Libby Fiddles Fabulously!

by

Lyn Bronson

Well, the Monday evening principal concert at the Carmel Bach Festival had its moments of high artistry and low comedy, but it was very entertaining. Since this was “Libby” night at the Festival, we heard five violin concertos showcasing her talents, plus, from Telemann, a concerto for natural horn (more about that later) and a tongue-in-cheek cantata for a dead canary (more later about that later, too).

Ms. Wallfisch is always happy to inject a little levity into concert situations, and sure enough we had some nonsense right at the beginning. For the opening work, Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042, the musicians traipsed out on stage and prepared to play, but noticeably without Libby.  After a minute or so we heard distant offstage fiddling, and then on shuffled Libby fiddling away like a street musician, although somewhat less formally dressed than the musicians already on stage – she was wearing two-toned blue and white slippers and a shiny blue jacket (à la Graham Norton). But, as soon as she put her bow to the strings for the Bach Concerto, the clowning was over, and we heard some really fine playing. Tempos were brisk, rhythms were incisive, and articulation was precise and stylish. The lovely slow movement was better than ever, and the last movement was a joyous romp.

It was the Telemann Concerto for Horn in D, TWV 51, which provided the low point of comedy for the evening. Most of us have never heard a natural valve-less horn (let alone even seen one outside of museums), and here was one on stage performed by Christopher Cooper in a virtuoso concerto by Telemann. Without valves, the performer on natural horn is restricted to the notes of the overtone series and relies on changing the embouchure with his lips plus inserting his right hand in the bell to shade tones and change registers. There is no question about it, Mr. Cooper is amazing, and it is quite possible that the playing we heard from him is approximately what 18^th century audiences heard in their time. However, since what we heard was a reminder of how fortunate we are today to have modern horns, I am not sure I see the charm of returning to 18^th century horns, any more than returning to 18^th century plumbing or 18^th century dental procedures. So the bottom line is that Cooper’s performance turned out to be entertaining and hilarious as a parody (there were some people a few rows ahead of us heaving in paroxysms of suppressed laughter). A four-minute video clip of his performance posted on YouTube.com would draw hundreds of thousands of hits once the word got around. In all fairness to Mr. Cooper, he is obviously a very fine musician, and we would love to hear him in a Mozart Horn Concerto or the Brahms Horn Trio playing a modern instrument. Asking him to perform on an antique horn for the Carmel Bach Festival is like asking him to compete in a modern bike race with a late Victorian “Penny Farthing” bike (you know the kind I mean − with the six-foot diameter front wheel, very tiny rear wheel, high seat and no gears or brakes).

The next item of humor, again from Telemann, was a cantata, “Funeral Music for a Sweet-singing Canary,” with mezzo Sally-Anne Russell. This turned out to be a lot of fun, and we were not only grateful for the supertitles that explained how the canary met its fate, but also for the color photograph of the vicious killer at the end. Ms. Russell gave it her best, and since she has a lot to give, we heard some fine singing and lots of charm, although we might wish that this work were shorter. Of course we know that people didn’t have so much to do in the 18^th century, so maybe leisure time hung heavily on their hands (the elite upper classes and aristocrats, of course, for the working class, as always, were working their tails off).

After intermission we heard a lovely aria, Ach, daß ich Wassers genug hätte (Ah, that I would have enough tears), by Johann Christoph Bach, sung by Ms. Russell again. This aria was undoubtedly unfamiliar to most of us in the audience, and it is a good example of imaginative programming unearthing little known gems that deserve wider hearing. It was gorgeous.

The remainder of the program contained some serious violin playing of three concerti by Vivaldi (one of them was for two violins with Cynthia Roberts), and the Bach Violin Concerto in A Minor, BWV 1041. Although we have heard Ms. Wallfisch play most of these concerti in previous years, they are classics that stand the test of time and are always welcome again on programs. She is a fine musician who always brings enormous vitality and authority to her performances.

A larger question that this program raises is about the direction of the Festival into the area of period instruments. In smaller ensembles, period instruments seem to have their place, although not necessarily in larger ensembles. We noticed that even though the instrumentation for the St. Matthew Passion calls for two transverse flutes (these originally would have been 18^th century wooden conical flutes, not metal cylindrical Boehm flutes) plus two recorders, Robin Peery and Dawn Walker play modern instruments, as do other woodwind players in the Festival Orchestra. We observed in this evening’s performance a gentleman on stage occasionally playing an enormous lute, which was fascinating looking but was rarely heard. Is it eye candy, or does it really have a place in the Festival?

If Mr. Cooper can play the Telemann Concerto on an antique valve-less horn, I would love to hear Libby Wallfisch play the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on a Kazoo. Now, that would really be entertaining! 

 

End