Early Music offerings will thrill, provoke
Early Music Vancouver’s upcoming season of concerts demonstrates local enthusiasm for musical treasures from the past, but also our connection to important national and international performers. It’s as rich a few months as we’ve ever seen for music of the 17th and 18th centuries, with an unexpected classic from the early 19th century given an intriguing treatment.
EMV kicks off in the last week of September in an all-Vivaldi program with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra at Christ Church Cathedral. The formal relationship launched a few years ago between EMV and the Pacific Baroque has turned out to be a good one; under music director Alexander Weimann the Pacific Baroque has proven to be a flexible and enthusiastic group, offering its own regular concerts throughout the year.
For its first performance of the 2018-19 season, the Pacific Baroque welcomes an important guest, Italian violinist Enrico Onofri.
Onofri was a key player with Il Giardino Armonico, a wild and wonderful authentic instrument ensemble that has created many memorable recordings since the late 1980s. Given this recorded legacy, I think we can expect Onofri’s mini-residency with Pacific Baroque to be both thrilling and provocative. And who doesn’t love Vivaldi?
Two weeks later, EMV welcomes the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, founded in 2004 by Lionel Meunier, in a program of music by Heinrich Schuetz, Thomas Morley, and Henry Purcell. This is a real treat for connoisseurs of early baroque music, but it’s a rather sombre one: the chosen repertoire focuses on music composed for grand state funerals. Vox Luminis’ Vancouver date comes at the beginning of a fairly extensive tour in North America, before the ensemble sings in early November at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall, which gives you an idea of the standard we can anticipate.
Just as the fall season slips inexorably into holiday mode, EMV presents the Bach Collegium Japan on Dec. 9 at the Chan Centre, a program of Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach, which I’ve already flagged as one of my season highlights.
Before that comes a November performance of Schubert’s incomparable Die Winterreise (“A Winter’s Journey”).
But just a minute: haven’t we had lots of performances of Schubert’s ultimate song cycle recently?
Well, yes, and wonderful they have been. This one is different. First of all, it features bass-baritone Phillipe Sly as Schubert’s troubled protagonist.
After winning the Concours Musical International de Montreal, Sly has sung with major opera companies around the world.
At the keyboard is Michael McMahon.
I write keyboard intentionally because this performance will feature an 1870 Broadwood piano, not a glossy modern Steinway. However much we love the Steinway’s highoctane purr and amazing drivability, it really isn’t the optimum instrument for Schubert.
The Broadwood is a transitional instrument. EMV artistic director Matthew White notes that it isn’t the sort of turn-of-the-19th-century Viennese instrument Schubert played, but is “much, much closer” to the pianos of Schubert’s era than modern instruments.
In fact, EMV’s Winterreise project is designed to launch a grand scheme. Realizing the growing necessity for top-quality keyboards from various historical eras, White has plans: “We will be starting a capital campaign for an 1820-30s Graf copy or restored original, to help mark our 50th anniversary season in 2019-2020.”
Now that would be quite the golden anniversary present for Early Music Vancouver, and its audiences.