Friday, September 15, 2023
The Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest
I rarely listen to what I know to be Bach’s wonderful musical statement, but having become bewitched by this year’s Enescu Festival and its numerous daily events, not least the amazing roll-call of visiting artists and ensembles, I thought I’d give this early-evening B-minor Mass a go especially as Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent are such experienced practitioners of Baroque bedrocks. Throughout, the performance exuded rightness of tempo, convivial lightness of touch, dancing vitality, and meaningful communication, finely sung, whether solos or choir, and one marvelled at the peerless playing of the valveless trumpets, also Christine Busch’s expressive and tonally alluring violin solos, and Bart Cypers’s stunning horn obbligato during a bass aria. Here was succour, sublimity and exhilaration, contrapuntal complexities clarified. One sensed that the audience was similarly transfixed by being in the same room as these dedicated musicians and a timeless masterpiece.
Soloists and choir:
Soprano I: DOROTHEE MIELDS & ANNELIES BRANTS, MAGDALENA PODKOŚCIELNA
Soprano II: MARGOT OITZINGER & AISLING KENNY, CHIYUKI OKAMURA
Alto: ALEX POTTER & DANIEL FOLQUÉ, CÉCILE PILORGER, BART UVYN
Tenor: GUY CUTTING & GRAHAM COOPER, THOMAS KÖLL, ERIC PRICE
Bass: PETER KOOIJ & ERIC ANDER, PHILIP KAVEN, BART VANDEWEGE
Orchestra:
Concertmaster: CHRISTINE BUSCH
1st violin: MENG HAN, MARIA ROCA
2nd violin: DIETLIND MAYER, PAUL BIALEK, VERENA SOMMER
Viola: DEIRDRE DOWLING, KAAT DE COCK
Cello: AGEET ZWEISTRA, HARM-JAN SCHWITTERS
Double bass: MIRIAM SHALINSKY
Organ: MAUDE GRATTON
Traverso: PATRICK BEUCKELS, AMÉLIE MICHEL
Oboe: JASU MOISIO, TAKA KITAZATO, NATHALIE PETIBON
Bassoon: JULIEN DEBORDES, HUGO RODRIGUEZ
Horn: BART CYPERS
Trumpet: ALAIN DE RUDDER, ARNE VAN EENO, YORICK ROSCAM
Timpani: DAVID DEWASTE