Tuesday December 20th, 2022 – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center‘s annual presentation of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos is always a highlight of the New York concert season, and this year these immortal works maintained their ‘masterpiece’ status as the Society rounded up a spectacularly talented team of players. As is the CMS custom, the concertos are presented in a different order each year, and the program is given three times in order to accommodate all the music lovers who are craving a holiday alternative to the Messiah and the Nutcracker.
This evening, a packed house enthusiastically responded to music-making of the highest level. As a special treat, the gentlemen of the Escher Quartet joined the lineup; I love these guys, both as musicians and as personalities.
The program opened with the 5th Brandenburg, which belongs to the harpsichordist. Shai Wosner played the long cadenza with striking clarity and elegance. Violinist Daniel Phillips and cellist Sihao He then joined Mr. Wosner for a gorgeous rendering of the Affetuoso, Clad in a royal purple gown, flautist Sooyun Kim dazzled with her luminous tone and deft technique. The complimentary string trio of violinist Aaron Boyd, violist Paul Neubauer, and bassist Lizzie Burns were excellent. Ms. Burns and Mr, Wosner went on to be pillars of musical perfection as the evening flowed onward.
Next up was the 2nd Brandenburg, with trumpet virtuoso Brandon Ridenour sailing superbly thru the music. Mssrs. He and Wosner were joined by violinist Brendan Speltz, flautist Demarre McGill, and oboist James Austin Smith in weaving a lovely tapestry of sound in the Andante. Adam Barnett-Hart, Aaron Boyd, and Pierre Lapointe formed an admirable string trio, and it is always wonderful to hear Peter Kolkay offering his mellow bassoon tone to the music. In the concluding Presto, Mr. Ridenour and Mr. Smith vied with one another as they traded phrases, much to our delight.
In the 4th concerto (in G-major), violinist Adam Barnett-Hart was very much in his element, alternating sustained tones of gentle lustre and with passages of high-speed coloratura. Duetting flautists Demarre McGill and Sooyun Kim dazzled the ear with the swift surety of their playing in the outer movements, and tugged at the heartstrings with the poignant harmonies of the central Andante. Ms. Burns and cellist Brook Speltz brought just the right weightiness of sound to counter-balance the high voices of the flutes and violin. In the final Presto, Mr. Barnett-Hart displayed incredible virtuosity.
Following the interval, the 1st concerto, brought forth two horn players, Michelle Reed Baker and Julia Pilant, festively gowned (respectively) in red and green. They sounded as fine as the looked, and their duetting harmonies drew plushy responses from a trio of oboists: Stephen Taylor, James Austin Smith, and Randall Ellis. Mr. Kolkay’s dulcet bassoon playing has a prominent role here. The horns are silent during the poignant Adagio, where Aaron Boyd and the oboe trio spun pleasing harmonies over velvety unison phrases from Mihai Marica’s cello and Ms. Burns’ bass. The high horns swing into the jaunty Allegro, after which a wave of applause greeted the players. But there’s still a fourth movement – a mix of minuet and polonaise – in which separate choirs of winds and strings alternated, keeping the musical textures fresh til the end.
The 6th concerto features pulsing cello and bass figurations, and duetting violas (Mssrs. Neubauer and Phillips). Mr. Neubauer and cellist Sihao He (graciously accompanied by Ms. Burns’ bass) drew us in to the moving tenderness of the Adagio, Mr. He concluding with a brief cadenza. Then without pause, the sneaky start of the closing Allegro begins to sweep us along. Mr. He dazzled us with his swift, fluent playing, whilst the two violists had a field day with the fast-paced music. This Allegro induced fervent applause from the crowd.
The evening’s finale, the 3rd concerto, is a particular favorite of mine; it calls for three violins (Mssrs, Boyd, Brendan Speltz, and Barnett-Hart), three violas (Mssrs. Lapointe, Phillips, and Neubauer) and three cellos (Mssrs. Marica, He, and Brook Speltz), whilst the dedicated Wosner/Burns duo kept everything merry and bright. This concerto is unusual in that its “phantom” Adagio movement consists only of a brief passage from Mr. Wosner’s keyboard. Bach immediately sends the players back into a swirling Allegro. The evening’s performance drew to an end, the audience rising to hail the players with great – and much-deserved – enthusiasm. A second bow was called for, and then we headed out into the chilly night air, our spirits fortified by glorious music of Bach.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 
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