Baroque Chamber Orchestra Magnificent

Friday’s performance (September 25) of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado in Boulder was one of the finest performances of a local ensemble that I’ve heard in a long time, and that includes the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Like the members of the Alpenglow Chamber Festival ensemble, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra obviously enjoys performing together. One of the most important reasons, at least from my standpoint, is that they are all equally fine musicians. They know what to expect from themselves and from each other, and when the group has that kind of confidence the results can be wonderfully satisfying.

They opened their concert with a concerto by Tomaso Albinoni. It was the Concerto in C Major, Opus 5, Nr. 12, which means that it was the last concerto of the Opus 5 group. Albinoni was a Venetian composer, who, unlike the other Venetian composers, Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Gabrieli, and Merulo, never actively sought a position in the local churches. Albinoni also seemed to live a more private life than the other composers, even though his music was appreciated by the German composers. His works were published in London and Amsterdam where he had considerable success as a composer. The Concerto in C Major begins in typical concerto grosso style, but what was so exceptional about this performance was the terrace dynamics that the composer required. The terrace dynamics are dynamics that do not require a crescendo or decrescendo but a subito (sudden) piano or a subito forte. Not one member of the group made an error in judgment, and the result was so well-balanced that it was almost similar to a recording engineer twisting the volume knob, except that it was infinitely more musical. What was really interesting and revealing, was that they looked at each other and smiled because they knew that they had nailed it. The second movement of this work was typical slow-fast-slow, and the fast middle section contained a real workout for the first violin. It was played perfectly by Tekla Cunningham.

Robin McNeil lives with his wife in Littleton where he teaches piano privately and continues to do research on the French composer Théodore Gouvy and the Medieval Mass. McNeil is an honorary member of the Institut Théodore Gouvy of Hombourg-Haut, France; president of the Piano Arts Association; and a member of the Henry Bradshaw Society (for the preservation and publication of rare liturgical documents). Read more of his work at OpusColorado.com.