New Century Chamber Orchestra presents Christmas with Anne Sofie von Otter
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-2201 USA
7:30 PM, Friday, December 20, 2019
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!
[7:33 PM; lights down; NCCO marches down the aisle]
[7:35 PM opening remarks from DH]
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759): Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 6 No. 10, HWV 328 (composed 1739-10-22)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): “Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben”, Part 1, No. 4, from Weihnachtsoratorium (The Christmas Oratorio), BWV 248 (1734-35)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741): “Vedrò con mio diletto” from Giustino, RV717 (1724)
[8:00 PM DH reads Vivaldi's poetry for Winter; Text of the sonnets meant to accompany this work are posted at Wikipedia)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741): Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, L'inverno (Winter) from Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), (1716-1717); Excerpted from Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (‟The Contest of Harmony and Invention”) (1725)
[8:36 PM; lights down; NCCO marches down the aisle; opening remarks from DH]
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713): Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 “Christmas Concerto” (1690?)
[8:53 PM add ASVO, who introduces the next work]
Well tonight certainly satisfied the “obligatory holiday concert” program for 2019, and as much as I'm not a fan of that sort of thing, I have to admit that enjoyed the show quite a bit.
The opening work from Handel was stately and grand – just the thing for opening an elegant evening's program.
I was a bit confused during the follow-up from Bach, as the program notes indicated that I should expect a joyful oboe d'amore solo. I suspect that Daniel Hope covered that part, but nothing was said about it: odd! Anyway, the piece was really a vehicle for the sublime singing of tonight's guest, Anne Sofie von Otter.
I didn't recall hearing about the sonnets written to accompany the Four Seasons before, but my notes tell me that Daniel Hope made a similar introduction when I saw NCCO do the full Four Season suite two and a half years ago. I guess my memory doesn't work as well as it should! Anyway, this time around, I thought the torrid tempos for the opening and closing sections were just a bit too fast. Maybe the group needed more rehearsal time to get closer to some common mark? I dunno. Folks that I talked to during set break seemed pretty impressed, maybe I'm just being churlish.
Corelli's concerto was a nice opener for the second half; I'm happy to report that it seemed entirely lacking in saccharine holiday spirit.
After hearing her sing without a microphone during the first set, I was surprised that ASVO retained the mic after her introduction of the modern Swedish folk tune Koppången. The blend was a little too strong at first, but the mix was quickly corrected.
I suffered through the traditional Christmas tunes like a good boy who eats his ham and potatoes while dreaming of the pudding-pie to come, and I was rewarded with a pleasant surprise, an unexpected Encore of a season-specific tune by Ron Sexsmith. Good show!
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!