High fives for a deep dive into the lower strings

On an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon in April, Toorak Uniting Church was packed for the final performance of “Cellissimo Bellissimo”, a program of Baroque cello music featuring guest soloist Mime Brinkmann.  

Sweden-based baroque cello specialist, Brinkmann, performs and records as a baroque soloist, chamber musician and ensemble player around the world. While she specialises in historical performance on the cello and viola da gamba, Brinkmann is also involved in creating uniquely eclectic theatrical programs, and in 2022 received a ten-year arts scholarship from the Swedish Arts Council to further her activities.  

Brinkmann forged a connection with the Melbourne baroque community through Fiona Piggott, a former fellow student, and joined the Melbourne Baroque Orchestra to present works for cello(s) by Bach, Händel, Vivaldi and Corrette.

One of the unprogrammed pleasures of the afternoon was the soothing sound of the sensitive gut strings being tuned (repeatedly). By the time Brinkmann stepped onto the empty stage to open the concert, the audience was already attuned to the distinctive timbre of these strings, and when Brinkmann excited an open string to start the Prelude from Bach’s first cello suite, the effect was electric.

Brinkmann imbued this familiar work with her own distinctive energy and flair; the phrases seemed to ebb and flow organically and, while Brinkmann was driving the Prelude to its climax, the Orchestra members were mounting the stage to take their places around her.

The instant the last note of the Prelude died away, Brinkmann launched the ensemble into a blistering start to Vivaldi’s cello concerto in G major (RV 413). Here the audience was treated to Brinkmann’s engaging style of leadership. It was evident that a close musical bond had formed between the players, and their interactions highlighted the musical conversation Vivaldi created between the soloist and the orchestra.

Another notable feature of this performance was the way in which the fully blended tone of the upper strings and the rippling continuo accompaniment combined, with the orchestra’s phrasing perfectly matching Brinkmann’s throughout.

A trio sonata by Händel was heard in two parts.  At this point in the program, we heard three movements: Musette-Allegro-Musette. The upper strings created a particularly sweet, blended sound, and the celli gave a very lifelike rendition of the musette’s drone.

Brinkmann joked that Vivaldi had written his cello works for the “naughty cello girls” at the orphanage, but only the best could have scaled the technical heights required for Vivaldi’s G minor concerto for two celli. Brinkmann was joined by Josephine Vains in an exceptionally dynamic and expressive performance. The two soloists displayed virtuosic technical skills to bring off super-fast scale passages with panache, while also managing, with gestures and eye-contact, to communicate the intricate musical conversation between the two solo parts. This was particularly noticeable in the slow movement, where the two soloists embellished their interwoven parts with great sensitivity. Mime Brinkmann and Josephine Vains fully deserved the high five they shared at the end of this stellar performance.

After the manic energy of the final movement of the double concerto, Händel’s “Gentle Airs” brought a welcome moment of repose. Händel’s oratorio Athalia, we were told, was based on the story of the biblical queen Athaliah. In the aria “Gentle Airs”, an adviser invokes “gentle airs” and “melodious strains” to reassure the troubled queen after a distressing, probably portentous, dream. Handel uses a solo cello (Mime Brinkmann) to produce the “melodious strains”; and in this arrangement, the vocal line was also played on the cello (Rosanne Hunt). The two cellos had distinctively different “voices”, and their contrasting tonal qualities added colour to this performance.

Michel Corrette was a prolific composer, a pedagogue, and an organist in Paris during the eighteenth century, who seems to have had a penchant for giving his compositions colourful titles.  His Concert “Le Phenix” was a relatively early work, conventionally written in three movements – a melodic slow movement (possibly evoking a phoenix) bookended by two lively outer movements. What made this performance memorable was the spectacle of four exceptional cellists in full flight, bringing a rather conventional work to life with verve and flair.

For an encore, they played – immaculately – an arrangement of Johann Strauss’ Pizzicato Polka, a light and bubbly piece that showcased the players’ ensemble skills.

The formal program was set to close with another movement from Händel’s Trio Sonata, the Passacaille. This was a popular baroque dance, and the ensemble gave it a suitably energetic performance.

The audience was rapt and Brinkmann was also evidently keen to continue, so the whole ensemble played Handel’s Largo e piano and Henry Purcell’s “Scotch Tune”. The performance finally came to a close with Rosanne Hunt kneeling to present Brinkmann with flowers in evident appreciation of her collaboration.

Image supplied.

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Sue Kaufmann reviewed the Melbourne Baroque Orchestra’s performance of “Bellissimo Cellissimo” presented at the Toorak Uniting Church, Melbourne on Sunday April 28, 2024.

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