By Dorothy Andries, Evanston Review
January 22, 2009
When the frenetic celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday was in full swing in January of 2006, a seasoned violinist wryly observed, "Every year is Mozart's year."
He was right. That composer's work is so established in the classical repertoire that music lovers not only can hear it performed by numerous artists on countless CDs and on classical music stations, but also they are never more than a few weeks away from a live performance somewhere in the area.
Music of the Baroque has begun to regularly play Mozart on its January concerts and on Jan. 18, this excellent ensemble gave an all-Mozart program at First United Methodist Church in Evanston.
The conductor was Jane Glover, the ensemble's music director since 2002. If Music of the Baroque was top flight when she came, she has moved them even higher into the stratosphere.
There is an inherent energy in Glover's conducting, indicating her vigor and zest for her task. This vitality was certainly transferred to the players Sunday night, and it set the audience on fire as well.
The first work was the composer's "Vesperae solennes de confessore," with the 26-members Music of the Baroque Chorus, Soloists were soprano Kimberly McCord, mezzo soprano, Jessye Wright, tenor Peter Reiff, and bass-baritone Peter Van De Graaff, who is a member of the chorus.
McCord has a supple, shining soprano voice and did the lion's share of the solo work. Especially touching was the familiar "Laudate Dominum," which if it is not quite "Ave Verum Corpus," is among the most heart-wrenching of Mozart's melodies. McCord sang it effortlessly, the chorus joining in with smoothness and grace.
From this ethereal work the program moved to the robust "Symphonie concertante for winds." Players were Mary Stolper, flute, Robert Morgan, oboe, Jonathan Boen, horn, and William Buchman, bassoon.
They are all principals in the Music of the Baroque Orchestra, so it was no surprise that they were a most congenial quartet, tightly knit together, yet playing without strain. The music was fresh -- a quality always associated with Mozart—as well as bright and vital.
Symphony No. 35 is known as "Haffner," and this is the occasion to mention that the principal cellist of Music of the Baroque is Barbara Haffner!
Glover is a master of precision, so the performance was clear and crisp. But she never missed a chance to bring out the warmth that also imbues Mozart's work. The musicians in Music of the Baroque are deft and skillful, easily managing the fast (but never furious) Presto movement, which concluded the symphony.
Glover tacked on Mozart's "A Musical Joke" at the very end of the night. For my opinion of that piece, see the [following]:
• Mozart's joke: For the Music of the Baroque's all-Mozart concert Sunday night at United Methodist Church in Evanston music director Jane Glover chose to conclude the program with the composer's "A Musical Joke." According to Glover, the piece was written to make fun of the musicians of Salzburg, of whom Mozart was "utterly contemptuous." It was composed with obvious wrong notes and bizarre dynamics. Give the Good Sport award to concertmaster Robert Waters, who gamely played possibly the worst cadenza ever written!