As of now, the Early Music Guild has changed its name to Early Music Seattle, a change announced at its 40th anniversary gala Sunday night at Town Hall. Preceded by a fundraising and celebratory dinner, the ensuing concert covered musical ground from medieval times to the Baroque, featuring mostly local musicians and groups EMS has sponsored over the years.
The concert began with a group of sacred songs sung by two sopranos from the Medieval Women’s Choir, its director, Eric Mentzel, tenor and playing the hurdy-gurdy as drone, with Bill McJohn on medieval harp. The Choir is a highly successful group, one of a kind in the nation, begun by the late lamented Margriet Tindemans and given a boost by EMG at its start.
For those who don’t regularly attend its concerts, this excerpt of its work gave a taste of the quality of what it does. The singers had unerring pitch sense which, coupled with no vibrato, made for beautifully pure harmony, though Marian Seibert’s effortless, clarion soprano sometimes tended to overshadow the fine sound of Erika Chang who sang the lower line.
This was followed by soprano Linda Tsatsanis and lutenist John Lenti performing John Dowland songs from 1597, one of which, “Come Again,” was on the very first EMG concert program. Tsatsanis is a dramatic soprano who used more vibrato that is necessary in these deceptively simple English songs, but was perfect for later in the program when she sang a Handel cantata.
A recent group incoming to Seattle’s music scene, Sound/Counterpoint, took on a rarely heard Vivaldi Chamber Concerto in G major for violin (Linda Melsted), harpsichord (Jonathan Oddie), oboe (Curtis Foster), recorder (Miyo Aoki), and bassoon (guest Nate Helgeson). We hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons so much that we don’t even recognize many of his 500 other concertos. This one was a treat, played with the high quality of the players, most of whom are well known to Seattle audiences and elsewhere. However, the balance between the oboe’s plangent tone and the soft alto recorder made it hard to hear the latter.
Seattle Baroque Orchestra joined with Early Music Guild a few years ago in a successful marriage, and its director, Alexander Weimann, gave us Bach’s Italian Concerto in F Major for solo harpsichord, one of two solo sections of this concert. The other came immediately after intermission with the one international visitor (but now living in Ohio) Jaap ter Linden, who played Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 in G Major, a highlight in this concert of highlights.
Lastly, Tsatsanis, Weimann, ter Linden and Lenti (now playing theorbo) gave a rousing performance of Handel’s dramatic Lucrezia Cantata, HWV 145. Full of fire and vengeance after rape, this cantata speaks in Lucrezia’s voice with recitatives and arias. It suited Tsatsanis’ voice and style perfectly and she gave it a real sense of the wronged and angry woman, with her last word spat out: “Vendetta!” (“Vengeance!”).
(All photos courtesy Early Music Seattle © Ben VanHouten)