Concert on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 8 pm
There are some fabulous concerts going on in Rochester, NY for early music lovers. I was privileged to attend the first Kilbourn-Concert Series event at St. Michael's Church, which was in collaboration with the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI) Festival 2010. The concert featured Ensemble Weser-Renaissance, a leading German early music group. As one of the pre-concert announcers joked, "This will be the cheapest trip to Germany you will ever take!" Indeed it was magnificent; I have no doubt that every audience member thoroughly enjoyed the concert.
Not to say that our Rochester musicians specializing in early music have nothing to offer; on the contrary, the Christ Church Schola Cantorum, led by Stephen Kennedy, performed beautifully alongside the Weser-Renaissance. I was not a bit surprised to see Paul O'Dette, famed lutenist and Eastman professor, at the concert. If anything, this concert gave those loyal patrons of the Kilbourn-Concert Series an exciting taste of early music, something they can easily pursue through next week's Pegasus Early Music Ciaconna concerts.
The performance by Weser-Renaissance Bremen was truly inspiring. They performed a series of short, religious texts, entitled Lobe den Herren, written in the 17th century by Heinrich Schutz. Each of them highlighted a different soloist and portrayed the musical intricacies of the period. The vocalists consisted of a soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The soprano sang effortlessly in the stratosphere; the alto, surprisingly male, sang completely smoothly; the tenor, enchantingly lovely; the bass, deeply sonorous. As expected from historically accurate performers, they sang with minimal vibrato, and with flawless and masterfully created improvisation. The result was a pure and clean sound that reverberated through the high cathedral ceilings. The sound carried from the short releases of the phrase but still did not interrupt the next phrase. Perhaps this is why the musicians of that time period did not prefer the sustained sound we expect from our Steinway pianos today; the high ceilings of their performance venues saw to that naturally.
The rest of the Ensemble members, which consisted of two violins, sackbut, dulzian, and the organ were showcased throughout the concert. It was incredibly interesting to watch the instrumental specialists playing instruments that vaguely resembled our modern instruments. They commanded the respect of the audience by performing on notoriously difficult instruments with ease and grace. It was clear to the audience how much they enjoyed interacting with the vocalists and responding to one another with a musical conversation. Such dedication to listening is something I expect from a string quartet, rarely from an Ensemble of ten. Manfred Cordes, the conductor of the Ensemble, clearly had a hand in both leading and responding to the musical ideas of the musicians.
EROI Festival attendees must have thoroughly enjoyed music which showcased the beauty and power of the organ. The staging arrangement seemed rather strange, as it required all audience members to turn at a 90 degree angle in the pews to face the make-shift stage. However, this encumbrance was made necessary by the organ's position in the church; the talented organist had to peer at the Ensemble members via a mirror in order to interact with them, something impossible to do if the members were far away at the high altar.
I applaud the extensive collaboration that made this wonderful concert possible. I encourage the citizens of Rochester to seek out more concerts like this that present early music in a lively, historically accurate way. Not many have the opportunity to hear early music performed with such respect.
Performers
Weser-Renaissance Bremen:
Ulrike Hofbauer, soprano
Alex Potter, alto
Mirko Ludwig, tenor
Harry van den Kamp, bass
Veronika Skuplik, violin
Bjarte Eike, violin (substituted by another, name TBD)
Wim Becu, sackbut
Regina Sander, dulzian
Edoardo Bellotti, organ
Manfred Cordes, conductor
Schola Cantorum of Christ Church
Stephen Kennedy, director
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