Maybe it was just because I was in the mood, but the Handel concert by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale last Friday at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre felt like an utter delight.
The organization has been auditioning various conductors this season to be their new Music Director, and last week's candidate was the 47-year-old Irishman Peter Whelan, an energetic live wire who introduced the program with warmth and wit. He was last seen here in 2022 conducting San Francisco Opera's production of Gluck's
Orpheus and Eurydice and he is also the Artistic Director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra.
The concert opener was Handel's
Concerto Grosso in G major, Op. 6, No. 1 which was a lovely 15-minute starter.
The was followed by the major work of the evening,
Alceste, which was incidental music written by Handel in 1749 for a Smollett play turned extravaganza that was never produced. Most of the music was recycled by the composer for other works, but hearing the original music together is a rarity. As Whelan stated, we don't really know what the music is referring to, "so you can just make up your own drama in your head."
One of the joys of the Bay Area classical music scene is the deep roster of singers who have been performing early music choral pieces together for years.
Whether singing with the Philharmonia Baroque, the American Bach Soloists, the SF Symphony Chorus, or other early music groups, there is a level of professionalism and knowledge that has taken years to coalesce, something that exists in very few places in the world.
The 90-minute suite of sinfonias, arias, dances, and choral numbers were given expert performances.
The tenor soloist was Aaron Sheehan, a specialist in Baroque music who sings sweetly while looking like a movie star.
The real revelation for me was the soprano soloist, Lauren Snouffer, who created such delicate shadings in the ornamentation of her arias that it was transporting.
May she return to San Francisco again soon because she is special.
1 comment:
I was there on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley and the whole concert was a delight. Thank you Michael for highlighting various members of the Chorale, who always add a lot to any program they sing in.
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