A Baroque Tour of Europe
by Robert Mealy, conductor and violin
It's a delight to be returning to Phoenix to work again with the remarkable players of the Symphony! Last season, I had the chance to work intensively with the ensemble in a series of workshops on Baroque performance practice, and the results in the Messiah and in the spring concert of Handel's Water Music were really striking: the playing is lighter, more buoyant, and more articulate than "traditional" readings with their heavy tempos and thick textures. Everyone's learning that this music can dance and breathe!
This time, we'll be investigating a program I put together that's a kind of tour of Baroque Europe. We start in Rome with one of Corelli's brilliant concerti grossi, move to London to hear some of the quirky and inventive dances Purcell wrote for his "Fairy Queen," and then end the first half in Versailles with a colorful suite of music from Lully's great tragedy "Thésée." This first half is all about the exciting developments in music at the end of the seventeenth century, when the orchestra was first invented; for the second half, we move into the High Baroque of the eighteenth century, and visit Venice for one of Vivaldi's energetic opera overtures, go to Leipzig for a sinfonia from a Bach cantata, stop by London again for a stately concerto grosso by Handel, and finally end up at the Paris Opera, with the intoxicating sounds of Rameau in a suite of dances from his "Les Indes Galantes."
We tend to think of the Baroque as being just one musical language today, the international style of Bach and Handel, but with this program you'll get to hear a lot of very different musical voices from the time. I hope you'll get a sense of how different all these cities were - just as the wine and food of different areas of Europe are strikingly specific and unique, so too was their music in the Baroque.
As with our other Baroque initiatives with the Symphony, we'll be using the wonderful set of Baroque bows that TPS acquired last season. The orchestra has discovering that these new tools really make a difference in playing the music of the time: it's kind of like driving a small, very responsive sports car instead of a plush Cadillac. With these bows, and with their growing sense of baroque performance practice, the players are discovering how to make this music come alive in a new way - which is, actually, a very old way!
Catch Robert Mealy and The Phoenix Symphony Baroque Ensemble this weekend, November 15 at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, November 16 at the Mesa Arts Center, and November 17 at the Orpheum Theatre
It's a delight to be returning to Phoenix to work again with the remarkable players of the Symphony! Last season, I had the chance to work intensively with the ensemble in a series of workshops on Baroque performance practice, and the results in the Messiah and in the spring concert of Handel's Water Music were really striking: the playing is lighter, more buoyant, and more articulate than "traditional" readings with their heavy tempos and thick textures. Everyone's learning that this music can dance and breathe!This time, we'll be investigating a program I put together that's a kind of tour of Baroque Europe. We start in Rome with one of Corelli's brilliant concerti grossi, move to London to hear some of the quirky and inventive dances Purcell wrote for his "Fairy Queen," and then end the first half in Versailles with a colorful suite of music from Lully's great tragedy "Thésée." This first half is all about the exciting developments in music at the end of the seventeenth century, when the orchestra was first invented; for the second half, we move into the High Baroque of the eighteenth century, and visit Venice for one of Vivaldi's energetic opera overtures, go to Leipzig for a sinfonia from a Bach cantata, stop by London again for a stately concerto grosso by Handel, and finally end up at the Paris Opera, with the intoxicating sounds of Rameau in a suite of dances from his "Les Indes Galantes."
We tend to think of the Baroque as being just one musical language today, the international style of Bach and Handel, but with this program you'll get to hear a lot of very different musical voices from the time. I hope you'll get a sense of how different all these cities were - just as the wine and food of different areas of Europe are strikingly specific and unique, so too was their music in the Baroque.
As with our other Baroque initiatives with the Symphony, we'll be using the wonderful set of Baroque bows that TPS acquired last season. The orchestra has discovering that these new tools really make a difference in playing the music of the time: it's kind of like driving a small, very responsive sports car instead of a plush Cadillac. With these bows, and with their growing sense of baroque performance practice, the players are discovering how to make this music come alive in a new way - which is, actually, a very old way!
Catch Robert Mealy and The Phoenix Symphony Baroque Ensemble this weekend, November 15 at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, November 16 at the Mesa Arts Center, and November 17 at the Orpheum Theatre
11 Comments:
It may be interesting for the orchestra's musicians to participate in these Baroque concerts, but I (and a friend) found last season's example completely uninteresting -- or, to put it less politely, boring. We went only because it was included on our season subscription at the SCFA. This season we again have tickets but will skip this concert. If you're determined to schedule this kind of music, why don't you put it in a separate series or schedule it as a stand-alone, rather than forcing those of us who dislike it to pay for something we don't want? After all, I believe that there are few enough of us season subscribers left, so it's pointless to make life less pleasant for us.
From today's (11/14) Playbill Arts on Playbill.com.
Wake up Phoenix Symphony, this is how you fill seats. Read on:
PlaybillArts, November 14, 2007
Not everyone finds Baroque boring! It's wonderful music, and Mealy is excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed this concert, and hope to hear more like it.
I'd like to reply to the first comment by "anonymous". If you're determined NOT to see this kind of music you could exchange your tickets to another concert rather than complaining about it on here. There are other subscribers who ENJOY baroque music, which by the way forms the foundation for all music in the western world. Maybe educating yourself on the Baroque Era in music would enlighten you and make your life a little "less pleasant".
Just came home from Robert Mealy's Baroque One-Man Show in Mesa. He is indeed a virtuoso violinist in that certain slippery style of playing a lot of ornamental notes.
The trouble with that is none of our orchestra members can match him. Try as she might, Principal 2nd violinist Anna Kazepides could hardly be heard in her solo and harmony lines. Might as well have Mealy play a stand-up concerto like the Four Seasons. Will he be returning for either the Messiah or the Christmas Baroque as guest concertmaster?
On the other hand, the chamber ensemble sounded like a totally different animal. I believe this Baroque Initiative should continue, especially since no other "professional" group in town has really taken grasp of that genre.
I had a great overhead view from the very front of the Mezzanine section at the Ikeda Theatre for the second half of the program. You cannot present a tiny baroque ensemble in that huge hall. The sound does not reach the balcony. More appropriate would be the brand new 500-seat Tempe Center for the Arts. A "Going for Baroque" Series there next season would make sense.
The Phoenix Symphony has added the Baroque Initiative and the Ballet Arizona Pit Orchestra gigs in the recent seasons. The latter means a few more weekends of playing at home in Downtown Phoenix.
In the last century, the Phoenix Symphony also accompanied some of the Arizona Opera productions,
especially the largers works by Richard Wagner.
I pose this question to you, the various readers and contributors of this blog. Should the Phoenix Symphony become the full-time pit orchestra for Arizona Opera?
That would necessarily involve more rehearsals and performances in Tucson.
Sonny the Cat and Old Ray enjoyed Die Fledermaus on Saturday night.
The Arizona Opera Orchestra was splendid for the most part.
A well-rehearsed Professional chamber orchestra.
Should the Phoenix Symphony have a monopoly on all orchestral opportunities in the Valley, State, and the Southwest?
Would be nice but it will never happen. I think for this to happen Az Opera would have to give up Tucson. My understanding is donations in Tucson outnumber donations in Phoenix, and the opera company won't give that up.
Sonny-
Robert Mealy will indeed be joining The Phoenix Symphony as concertmaster for its performances of Handel's Messiah.
Brendan Anderson
Web Administrator
RE Sonny's comments about Arizona Opera - since the AZ Opera orchestra now has a collective bargaining agreement with the Opera, I doubt that there would be any move to get the PS back to do operas.
If the Phoenix Symphony takes on the Arizona Opera job, then it is likely that the musicians themselves will not want to play that many extra services. They will certainly not want to drive all the way down to Tucson on what was their "week off" from the regular season. This will mean that they will need subs. Who will they get for subs that does not have a day job and can drive all the way down to Tucson for the discounted sub pay? The AZ Opera musicians are the only ones in town who do not always have day jobs. This means that they will end up getting hired back for their own jobs at sub pay. I feel that this is roundly unfair.
Let us look at who will benefit from this arrangement. The Phoenix Symphony has a very negotiated scale for each service. The Arizona Opera musicians have some serious driving that they have to commit to for these concerts. If Phoenix Symphony gets the nod of approval to take over this orchestra then all of these fees could be renegotiated in a downward pattern. The musicians in both orchestras are not advocating this deal. The Phoenix Symphony will get their name spread in wider circles and have more power over the small music market here. The Arizona Opera will get cheaper musicians (not that the pay is lavish as it is now).
This is a no win situation for the musicians. I would think that the Tucson musicians would be particularly upset at the prospect of a Phoenix contractor taking over their orchestra. The contractor may not know who they are and hire mostly Phoenix musicians.
I am sorry to hear that loyalty is not the first priority in keeping the AZ Opera orchestra musicians. These musicians are experts at performing opera music. There is a huge difference between symphony playing and opera playing. The literature in opera orchestras can be very soloistic and challenging with many key and tempo changes. There are often different singers at different performances on any given role. The musicians have to make adjustments on the spure of the moment to catch what this new singer is doing with the part. It is an art to play opera orchestra well. Not all symphony players are cut out for this kind of work nor are they interested in making these changes.
Make the right choice. Keep the AZ Opera Orchestra employed with experienced opera musicians.
The Phoenix Symphony may discover that those Baroque concerts are more popular than they thought and need to go into much larger venues later on.
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