They are called La Serenissima, which brings the beautiful Venice to mind. However, there is nothing Venetian about this marvellous ensemble which graced this year’s Valletta International Baroque Music Festival with their presence and three delightful concerts at the Manoel Theatre.
Led by violinist/conductor Adrian Chandler this predominantly British ensemble proved, in this case, that the English-man (or woman) Italianate is the musician incarnate.
Their very wide choice of works for the first and third concerts did, indeed, feature Italian composers, many (if not all) of whom were very active in Venice.
The second concert featured non-Italian composers like Handel, Pisendel and J.S. Bach, who, for a while, were either active in Italy or were influenced by the likes of Vivaldi.
Chandler’s programme notes were excellent, but dim, lighting and the need to concentrate on the music rendered very useful his personal explanation of things. This established a very fine and warm rapport with the audience, making his brief and often very witty explanations a great source of delight.
Then, of course all members of the ensemble showed that they were playing very happily together and this rapport on stage was quickly projected to the audience.
One could also see how rapidly some musicians who displayed a certain brilliance and virtuosity when performing as soloists blended very easily with their colleagues in symphonies like Caldara’s, Corelli’s N. 5 Santa Beatrice d’Este for strings and continuo and Albinoni’s opera La Statira scored for two oboes, strings and continuo.
These symphonies dominated the first half of La Serenissima’s first evening concert, which ended with Chandler proving he has the gift of the gab and the bow in Tartini’s far from easy Concerto in E Minor, D. 51 for violin, strings and continuo.
This concert continued with a very vigorous and aptly robust Concerto in G, alla rustica, for two oboes, strings and continuo. Its very assertive outer movements were tempered with a brief and bucolic adagio.
One never tires of listening to Vivaldi’s most iconic work, one of the earliest examples of programme music
Peter Whelan gave a very fine performance as soloist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for bassoon, strings and continuo. It was followed by an equally accomplished performance by oboe soloists Gail Hennessy and James Eastaway in Albinoni’s Concerto in F for two oboes, strings and continuo. Their balance extended even to the physical plane, with the petite former oboist next to her towering colleague.
The concert ended with a grandiose line-up in Torelli’s Sinfonia in C for four trumpets, pairs of oboes, bassoons, violins and cellos, timpani, strings and continuo.
For their second concert, La Serenissima performed seven works by some great baroque composers, this time only two of which were Italian.
Depending on where they were most active or whether the works are preserved in various archives all over Europe, the concert was like a musical journey through different countries. Simon Munday was trumpet soloist in the opening work, which was Torelli’s Concerto (Sinfonia) in D for trumpet, strings and continuo.
This was one of two works in more than three movements, alternating in baroque style between fast and slow. It was followed by the other one, a suite in eight movements by the German Johann Georg Pisendel, based on a work by the Flemish composer Jean-Baptiste Volumier.
The Pisendel work is titled Imitations des Caractéres de la Danse in G minor, scored for flute, oboe, strings and continuo. This was a series of delightful dances contrasting in tempo and rhythm, with some being very lively and others more stately. Another Pisendel work consisted of just a largo and an allegro, namely A Sinfonia in C Minor for oboe, strings and continuo.
One of the highlights of this evening was the lovely interpretation of J.S. Bach’s double violin Concerto in D Minor in which the soloists were Adrian Chandler and Colin Scobie.
The other Italian composer this evening was Vivaldi, with his evocative Concerto in B Flat for violin, strings and continuo, known as Il corneto da posta. This saw Chandler making short shrift of the difficulties in many elaborately embellished and rapid passages.
Both halves of the concert were concluded with works by German composers. From Handel’s Roman days came the Sonata à 5 in B Flat for violin, two oboes, strings and continuo. And it was a crisp and colourful performance of Telemann’s Concerto in D.
La Serenissima’s final concert, one held late in the afternoon, was sold out long before the day and the magic bait was Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Well, it was a Vivaldi bon-anza because his music featured in the entire first half of the concert.
Whelan came back and did not fail to impress as soloist in the Concerto in G Minor per Maestro dè Morzin for bassoon, strings and continuo. It was flanked by two concertos, both per violino in tromba marina, which required a different kind of violin with a bit of a gritty edge to its tone. Both were expertly handled by Chandler.
Whelan was also in top form when he returned with the initially spooky, then dreamy and relaxing, Concerto in B Flat for bassoon, strings and continuo.
One never tires of listening to Vivaldi’s most iconic work, one of the earliest examples of programme music. This is true especially when so beautifully performed, with Chandler as soloist with the full support of the strings and continuo.
Adding spice to the performance was a reading according to manuscript preserved in Manchester, the UK, and in which certain differences could easily be felt when compared to the version published in 1725.