The blog is going away but the reviews are not. You can find them here in the online print edition.
Home > ATLarts > Archives > 2008 > September > 29 > Entry
Atlanta Baroque Looks for New Leader, Gives Concert
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a coup when they got him; now, for health reasons, he’s leaving. Is it not a moment too soon?
Two years ago, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra signed John Hsu as its artistic director, a nationally-respected musician who was equal parts electrified conductor, heavy-weight scholar and elegant perfectionist.
Hsu (pronounced “shew”) tightened the ensemble’s playing and boosted their morale — yet attendance gradually dropped under Hsu’s brief tenure, says ABO development director Janie Hicks, “perhaps the result of the esoteric repertoire that John favored. He usually resisted doing vocal music and the popular pieces that people recognize,” she says.
Now 77, Hsu has suffered breathing troubles and told the board that the 2008-09 season would be his last — and he might sever the relationship on a moment’s notice if his health demands it.
Thus the new season, which opened Sunday afternoon at Buckhead’s Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, is Hsu’s farewell (just two concerts, Nov. 9 and Feb. 22) and also a public audition for a new leader — with violinists Julie Andrijeski (March 22) and Elizabeth Wallfisch (May 17) as the current finalists.
Hsu wasn’t involved for Sunday’s concert, which had the unsexy title “Tantalizing Thuringia: Wellspring of the German Baroque” — a collection of four composers associated with the musically-fertile and cosmopolitan state in central Germany. Most of the works on the program had associations with death, although that wasn’t always evident from the sound of it.
Nevertheless, the performance reflected Hsu’s tenure, where the ensemble of 10 instrumentalists and four singers gave Hsu-style readings with high spirits and (mostly) discipline, led from the violin by concertmaster Gesa Kordes or from the harpsichord by Daniel Pyle.
Telemann’s “Ouverture a 5,” a suite of high-flying dances for five parts, soared with Boston-based recorder virtuoso Aldo Abreu as soloist. He’s a charmer, all smiles and long shaggy hair. His recorder sounded bright and cheery in fast run for the “Les Plaisirs” movement, like popping champagne corks. And he spun soulful long lines for the “Air a l’Italien.” A thorough delight.
Matthias Weckmann’s 1660s cantata “Wie liegt die Stadt so wuste” (“How Barren Lies the City”) featured bass Brent Davis and pure-voiced soprano Wanda Yang Temko, an announcer on WABE-FM. It was the juiciest music of the afternoon, gorgeously performed.
Laments by Johann Christoph Bach, the uncle, and Johann Sebastian Bach, the nephew, didn’t fare as well. Contralto Holly McCarren’s voice came in several shades of gray in the J.C. Bach, while J.S. Bach’s Cantata 106 was marred when tenor Bruce Seller’s voice went completely hoarse. Still, the audience appreciated the value of Atlanta Baroque, and voted for its future with a standing ovation.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Classical Music
Comments
By Jeff
September 30, 2008 8:51 AM | Link to this
I thought the performace was one of the best I have heard from the ensemble in some time. I did notice that the audience was a bit fewer in number than past performances, but gas shortages may have kept some from heading into Buckhead.