H&H Gives Perfect Valentine's Day Gift

It is difficult to take a concert seriously when it is titled "A Classical Valentine." In fact, it was difficult, at a first glance of the program, to take the concert seriously at all, filled as it was with popular, nearly cliched pieces; such a program qualifies as musical overindulgence. Yet, in their concert on Sunday, the Handel & Haydn Society gave a spectacular performance, only confirming the words of Mae West: "Too much of a good thing is wonderful."

The Handel & Haydn Society, founded in Boston in 1815, is the United States' oldest continuing performing arts ensemble. Since then, H&H has broadened the American performance repertoire by premiering such popular pieces as Handel's Messiah in 1818 (they have performed it annually since 1854), Bach's Mass in B Minor and Verdi's Requiem. Aside from making history, H&H has taken interesting steps in actually bridging musical history, bringing the idea of a "historically informed performance" to Boston audiences since 1986 when the orchestra fell under the artistic direction of Christopher Hogwood. The objective of historically informed performance is to perform music under the conditions in which it was originally performed. Some say this concept is in direct defiance of technological musical progress, making historically informed performance controversial, as musicological controversies go. The performers all play instruments either from the Baroque and Classical eras or modern copies of those instruments. In addition to playing period instruments, the orchestra plays music exactly as it was written in the original score, using only as many musicians as the score suggests. Modern audiences accustomed to a 90-piece full orchestra are surprised to find that most pieces call for far fewer musicians.

Differences such as these cast an entirely new perspective on Sunday's concert filled with classical favorites. The program consisted of Mozart's Overture to "Le nozze di Figaro" (The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492, and his Violin Concerto in G Major, K. 216; Rossini's Overture to "L'italiana in Algeri" (The Italian Girl in Algiers), and Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 36 by Beethoven. The performance was conducted by guest conductor Andrew Parrott, who has won critical acclaim for his recordings of Baroque music. However, Parrott's expertise and insight into Classical and Romantic music was evident. His conducting was clear yet surprisingly expressive.

The Mozart Overture to "Le nozze di Figaro" fits right into the Valentine theme with the opera's classic comedic plot, replete with anticipated marriages, star-crossed crushes, and a character named Cherubino. Like the opera, the overture too is a classic. It is a sweeping, theatrical piece with sudden dynamic changes and deft technical work in the string section, all of which were handled perfectly by the orchestra. The effect produced by the period instruments on a piece normally performed by a much larger orchestra was interesting; the thin, pure sound of the violins juxtaposed with the raw yet perfectly controlled sound of the winds and brass showed tight classical finesse.

The second Mozart piece, the Violin Concerto in G Major, featured Harvard's own Daniel Stepner. Stepner is in his eleventh year as concertmaster for H&H and is a member of many chamber ensembles in Boston. Once again, the orchestra played with a spare precision that complemented the brilliant music and Stepner's clear, light tone. At times, his tone seemed almost too thin, but his low notes were startlingly dark and rich. The cadenzas began tentatively, though they always progressed into intricate virtuosic passages rich with finely wrought ornamentations. The solo passage in the Adagio movement was especially memorable, as Stepner had a chance to showcase his sweet high register. How this piece fit exactly into the Valentine's Day theme was a bit unclear, though it was certainly a welcome addition to the program.

Rossini's Overture to "L'italiana in Algeri," like most of Rossini's work, was composed in a hurry; opera companies often lost their commissions and (more often) composers procrastinated up to the last moment. Such haste, though, was not evident in the H&H's sparkling performance. The piece is highly whimsical and melodramatic in an almost burlesque manner, making it easy to see why Rossini overtures figure so prominently in cartoon soundtracks. Despite the overture's comic nature, the beautiful oboe solo at the beginning of the piece was highly expressive. A flute and oboe duet later in the piece was equally haunting, and reminiscent of Rossini's famous Overture to The Barber of Seville.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 figured nicely into the Valentine theme, as it was composed during the time period in which Beethoven was allegedly in love with the Countess Giulietta Giuccardi to whom he gave piano lessons. Beethoven's enigmatic love life was romanticized in the recent film "Immortal Beloved," bringing these legends to the foreground of concert programming. Though it was written in the Classical period, this early symphony foreshadows his later work and the entire Romantic period. With its sweeping melodies and dramatic dynamic changes, this piece was markedly different from the other pieces in the program. Overall, H&H filled Symphony Hall with a gorgeous, resonant sound, and exhibited impressive flexibility in its interpretation of both Classical and Romantic elements.