Vocal and instrumental concert
Music by Vivaldi, Handel, Telemann; Carolyn Sampson, soprano; Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, dir.Petra Müllejans
Manoel Theatre
British soprano Carolyn Sampson sang her way through a number of opera arias by Handel and Vivaldi accompanied by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
The theme of the concert was the stormy and unpredictable sea and the effect it has on the destiny of the various characters interpreted by the singer. Therefore it was to be expected that the singing was to depict fear, awe and dread with a few calm passages along the way. All this meant that a lot of agility was required.
The baroque opera style in such arias is unforgiving and has to be tackled by well-prepared coloratura singers
The baroque opera style in such arias is unforgiving and has to be tackled by coloratura singers who are very well prepared both technically and musically.
Sampson was brilliant, especially in arias from Handel’s Ezio, Imeneo and Lotario, and in Vivaldi’s motet Sum in medio tempestatum in F Major, RV 632.
The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, led by the energetic and sinewy Petra Müllejans, provided excellent support and also had the opportunity of providing ideal teamwork in two orchestral works.
The first was Vivaldi’s Concerto for violin and cello, in F Major RV 544 (with some obbligato for flute) featuring Müllejans (violin) and Stefan Mühleisen (violoncello) in a crisply fresh rendering. Subtitled il mondo al rovescio, it fit well into the theme as the sea could cause great mayhem.
It was with the same freshness and vigour that, in the second half of the concert, the orchestra performed Telemann’s Suite in C Major (Wassermusik: ebb und fluth), which also reflected various moods connected with the sea (or wide river estuaries given Telemann’s Hamburg connections). The suite, divided into various movements based on dance rhythms, was colourful, well-delivered and higly entertaining.
There was one encore – O ministro diletto dal ciel eletto from Handel’s early (1707) oratorio Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno. Having no coloratura display passages and a slow tempo, it brought out other highly admirable qualities in Sampson.
Béatrice Martin showed deftness and versatility on the harpsichord.Vocal and instrumental concert
Music by Rameau; Les Folies Françoises
Ta’ Ġieżu church
As to who impressed most at Ta’ Ġieżu church, the verdict must be all the team consisting of harpsichordist Béatrice Martin, violinist and director Patrick Cohën-Akinine, Christine Plubeau on viola da gamba and bass Arnaud Richard.
That was very clear in the first of two cantatas by Jean-Philippe Rameau: Aquilon et Orithie and Thétis. Instrumental support highlighted the superb singing qualities of Richard who has surely one of the finest basses ever heard here.
On her part, while providing basso continuo in four of the five works on the programme, Martin displayed her amazing deftness and versatility in Antoine Forqueray’s La Rameau.
The other two Rameau works were Concerto No. 3 in A Major and Concerto No. 4 in B flat Major. There were three movements to each, some of which with titles indicative of the mood and tempo in which they are played.
Greater attention and importance was accorded to the harpsichord but there was also ample scope for the violin and viola da gamba to have their say.
This high-quality performance was very well received and resulted in an encore, an Air de Court from Michel Pignolet de Montéclair’s cantata Pyrame et Thisbé. This was arranged in a way which began with a tutti, with each instrument taking turns in some display work, and joined at the end by the bass.