BALMAIN BAROQUE – 25th Anniversary Virtual Concert
Saturday 31st October
In these unwelcome times, it has been a heartening circumstance that Sydney-based ensemble Balmain Baroque were able to celebrate 25 years of music-making since their inaugural concert given at St Mary’s Church, East Balmain in 1995. Their virtual anniversary concert took place in Humph Hall, Allambie Heights, a community performing space with recording expertise on hand. This was an appreciated contribution to a happy abundance of online streamed events (this one for free!) opening up musical performance to a trans-global audience – at a perfectly civilised 8am GMT for me.
The livestream came into effect shortly after the concert officially began, with a set from Handel’s musical drama, Hercules, first performed at The King’s Theatre in London’s Haymarket in 1745. An Overture, Allegro and characterful Minuetto comprised the introduction for this programme of 18th-century entertainment. Amanda Muir, soprano and a co-founder of Balmain Baroque, followed with a recitative and aria How Blest the Maid from Act II, where the princess Iole, now a prisoner of war, contemplates the happiness a humble life would offer. The chamber-version accompaniment was provided by Lidia Bara on violin, and Tony Eyers (Balmain Baroque’s other co-founder) playing the oboe part on his treble recorder, along with ever-present basso continuo which had occasional share of the musical motifs. Violin and recorder blended well together, and a lovely lilting feeling was created by the tutti ensemble.
Set to the left of the stage, the harpsichord (considered the sixth member of the group) was a thing of beauty with its painted lid of Michelangelo’s famous cherubs, while violoncellist Darsha Kumar sat in the conventional spot behind harpsichordist Donn Mendoza, allowing for optimal communication within the bass section. A Chaconne in F minor by Johann Pachelbel for solo harpsichord infused some French elegance into the programme. As Donn intimated, it was a pleasant diversion from the composer’s widely known Canon. The unusual key of F minor, with its melancholic associations, made for a tender rendition, with livelier variations affording the bass line liberation from simply stating the harmonic progression.
Amanda Muir took us back to the 17th century for Claudio Monteverdi’s Canzonetta Si Dolce e il tormento (So Sweet is the Torment) from his 9th book of madrigals (1624). The typically Arcadian sentiments of unrequited love, strong faith and false hope were reflected in the slowly descending bass line astutely played using the lute stop on the harpsichord, and they received an impassioned interpretation.
The multi-talents of Balmain Baroque’s members became apparent in the following pieces. Firstly, a Trio Sonata in F major, op. 2 no. 7 by Arcangelo Corelli, performed in the simplest of settings by Amanda now on baroque flute, with Tony temporarily replacing the stringed bass section on a bass recorder, and Lidia producing an especially agreeable singing tone on her violin. The Adagio featured some lovely suspensions above the recorder’s walking bass, and the dance-like quality of the final Gigue was finely captured. Handel’s Sonata in Bb major is a well-established piece in the recorder’s repertoire, and a marvellous example of contrast within brevity. As Tony mentioned, each of the movements appears elsewhere in Handel’s oeuvre – the first in the opening to his opera Scipione, the solemn Adagio is found in an organ concerto, while the final Allegro is also used for a violin sonata. In typical fashion, Handel apportions some of the melodic material to the bass part, which allowed for some nice dynamic shading, and duetting between melody instrument and bass, with discreetly harmonising harpsichord.
Amanda returned as Iloe for another recitative and aria Ah Think What Ills the Jealous Prove from Hercules. Here she warns the wife of Hercules against jealousy. We had quite some time to ponder this piece of advice at the end of the recitative, while a technical issue with an ipad was sorted – enabling Wayne Richmond, the recording engineer, to come into view! – before the aria continued to express the idea that peace and love are preferable to the endless pain that jealous feelings would bring. The sentiment was expressed by Amanda’s virtuosic melismas and some impassioned passages in the bass line.
For their final work, the ensemble performed Handel’s Trio Sonata in A major op. 5 no. 1, full of melody and dialogue, with the use of a voice flute providing further variety of texture and timbre, a distinctive feature of dwarslaesie erectie protein shake voor this concert. The concluding Gavotte was suitably light and lively. It was encouraging to read listeners’ comments in the ‘chat’ as the concert went along, and discover how much they were enjoying the music.
With their musical delights, Balmain Baroque contributed to a world ‘where harmony should reign’, to quote from the text of one of the arias. Happy 25th Anniversary!
This concert remains available to watch on youtube via this link:
https://youtu.be/eREGYTmtdUM
Jane Downer
