by Guest Reviewer | Mar 17, 2025 | Ambassador thoughts, Chamber Groups, Ensembles
Greg Dikmans, traverso; Shane Lestideau, violin, viola d’amore; Josephine Vains, cello; Laura Vaughan, viola da gamba; Samantha Cohen, theorbo
The Melbourne Baroque Orchestra kicked off their Tenth Anniversary series with an ingeniously constructed and delightfully performed set of duets and quartets, based around two of Telemann’s “Paris Quartets”. Each half of the concert concluded with a quartet, preceded by two duets giving a nod to both the instruments and the original performers used by Telemann. A notable feature was that the pitch was at A=392, as was usual in France, rather than the ubiquitous A=415, which is widely treated as the Baroque standard rather than merely a pragmatic compromise. As a result, the sonorities were more resonant and less edgy than we often hear.
The opening selection of Pièces by Telemann’s flautist Michel Blavet were as impeccably performed as one would expect from the “traverso treasure” Greg Dikmans. While Blavet suggests two flutes as his preferred medium, in the pieces chosen the flute was well complemented by the violin.
While the name Forqueray conjures up viola da gamba writing at its most virtuosic, Laura Vaughan (who has nothing to prove in that department) chose the hauntingly plangent La Du Vaucel by Antoine Forqueray “le père” – father of Telemann’s gambist. Vaughan’s playing had a touching delicacy, sensitively accompanied on the theorbo by Samantha Cohen, whose continuo realisations throughout were judicious and clear-textured.
Jean-Pierre Guignon, Telemann’s violinist, wrote his Op. 9 for two violins, but here his take on the Folies d’Espagne, was played on the combination of viola d’amore and treble viol. As unorthodox as that may be, it displayed the shimmering, silvery tone of Shane Lestideau’s exquisitely played viola d’amore to striking effect. While the cello was something of a latecomer to France, Jean-Baptiste Masse’s Sonata Prima from his Op. 2 gives the instrument quite a workout, handled with aplomb by Josephine Vains.
For the third part (under flute and violin) of his Nouveaux quatuors, Telemann provided alternative parts for viola da gamba or cello. In this concert this role was shared, with the other bass stringed instrument playing the continuo line, along with the theorbo. This instrumentation gave the performances a more supple sonority than the more familiar choice of a harpsichord for the bass, as was immediately evident in the Prélude of the D major Quartet, with its abrupt changes of texture. There are too many movements to consider them all, but the end of the E minor Quartet was particularly compelling. The eccentric Distrait (which requires the performers to be anything but) managed to sound at once wayward and perfectly in control. In the final Modéré the relentless sustained bass was a perfect foil for the shifting textures above, bringing this highly original work to a sombre and compelling conclusion.
As is their way, the MBO gave an imaginative, masterful performance with a charmingly unpretentious manner. And, as befits the French setting, perfect taste.
Guest reviewer: Richard Excell
Richard Excell is a retired librarian (formerly Rare Music Cataloguer at the University of Melbourne), musicologist and player of vielles, rebec and gemshorn. He is a longtime member of the medieval ensemble Acord, and researches many of their concerts. Together with his wife Bev he is a collector of early editions and manuscripts, with a focus on choral music.
Forqueray | Greg Dikmans | Josephine Vains | Laura Vaughan | Melbourne Baroque Orchestra | Samantha Cohen | Shane Lestideau | Telemann
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Melbourne Baroque Orchestra acknowledges the sovereignty of the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands we perform and share our love of music. We acknowledge their Ancestors and Elders past and present.