Tage Alter Musik – Almanach 2017

proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend, with some exquisite music sung and played with real emotional conviction. They opened with an example of the stylus phantasticus that was to dominate the period, with Biber’s Sonata iii in d from the Fidici- nium Sacro-profanum . The vocal pieces in- cluded Buxtehude’s moving elegy to his fat- her, the Klaglied, JC Bach’s gorgeous Ach, dass ich Wassers genug hätte with it’s tou- ching depiction of the rolling waves, and Schütz’s plaintive Erbarme dich mein. The accompaniments relished the rich string so- nority of two violins, viola, two bass viols and violone, with organ. The vocal soloist was countertenor Damien guillon, the cla- rity of his voice being a highlight. of the in- strumentalists, violinist Sophie gent and gambist mélisande Corriveau particularly impressed me. This concert was broadcast on BBC radio 3 on Sunday 2 July, and can be accessed for a short period of time here . The main evening concert was given by scherzi Musicali from Belgium, with their programme La Maddalena (Mantua, 1617) & La Maddalena (Wien, 1663) . The main piece was antonio Bertali’s LaMadda- lena , written in Vienna in 1663. it was pre- ceded by mazzocchi’s 1638 Lagrime amare, beautifully sung by soprano Deborah Ca- chet, and another La Maddalena, a sacred drama put together in mantua in 1617 by different composers, notably monteverdi with his Prologo: Su le penne de’ vente , toget- her with pieces by guivizzani, effrem, and rossi. as well as Deborah Cachet, tenor rei- noud Van mechelen and bass Sönke Tams Freier also impressed. The rich orchestra- tions included four violas da gambe and vio- lone, two cornettos and trombone, violin, and a continuo group of lirone, two theor- bos, archlute, organ and harpsichord. Key instrumentalists included adrien mabire, cornetto, and Liam Fennely and Lies Wyers, viola da gamba. The organ was a particularly effective one made by Walter Chinaglia, with an open 8 stop and an attractively vocal tone. my review of the CD upon which this concert was based can be found here. The Saturday late night concert was given by the Spanish group la Grande chapelle in the reichssaal. Their programme Música para el Rey Planeta , consisted of music by Juan Hidalgo (1614-1685), official cham- ber and theatre composer to philip iV and Charles ii. in a rich variety of musical styles, they demonstrated the breadth of music in the Spanish royal court of the period. The seemingly rhythmically anarchic Quedito, pasito was contrasted by simpler strophic songs with refrain. one of the most popular numbers, as judged by audience applause, was Luceros y flores where we heard the cast- anets for the first time. as was the case in some other venues, the hall was unbearably hot and humid with no ventilation either be- fore or during the concert, despite many openable windows. Sunday 4 June The Sunday series of five concerts started in the enormous acoustic of the cavernous mi- noritenkirche, with its adjoining abbey bu- ildings, now the regensburg historical mu- seum, with the four members of ensemble labyrinthus from russia, and their pro- gramme carmina Helvetica : conductus and rondelli from the 12th to 14th century from Swiss monasteries and libraries . They con- trasted the dance-like rondelli, sung and danced in church to spiritual texts, with the multi-voice Conductus from the Notre- Dame tradition, found in Swiss abbeys such as the abbeys of engelberg and St gallen. The two sopranos, Witte-maria Weber and anastasia Bondareva had ideal voices for this early repertoire, their instrumental com- panions alexander gorbunov and Danil ry- abchikov accompanying on fidel and citole. inserted between the medieval pieces were improvised estampies. The musical styles were wide-ranging, from step-by-step melo- dies of limited range to more expansive lines with added ornaments. The whole pro- gramme was segued together. The early afternoon concert was back into the heat of the reichssaal, with the aus- andrewbensonwilson.org 8 Miriam Feuersinger