San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Bach’s unsung relatives
Baroque ensemble Agave and countertenor Reginald L. Mobley continue a fruitful collaboration with Athenaeum concert
Henry Lebedinsky has discovered many musical gems by composers whose names are not “carved in stone.” The organist, conductor and co-founder of Agave, an adventurous chamber music ensemble, points to the prestigious art museums and music conservatories in the world.
“You see the names Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh carved in stone,” Lebedinsky said, speaking from his home in Everett, Wash. “In the conservatories, we have Bach, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
“The obsession with great men carved in stone does a disservice to the vibrant, dynamic musical tradition because there are so many people who don’t look like White men who have contributed to the tradition, not just today, but 300 to 400 years ago. We don’t give them their due.”
San Francisco-based Agave aims to give some of those neglected composers their due. The ensemble’s Grammy-nominated 2021 album “American Originals: A New World, A New Canon” honors works by composers of color. Later this year, the group will release “In Her Hands,” devoted to works written by women.
On Monday, the La Jolla Athenaeum’s Chamber Concerts Series will present Agave and acclaimed countertenor Reginald L. Mobley (who sang on “American Originals”). In a bit of a twist, they’ll perform “Bach/family” which will feature works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his talented relatives.
“Many in this program are unknown and uncovered composers,” Lebedinsky noted. “All happened to be related. The Bach family produced over 77 professional musicians over the course of a few centuries.
“Even dead White guys like these — their music has been neglected. Because ultimately, classical music is lazy. We get into the inertia of performing the ‘sameold.’ To give credit to the same-old, they are great works. But we have a ‘great man’s’ theory that sort of haunts our culture.”
Multiple strains of genius
Besides the same-old (and virtuosic) Violin Sonata in G by J.S. Bach, the Bach/family concert will include pieces by Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Michael Bach, Johann Bernhard Bach and Johann Heinrich Bach. The carvedin-stone composer taught the last two Bachs, as well as other family members. He also provided music to his substantial library and to the many churches in need of pieces.
“Johann Sebastian used a lot of pieces by members of his own family, because there were so many of them working in the area,” said Lebedinsky. “He credited them. He wasn’t stealing. People used other people’s music in a much freer way than they do today.”
Monday’s concert will also feature works by such German baroque composers as Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and Johann Rosenmüller.
“We are looking to create a diverse kaleidoscope, this richness of compositional and generations represented,” said the keyboardist. “It’s multi-generational and multi-style. We want to present a show that illustrates the variety and the multiple strains of genius.”
Agave’s musicians, at the ready with their period instruments, plan to do just that. Along with Lebedinsky, the group includes Kati Kyme on viola, William Skeen on violoncello and viola da gamba, Kevin Cooper on the lute-like theorbo, and violinists Aaron Westman and Anna Washburn.
Lebedinsky will bring what he calls a “small portable organ” to Monday’s concert. It weighs 200 pounds, it’s the size of a four-person dining table, and its pipes are as big as those in a church organ.
Countertenor Mobley will bring his unique and beautiful voice to the program, as well. He and Agave are frequent collaborators. Their first CD together was 2015’s “Queen of Heaven: Music of Isabella Leonarda,” followed by 2018’s “Peace in Our Time” and 2021’s “American Originals.”
At the concert, Lebedinsky noted, there will be three levels of access to the music by the Bach family and others.
“One: the music itself and our passion for it. Two: a printed program with the background and interesting facts. And three: the spoken level — one-on-one immediacy. We don’t have a wall between us and the audience,” he said.
“We want to take you on a journey and are asking you to experience this journey. It only makes sense if it touches your heart and soul.”
The vibrant Reginald Mobley
After hearing Reginald L. Mobley in a fall 2022 concert, a classical music critic exclaimed that the singer’s “vibrant and stirring voice is like liquescent gold.”
Mobley’s interest in Bach began in high school. He didn’t know what a countertenor — a man with a voice of unusually high range — was until a teacher praised him for it.
Mobley, who is Black, dedicates much of his time to “un-whitewashing” classical music and serves as programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston. This summer, Alpha Classics will release Mobley’s first solo album, “Spirituals.”
The 45-year-old singer is in demand on both sides of the Atlantic and sings with several musical ensembles. One long-standing collaboration is with the baroque ensemble Agave. Together, they have made and released three CDS.
“Bach is hard to sing and needs an agile, fluent and very flexible voice,” said Henry Lebedinsky of Agave. “But it also needs emotional depth and power. Reggie’s not just singing the notes. He’s singing these very powerful images that Bach is asking him to paint in your mind. Reggie is the artist and the painting.”