to "Hoffe Noch" (Keiser) his bassoon was a beautiful bass (in unison with
cello and harpsichord) to the higher parts played by the violins, viola
and harpsichord. In this aria, Bolotowsky and Chiu also displayed their
prowess as microtonal flautist and violinist. The ensemble supporting
Mary Hurlbut here consisted only of harpsichord, cello, 2nd violin,
flute, and bassoon. I would say that because of the microtonal
experience of Reinhard, Chiu, and Bolotowsky, this was the most
well-tuned (or should I say well-tempered?) piece of the evening.

"Ich Sa' Ich Bau" was a duet beautifully matching Phillip Anderson and
Constantinos Yiannoudis. There were some bizarre chord changes in
Constantinos's aria "Muss Ich" which sounded *really* spacy in
Werckmeister III. Joel Hess's next aria was very funny, and sounded
great with the accompaniment of only harpsichord, bass, cello, and viola,
and in Hess's next aria, he emerged from the wings singing "Brill, brill"
as the salesman huckstering his wares. His voice displayed well the
"sharpness" I heard in the instruments, and although his voice was
thinner than those of the other singers, every time he came out he
performed with a verve and exhilaration that were infectious.
Yiannoudis' rendition of "Die Flamme Steigt" was accompanied nicely by
harpsichord and strings only. His voice is large -- sounds like it would
project easily in a big opera house. The final piece was a chorus which
brought all of the singers out.

This was a unique musical evening, and one must extend many thanks to
Robert Buecker for making it possible.

Joseph L. Monzo
monz@juno.com
4940 Rubicam St., Philadelphia, PA 19144-1809, USA
phone 215 849 6723

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Review of SoHo Baroque Opera Concert in New York

🔗monz@juno.com (Joseph L Monzo)

🔗Paul Hahn <Paul-Hahn@...>

🔗Johnny Reinhard <reinhard@...>

🔗mr88cet@texas.net (Gary Morrison)