PBO in the News
BREAKING NEWS
San Francisco Chronicle, Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Examiner, and San Francisco Classical Voice report on Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale's 2010-11 Season – the orchestra's 30th Anniversary and Nicholas McGegan's 25th as Music Director.
San Francisco Chronicle's music critic Joshua Kosman listed Philharmonia Baroque in his classical music decade in review.
2009-2010 Season Reviews
An Elegant Romance (February 2010)
"Music director Nicholas McGegan prefaced the concert with a few words about the attempts at the historical accuracy on display... All very interesting, but the real test came in performance. And nothing affirmed the power of this approach like the splendid performance of the Serenade No. 1 in D that occupied the first half of the program... Avoiding the sleek, sometimes impersonal quality that can often seep into modern renditions, [McGegan] embraced every opportunity to give the music a musky physicality - especially in the outer movements, whose rhythmic force was arresting."
- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle (Feb. 16, 2010)
"[Viktoria] Mullova's performance wasn't entirely consistent. But in the main, she brought steely technique and expressive resolve — especially in the Adagio — to a towering piece of music. She galvanized the musicians around her, not by playing on gut strings or by applying judicious use of vibrato, but by going to the heart of Brahms."
- Richard Scheinen, San Jose Mercury/ContraCosta Times (Feb. 12, 2010)
"Much was splendid. The Serenade, in particular, is a work calculated to bring out all that's irresistible in McGegan's conducting — the boisterous energy, the humor, the glee. He was clearly having the time of his life, and the orchestra responded in kind."
- Michelle Dulak Thomson, San Francisco Classical Voice (Feb. 12, 2010)
"The effect is somewhat of a meeting of a nineteenth-century mind with the spirit of Mozart, particularly in light of the way in which every Philharmonia Baroque instrument (even in the string sections) can speak with a distinctive voice. If those adjectives of dazzle and shimmer reflect excessive enthusiasm in the writer, that enthusiasm may be attributed to how they were realized by Nicholas McGegan conducting his resources... In this case Brahms' music was probably less familiar to just about everyone in the audience; but the suspense was still there as McGegan gradually revealed the many ways in which Brahms was discovering how to "play" (with multiple connotations) with an orchestra."
- Stephen Smoliar, SF Classical Music Examiner blog (Feb. 12, 2010)
The Passion of Dido (November 2009)
"Amid the flurry of round-numbered commemorations this year, Henry Purcell – born 350 years ago – finally had his day in the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Wednesday night. Nicholas McGegan, the jolly elf of the period performance scene, brought his crack Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale down from the Bay Area as part of a West Coast tour. He also brought the tall, Texas-raised star mezzo-soprano Susan Graham for her Disney Hall debut and a first-class cast of singers. The ingredients for a memorable concert performance of Purcell's compact opera Dido and Aeneas were in place – and they didn't let us down."
- Richard S. Ginell, Los Angeles Times (Nov. 13, 2009)
"Just about everything about Thursday's Philharmonia Baroque "Passion of Dido" concert at Herbst Theatre was extraordinary. So said the audience, so says Jonathan Rhodes Lee's Classical Voice review. Most of it could be easily expected: You knew that Nicholas McGegan's direction of the always superb orchestra and Bruce Lamott's Philharmonia Chorale would cradle and hold up to radiant light the storybook cast of Susan Graham's Dido, Cyndia Sieden's Belinda, Jill Grove's Sorceress, and William Berger's Aeneas. What was unexpected came before the opera [Dido and Aeneas]... the brief, utterly simple 'Hear My Prayer, O Lord.' That's when it happened, the unexpected, beyond the big names and even bigger performances. This is when time stopped."
- Janos Gereben, San Francisco Classical Voice (Nov. 10, 2009)
"'Hear My Prayer, O Lord,' an incredibly emotional, dense work for eight-part chorus followed. The Philharmonia Chorale presented this intensely personal lament with close attention to detail and spine-tingling beauty of intonation. In fact, the chorale has never sounded so enthusiastic as they did during this set; clearly, this was music that they loved to sing. From the sobriety of 'Hear My Prayer' to the goofy cackling “Ho ho hos” of the witches’ choruses in Dido, the chorus proved itself an able, flexible, and indispensable vocal performer...
"As wonderful as she was, the evening was decidedly not about Susan Graham. It was a program of glorious music by Britain’s favorite native-born son, presented by one of the world’s great period instrument groups. When Dido urged us to remember her, the sentiment was surely superfluous. Sunday’s concert was hardly an event that we were apt to forget."
- Jonathan Rhodes Lee, San Francisco Classical Voice (Nov. 9, 2009)
"Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, making her first appearance with the period ensemble, sang Dido eloquently and with a masterful command of style. None of it, though, compared with the depth and directness of the final lament, 'When I am laid in Earth.' Here Graham mustered all of her tonal splendor and dramatic focus to provide an arresting picture of a woman - and queen - at the end of her tether... The final cry, 'Remember me,' was delivered with a controlled fervor that tallied with Dido's overarching stateliness, and [conductor Nicholas] McGegan brought tenderness to the elegiac final measures, with their aching, bittersweet harmonies."
- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle (Nov. 7, 2009)
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"Philharmonia Baroque and Nicholas McGegan, its music director, have his number — they play Purcell's music really well... [The performance's] real stars were the Philharmonia Chorale (every number leaped out like a 3-D projection in a two-dimensional world) and the orchestra, its playing remarkably unified and rhythmically rousing. In the program's first half, the orchestra performed the Chacony in G minor, perfectly capturing Purcell's elegant reserve, yet dancing with his patented forward motion and buoyancy. The 24-voice Chorale, directed by Bruce Lamott, sang 'Hear My Prayer, O Lord' (Psalm 102.1) with delicacy and passion, pinpointing Purcell's crowded and ingenious eight-part harmonies."
- Richard Scheinen, San Jose Mercury/Contra Costa Times/Oakland Tribune (Nov. 6, 2009)
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On San Francisco: "The semi-staged Dido and Aeneas that came after the intermission was entirely gratifying. The orchestra was splendid and together, as was the chorale... Baritone William Berger (Aeneas) has a pleasant sound, and he held his own against the incredible Susan Graham (Dido). Their exchange in the last act was heartrending. Graham sang with a facile beauty, yet with a stately grace in keeping with the music."
On Berkeley: "The performance set up was different this time, with the orchestra on stage behind the singers. The acoustics are better in this venue, First Congregational Church, than in Herbst Theatre, and the principals were never overwhelmed. The overall effect was scintillating, the orchestra was clear and the chorale's timing was perfect."
- Charlise Tiee, The Opera Tattler (Nov. 6 & 8, 2009)
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Read the full Berkeley blog post.
"As the chorus in Dido would ring out a chorus of laughter both onstage and off: Bruce Lamott’s chorus did indeed steal the show whenever it chimed in with it’s mocking. The audience giggled.... The many violins and the harpsichords moved the story along with mischief up until [the Lament], Nic McGegan practically dancing as he does and he’s such a scamp to watch in all his glorious animation. He almost acts out the story himself. Yet the celli and the theorbo echoed the emptiness and pain in Dido’s soul, the depth of her pain from her breaking heart so poignant with simplicity and humility."
- Cindy Warner, SF Opera Examiner Blog (Nov. 6, 2009)
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The Concerto – An Adversarial Friendship (October 2009)
"The London-based violinist [Elizabeth Wallfisch] is a galvanizing leader, an astute musical scholar, and a fine soloist. In Saturday’s two-hour program, those qualities came together in performances of considerable style and allure... Over the years, the musicians [of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra] have developed a refined sense of ensemble and uncommon unity of purpose. Even so, this program, with Wallfisch leading from the first-violin position, seemed to elicit a particularly dynamic response from the group."
- Georgia Rowe, San Francisco Classical Voice (Oct. 11, 2009)
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"In general, the musicians [of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra] produced a crisp, jaunty sound, their dynamic constrasts were clear, and their tempi changes distinct. Of the eight pieces played, Biber stood out, his Serenade in C Major Der Nachtwächter was fun, and even had an aria in the middle of it. His Battalia in the second half of the concert had much humor, involving many sound effects, including stomping, pressing paper on the strings of the bass and theorbo, and violently snapping strings against the fingerboard"
- Charlise Tiee, The Opera Tattler (Oct. 11, 2009)
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Apotheosis of the Dance (September 2009)
"In an exuberant performance of symphonic works by Haydn and Beethoven, this Baroque orchestra gave a quintessentially romantic performance of some mainstays of the classical repertory: passionate and full-bodied, with a strikingly lush sound and unrelenting energy... Taking advantage of a program full of musical motives, PBO Music Director Nicholas McGegan focused relentless attention on the little details in these pieces, configuring these gestures into a dazzling array of permutations."
- Joseph Sargent, San Francisco Classical Voice (Sept. 12, 2009)
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"If asked to characterize last night's performance by Philharmonia Baroque with British cellist Steven Isserlis in a single word, I wouldn't hesitate to reply. The word is joy. It was everywhere: from conductor Nicholas McGegan's cheshire cat grin as he walked on stage, to assistant concertmaster Elizabeth Blumenstock's giggles as the orchestra tuned, to Isserlis's wide-eyed interactions with the ensemble... Philharmonia Baroque certainly opened its season in full form!"
- Emily Morgan, SF Classical Music Examiner blog (Sept. 16, 2009)
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"Under the Philharmonia Baroque, each instrument was a distinctive voice, escalating the symphony experience to a level of conversation that we tend to associate with chamber music. In this setting, we can recognize that [Beethoven's 7th] symphony embodies a deeply dramatic character. Under Nicholas McGegan's direction, this drama plays out as any drama should, leaving us all on the edge of our respective seats wondering what will happen next, no matter how many times we may have previously heard this music."
- Stephen Smoliar, SF Classical Music Examiner blog (Sept. 11, 2009)
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Steven Isserlis Master Class at the Conservatory of Music (September 2009)
"Isserlis' talent lies not only in his technical skill (or, for that matter, his voracious love of repertoire). It is also firmly grounded in his own talent for listening, and much of his master class had to do with his communicating observations based on the experiences of listening to these four students. Thus, while the students (hopefully) become better cellists, the rest of us continue to build up our skills as listeners and reinforce those skills with new thoughts about communicating them."
- Stephen Smoliar, SF Classical Music Examiner blog (Sept. 15, 2009)
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