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Canberra Today 17°/21° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Review / Exploring sonatas for oboe and violin

Limestone Consort, at St Paul’s Church, Manuka. Photo: Peter Hislop

TRIO sonatas can be written for any selection of instruments, and it was in the baroque period that it gained popularity and where some of the best writing of this form exists.

This concert explored sonatas for oboe and violin with Lauren Davis on violin, Aaron Reichelt on oboe and in the continuo, Clara Teniswood playing the cello and James Porteous on harpsichord.

The music of the melodious GF Handel opened the concert with his “Sonata in B flat Major”. The simple but highly effective setting of the trio sonata captures the essence of baroque music, and this was clearly heard in Handel’s sonata. The larghetto shone through the playing and through the tone of the instruments.

Performed on period instruments, except for the harpsichord, their tone goes a long way in authenticating the quality of the music of the baroque. Also, performing in a good size space such as St Paul’s Church added greater validation.

The stately opening to Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello’s “Sonata in C minor” followed a pattern of similarity for most instruments, until the oboe flew off into a delightful allegro run. The music then grew in complexity as each voice had its own lines. Leader and violinist Davis said it was an exciting work, and she was right. It even contained double-stoppings for the violin.

The players gelled together well and produced some special musical moments. An issue on the day was the tuning on the gut string instruments, while not helped by the hot day, the players did their best to adjust and work with the situation.

“Sonata in E Major” Op. 5 No 11, by the illustrious Arcangelo Corelli came next. Beginning with an adagio, which was customary in many baroque works, it stepped its way through a moderately smooth piece. This was just for violin, cello and harpsichord, though it didn’t hit the heights compositionally.

German composer Melchior Hoffman whose music has been mistaken for that of JS Bach, his “Sonata in G minor” was the highlight of the day for this reviewer. Opening with a delicious adagio, the sound of this movement melted through the church. While only a short work, it had the most colourful and rhythmic music in the concert.

The final work of the day was the “Sonata in B flat Major” by the Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka. His music was held in high esteem by JS Bach. The rich and complex sound of this sonata, which was performed well contained a deep expression of balanced baroque beauty.

Through the tuning issues, Limestone Consort persisted and gave its audience a concert of well-programmed music and an emblematic selection of the trio sonata of the baroque period.

 

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