In his pre-concert interview with Lindsay Kemp – new artistic director of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music – acclaimed Bach interpreter Philippe Herreweghe emphasized Gustav Leonhardt's strong sense of rhythm as an important influence on his early baroque performances.
Leonard's influence is evidently long lasting as strong rhythm was one of the main positives in this performance of the three Bach works composed for the Easter period (and presented by the Lufthansa Festival with the overall title of A Bach Spring).
Another striking and admirable feature was the cohesion of ensemble work. All singers and orchestra players were clearly parts of the whole. Unison passages, such as the technically tricky cello-bass accompaniment in the recitative to the alto aria 'Saget, saget mir geschwinde' in the Easter Oratorio, BWV 249 and the violins in the alto aria 'Ach bleibe doch' in the Ascension Oratorio, BWV11 were truly united. Virtuosity among the instrumentalists was evident but always delivered within self-effacing discipline of ensemble playing. It feels almost inappropriate to single out anybody but I must mention the exquisite oboe solo in the second movement (that is, the orchestral Adagio) of the Easter Oratorio and the amazing tour de force of the solo flute player in the fifth movement (soprano aria 'Seele, deine Spezereien') in the same work. We did not get a violoncello piccolo (a small size cello with five strings) – as specified by Bach – in the second movement (soprano aria, 'Mein gläubiges Herze') of Cantata No.68 Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV68, but the excellent solo cellist (who is conductor Herreweghe's wife) delivered the obbligato piccolo cello solo convincingly on a regular size four-string baroque cello.
The impressive range of dynamic nuances - both vocally and instrumentally – was unusual (and most welcome) when compared to the majority of so-called authentic performances. All performers were dressed in black but, through their variety of tone colours, they produced more colour than many fancy colour dresses worn by some other early music groups.
Musical diction was clear in all vocal and instrumental parts, and the structure of all movements as well as the whole was transparent. Herreweghe's conducting is economical in movements, his forces know his musical language. They all speak the baroque style which they established in their ensemble almost forty years ago. Nobody deviates from this language.
The four vocal soloists were part of the chorus of twelve. None had particularly big voices but their range of dynamics and textual diction created the illusion of a larger volume. Audibility was not a problem even at the back of St John's.
From my point of view there were two blemishes: the two chorales in the Ascension Oratorio were much faster than what arguably the text and musical structure indicate. In Herreweghe's interpretation these pieces seemed to be happy dances rather than the majestic expression of the divine. The second of the chorales, which is the concluding movement of the oratorio – and in this concert the concluding piece altogether – is scored for three trumpets, timpani, two flutes, two oboes, strings and chorus. The instrumental parts are dominated by semiquaver passages while the choral lines are sustained. In Herreweghe's tempo the semiquaver passages lost their clarity and the vocal lines lost their majesty.
The combined beauty of Bach's music and the performance delivered by Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent was greatly appreciated by the attentive and admirably disciplined audience.
By Agnes Kory