To say the Virginia Symphony Orchestra went for “baroque” in its Friday program in the Ferguson Center is entirely too tempting and facile. But there it is. The mostly Vivaldi program provided a substantial sampling of sounds that define Baroque-era music.
With Vivaldi and the larger population of Baroque composers, there is a sense of joy and high energy to the music, a reliance on improvisation or ornamentation, shifting rhythmic patterns and keys, harmonic contrasts and often dazzling virtuoso skills. There are many more academic elements to the style but the general gist is the generation of uplifting, almost dance-like spirit. For this affair, eight works featuring seven VSO soloists regaled the audience with displays of ability, easily heard in full orchestral programs but here allowing closer inspection.
Certainly one work that tends to define baroque music is Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” a virtuoso workout for strings, the four segments of which, here, were interspersed throughout the program. Although thoroughly enjoyable as a whole, there can be an overall feeling of stylistic sameness in back-to-back performances normally heard. Spreading them out and featuring four different soloists allowed each season individualized awareness.
Unfortunately, as the plan evolved, the seasonal segments took on a compare and contrast among the four that was a natural outgrowth of the concept. Each soloist brought individual style and impressive capability to their respective portions, all of which enhanced the listening. However, based on the audience applause meter, some drew greater response than others, the majority of applause seeming to go to concertmaster Vahn Armstrong in “Winter.” Although it was also the last work on the program, which may have had something to do with the audience’s collective appreciation for the entire evening, Armstrong did superb justice to the piece, displaying smart technique and a fluid and inviting tone.
Also strongly received were Jonathan Richards in “Summer,” Amanda Gates Armstrong in “Spring” and Simon Lapointe in “Autumn.” Prior to Armstrong’s closing “Winter,” Lapointe was the first to embrace the idea of the soloist, standing downstage at the outer edge of the string section and not nestled upstage, well within sight of the principal violinist and Benjamin Rous who conducted from the harpsichord. The upstage positioning kept many softer passages in “Spring” and “Summer” from being heard clearly, unlike Lapointe and, later, Armstrong, whose downstage efforts offered the most complete musical results.
Representing the brass in impressive style were David Vonderheide and Adam Gandolfo in Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets, two perfectly matched players whose bright, brilliant, often stratospheric sounds were a delight to hear.
The fare opened with a rousing ensemble, “Toccata and Ritornelli” from Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” and, later, Franz von Biber’s interesting “Battalia,” a war-inspired piece complete with sounds of battle, as well as more lighthearted ones.
The night’s winning moment came with Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major for Piccolo and Strings. Positioned clearly downstage, Rachel Ordaz dazzled the audience with her exacting virtuoso technique and artistry, her clean and fully articulated sound and her confident style. A work of mostly nonstop, fast moving gymnastic passages, Ordaz was the highlight of this baroque inspired program. Her stellar efforts were rewarded by a standing ovation, as was, on the closing Vivaldi, the entire program.
Shulson, a Williamsburg resident, has been covering the arts for over 40 years. He makes a guest appearnce in Margaret Truman’s “Murder at the Opera.”
