Vivaldi Concerto for violin in F major (‘per la Solennita di. S.Lorenzo’)
Vejvanovsky Sonata in D major (‘Sancti Spiritus’)
Vejvanovsky Sonata in C major (‘Paschalis’)
Vivaldi Sonata in E flat major (“Santo Sepolcro’)
Leclair Concerto for violin and strings in D major
Manfredini Concerto in C major (‘Pastorale per il santissimo natale’)
Biber Passacaglia for unaccompanied violin (‘Guardian Angel’)
Vivaldi Concerto for violin in E major (‘Il Riposo’)
Vivaldi Concerto for violin in D major (‘S.Lingua di S.Antonio di Padova’)
In my review last month of the Academy of Ancient Music’s season opener, ‘Music from the Dark Side’, I expressed my anticipation of their next concert. As expected, the second concert of the pair, ‘Angels and Saints’ provided another superb evening of music making. This time, AAM’s principle second violinist, Bojan Čičić, compiled the programme for the concert, which featured an intimate ensemble of only ten performers.
Čičić claimed he had an easier task in selecting the concert programme than Pavlo Beznosiuk had been given with ‘Music from the Dark Side’. Presumably this is due to the vast quantity of early eighteenth-century instrumental music written for, or inspired by, religious purposes. All of the music in this concert would have featured in the context of a religious service. The ‘comparison’ of music between the two concerts was perhaps lessened somewhat by the fact that all of the compositions in ‘Angels and Saints’ were from at least half a century earlier. In the context of the interdisciplinary project – ‘from darkness to light’ – it may have been preferable for both concerts to feature music from broadly the same period. Nevertheless, the likely reasoning behind this is understandable: ‘Music from the Dark Side’ sought to explore Sturm und Drang-inspired compositions, whereas it was more common for instrumental music to be performed in religious services earlier in the century.
This programme of music was particularly impressive, given that every piece featured was a violin solo. The technical skill and stamina Čičić possesses is admirable. Although Čičić was the soloist in every piece, the small ensemble of only ten players meant that every performer had the chance to shine. This was especially the case in Francesco Onofrio Manfredini’s Concerto in C major (‘Pastorale per il santissimo natale’). Čičić was still the main soloist, but this piece is a concerto grosso, meaning that smaller ensembles of instruments feature in turn as soloists over the bass. It is also a pleasure to witness the more intimate communication between performers in an ensemble of this size and, in keeping with performance practice of the century, most of the players stood for the duration of the performance. It was a shame that David Miller’s theorbo playing was not more audible. However, in the ‘Adagio’ of Vivaldi’s Concerto for violin in E major (‘Il Riposo’) the muted strings throughout brought the theorbo to the fore somewhat better.
There were two main highlights for me in the programme: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s ‘Guardian Angel’ Passacaglia for unaccompanied violin, and Vivaldi’s Concerto for violin in D major (‘S.Lingua di. S.Antonio di Padova’). Biber’s Passacaglia is the conclusion to his Rosary Sonatas, a set of sixteen works. Each of the preceding fifteen sonatas is inspired by a different mystery of the rosary, with the final Passacaglia – a piece upon a set sequence of repeated notes – based on the German hymn The Lord has sent an Angel to Watch. This was the most intense point in the concert, and Čičić transfixed both the audience and the other members of the ensemble as he performed this meditation. The same four-note bass pattern is played some sixty-five times, embellished with increasingly complex variations. The Vivaldi D major concerto – the concert finale – was a highlight because of its astounding technical virtuosity. In the final movement, the violin sequence in the cadenza took Čičić so high up the violin’s fingerboard it was almost, as Andrew Mellor’s programme notes put it, ‘as if [intended] to commune with the saints themselves’.
In this concert, I felt that Monika Beisner’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy, although beautiful, served little purpose in furthering an appreciation of the music. Indeed, the historical contexts of each piece, their intended religious setting so different to modern concert-hall performance, were enchanting enough in themselves. This was, nevertheless, an ambitious project, and the attempts to link music, art and literature must be appreciated.
Angels and Saints was performed at Milton Court, London on 20th November 2015. It was also performed at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge (18th November), Dorset County Museum (25th November) and Hall for Cornwall, Truro (26th November).