MUSICA ANTIQUA KOLN AT ST. PHILIP'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, APRIL 19, 2001

The Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music presented the internationally
acclaimed early music ensemble, Musica Antiqua Koln, in a concert entitled
La Cremona - Italian music for violin in the 17th century. Members of the
ensemble were Reinhard Goebel, director/violin; Stephan Schardt, violin;
Volker Moeller, violin; Ariane Spiegel, cello; and Leon Berben, harpsichord.
Composers featured on the program were Biagio Marini, Giovanni Fontana,
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Nicola Matteis, Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi,
Antonio Caldara, Johann Joseph Fux, and Giuseppe Torelli.

   The evening's first selection was Passacaglia in g Minor for three
violins and basso continuo by Marini. Immediately evident to the listener
was the balanced sound coming from the instruments and the musical "rapport"
which existed within the group. This piece was luxuriously mournful. In the
next two pieces, sonatas by Fontana and Schmelzer respectively, the ensemble
displayed impressive technique in passages played by both the entire group
as well as by the soloists. These pieces, along with others on the program,
were multi-sectional compositions which required frequent tempo and metric
changes at transition points. These transitions were always handled
musically and seamlessly by the performers. The cellist really "showed her
stuff" in the Ground in d Minor by Matteis and the Sonata by Vivaldi. In
this same work by Vivaldi the ending was reminiscent of two fiddlers
playing Foggy Mt. Breakdown. The concert's second half contained a Chaconne
in B-flat Major by Caldara, Sonata in F Major by Fux, and Sonata in D Major
by Torelli. In all of these  pieces, as in the earlier ones, the performers
maintained clear and articulate execution along with their incredible
blending of instruments. The Sonata by Torelli was buoyant and joyous,
bringing the audience to their feet!

                                                           -Frank T. Laney



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