IF IT AIN’T BAROQUE ...
Time to Bragle about Bach
In a month packed with music, a standout is always the annual Chan Centre performance of Early Music Vancouver’s longrunning Bach Cantatas project. This year an enthusiastic, loyal following will hear Bach’s Magnificat, his Advent cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme and, as an orchestral interlude, a splendid concerto for three trumpets by Telemann.
Conductor Alexander Weimann, an augmented Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and a quintet of singers make up the company, which includes mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle, an artist very much in demand this time of the year.
Last week I chatted with Bragle at her hotel in New York just before a rehearsal. Since she is a baroque specialist, I wondered if she ever wished that the rush of baroque music for Christmas bookings could be spread out over the whole year rather than crammed into a few hectic weeks.
“That’s a good point,” she agreed, but she isn’t inclined to gripe. “It’s great, actually. I love singing The Messiah. I love singing at Christmas time because people are really ready to hear what you offer. Audiences rarely realize how important their energy and openness is to the musical experience. Do I wish people were asking for The Messiah at a more liturgically appropriate time of year? Absolutely. But no complaints!”
Bragle pondered how and why the baroque style has become so associated with the holiday season. “It’s partly, I think, because you know what you are going to get,” she suggested. “If you see Bach and Handel on the program, you know what’s coming — there is probably a trumpet fanfare, it’s familiar and inspiring and a bit classy. One thing I’ve learned doing this is that people come with all sorts of expectations, but we usually satisfy them.”
In other words, there is an energy and enthusiasm you might not get on an evening in March.
The downside, as Vancouver audiences know only too well this year, is the unholy combination of weather and travel.
“I often say I travel for a living and sing on the side. I know how to get around, I know most of the major airline hubs, and you can tell fairly early on if things are going to go pear-shaped,” said Bragle. “The trick is not to be angry and demanding, but just to ask people calmly for their help. I have lots of dire travel stories. Once I spent the night sleeping on a luggage cart in Newark, and then at 5 a.m. they removed the cart!”
When Bragle does get to the gig, is there much difference singing The Messiah (or Handel in general) and works of J.S. Bach, like the Magnificat and the glorious Wachet auf, on offer this Sunday?
“Handel was a supreme craftsman for the voice. You are working hard, but it can feel like it’s singing itself,” said Bragle. “Bach is trickier. He wrote more instrumentally for the voice, with no less care, but a completely different approach. Handel will craft things for the voice, giving you time to breathe, but Bach has an overarching vision that can be difficult for the singers.”
An innovation in this year’s Magnificat will be the insertion of some Christmas-specific interpolations; do purists have any cause for alarm? Bragle thinks not.
“I’m not a scholar, but I have been told, by those who are, that he wrote the inserts for specific performances,” she said. “West Coast audiences will love them. They are tunes that you will know if you know the period at all, and it changes the experience completely!”
One thing I’ve learned doing this is that people come with all sorts of expectations, but we usually satisfy them.