The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell were performed in St. Mary's Church on Friday, 12th August, the penultimate night of 'Ross Live!' Festival. The music was performed by 'The Musical and Amicable Society Baroque Orchestra'. Violins: Christine Gagelman, Kelly McCusker, James O'Toole and Miranda Walton. Viola: Kate Fawcett. Bass: Jonathan Moss. Theorbo and Guitar: Eligio Quinteiro. Harpsichord: Martin Perkins.

During an excellent performance of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, the cast included: Katherine Hawnt (soprano) as Dido, Queen of Carthage, Sarah Hall (soprano) as Belinda, her sister, William Burn (baritone) as Aeneas, a Trojan prince, Christine Backhouse (soprano) as Second Woman, Jo Winfer (soprano) as Third Woman, Polly May (mezzo-soprano) as Sorceress, Melanie Mellor (soprano) as First Witch, Helen Keef (mezzo-soprano) as Second Witch, Christian Sturm (tenor) as Sailor, Polly May (mezzo-soprano) as Spirit and Ricardo Barros as Dancer. The Ross-on-Wye Baroque Singers provided the Chorus.

The photographs below were taken during the dress rehearsal on Friday, afternoon and a detailed review of the performances written by Patrick Buckley can be seen below.

In the fifties a music critic offered the view that this series of four violin concertos would remain of purely academic interest. The revival of interest in early music and authentic practice that followed has led the world to take a different view, as The Four Seasons are among the most often performed baroque pieces. This popularity has created problems for tonight's young performers: how to play these pieces so that they sound fresh without descending into caricature, and what to do about Red Priest. Anyone who has heard the radical, one might say violent, approach of this latter group to these concertos will understand what I mean. You can not hope to out-Priest them; do you stand on your dignity and play with dignity, or do you make judicious use of the opportunities in the 'expanded envelope'?

The Musical and Amiable Society Baroque Orchestra showed us how successful the latter approach can be. Their name almost suggests a venerable insurance company but your investment would be safe with them, in spite of their willingness to take risks. The lower and continuo instruments in this nine-player group supported the musical argument with taste and precision, Mr. Quinteiro's theorbo (as long as his guitar was short) adding especially to the exoticism of the texture when used. Martin Perkins at the harpsichord directed and contributed (except when required to do otherwise) with vanishing discretion. In 'Spring,' Kate Fawcett's viola part demands at one point a series of repeated notes in pairs, which she paid us the compliment of performing, as opposed to merely playing. But the stars of this musical year were the four violinists, three of whom played at any one time, with the fourth on the bench. Moreover, each of the four took the first/solo part in one of the four concertos, rather like the contestants in Pop Idol This suggests a number of reflections: that these young players have talent and skill to burn; that the first violinist in each concerto is never more than primus (more often prima) inter pares; that the first violin part is seen as integral to the ensemble as opposed to antagonistic. They risked sudden silences, volcanic crescendos and at times excavated the strings as opposed to bowing them. They stood throughout to give themselves greater expressive freedom, smiled at each other and moved together; just occasionally they lunged in unison to point certain phrases, giving me an impression of burlesque, but it has to be said that I am twice their age and probably dull. Those who thronged St. Mary's church on a still and balmy Friday evening will have been ill-prepared for kaleidoscope of stasis and violence, repose and passion that these concertos created.

Vivaldi's concertos were written for performance at the Pietà, a foundling hospital for girls in Venice. By an odd coincidence the first performance of Dido and Aeneas by Purcell either took place at, or was intended for, a girls' school in Chelsea. The Venetian girls performed behind a veil, to protect them from the lascivious glances of males in the audience! Josiah Priest's girls would need to be of sterner stuff, to cope with a Sorceress, various witches and the principal characters' illicit union. If tonight's Purcell performance were a television competition, then the dancer Ricardo Barros would have won hands down. Wearing a swimming costume à la Tadzio in Death in Venice and eye make-up to put von Aschenbach (in the same film) to shame, he extended the performance space in this semi-staging to the side and rear aisles of the church and used his body and especially his eyes with as much panache (and risk-taking) as any of the soloists in the Vivaldi.

In Nahum Tate's version of Virgil's story, as set by Purcell, The Sorceress and witches plot Dido's downfall; Ricardo was the worst witch. At one point he has to disguise himself as Mercury, to carry to Aeneas the gods' apparent command that he must abandon Dido and resume the voyage that will lead to the founding of Rome. He wears glasses with wings straight out of Elton John's wardrobe. The curse on Dido initiated by the Sorceress is represented by a black rose, first carried by the latter, handed on like a baton in Helsinki to Ricardo and ending up in Aeneas' hands, appropriately. After Katherine Hawnt's moving final solo it is Ricardo who moves through the audience, draped in black material which becomes Dido's shroud. I am highlighting the one performer who did not sing or play a note, but our lasting impressions of the evening are going to focus on Jerry Whitehouse's design, Ann Allen's staging and Ricardo Barros' dance and choreography. Of course, MASBO, seated now, delighted again. How consistently appropriate were Martin Perkin's tempi, so that the whole flowed seamlessly, showcasing Purcell's mastery of the music of his second home, the theatre. Katherine Hawnt moved us with her suffering in innocence, Sarah Hall excelled as the optimistic sister, reckless enough for a role in Eastenders, Polly May as the Sorceress radiated so much malice from the pulpit that I fear it will have to be reconsecrated and a mellifluous William Burn, as Aeneas, coped splendidly with the demands of portraying an indecisive rat (Virgil's original was no better). These young singers had some difficulty projecting their words over MASBO, so Ricardo's projecting of the action in front of the orchestra was especially welcome. There was no such problem with David Backhouse's admirably drilled chorus. After the Bible, Virgil's Aeneid has, for two millennia, been the Western world's most revered book. Dido's tragedy has gripped the generations, but in the Latin original she was the victim of the machinations of the immortal gods. It has been suggested that Nahum Tate's replacement of them by witches was a blast against Roman Catholicism (if Purcell were alive today he would presumably approach Dan Brown for a libretto). This certainly gave the composer the chance to write some splendid 'cackle' music. But in the end he was greater than his librettist and the libretto has left the epic original untouched.

Patrick Buckley. 12/8/05

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