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Concert Review: Chatham Baroque a showcase for mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux
Saturday, September 23, 2000 By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic
As big a career as mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux has already had just barely into her 30s, a recital last night at Synod Hall in Oakland made it obvious that the best is yet to come.
Genaux, who resides in Bellevue, joined up with period ensemble Chatham Baroque and guest harpsichordist Keri Mikkelson for a repeat of Genaux's Carnegie Hall recital last spring featuring the same performers.
In that New York performance, an extremely important event in her young career, Genaux made a fascinating choice to perform obscure baroque works rather than the standard repertoire: a Spanish cantata by Handel and lesser-known cantatas by Giovanni Battista Bononcini and Domenico Scarlatti.
These are works even an early-music enthusiast might not know. And a good fit with Chatham Baroque, whose four members -- Julie Andrijeski and Emily Davidson, violins; Patricia Halverson, viola da gamba; and Scott Pauley, theorbo and baroque guitar -- have made a career of championing relatively obscure works.
But it says volumes about the intelligent approach that Genaux has applied to her career. She is picky with her repertoire, but sings what she sings better than most in the world. She has few peers in the three Rossini mezzo-soprano roles of Rosina, Angelina and Isabella, and is now showing the world some beautiful, all but forgotten works.
By avoiding roles that aren't perfect for her, she keeps the integrity of her work at the highest level, though last night's concert impressed those even expecting that level.
Following a trio sonata played by Chatham Baroque, Genaux and the musicians launched into Bononcini's "Siedi, Amarilli mia." From the first phrase, till the end of the concert, Genaux displayed a disciplined technique and a keen stylistic understanding of the music. Her timbre is unique, with a gorgeous darkness that is beyond direct and easy description. Nary a note went without the proper support, and her phrasing was graceful.
She also had a complete sense of the greater purpose, that is the drama, behind each aria and recitative. The program notes eschewed translations of the pieces -- unfortunate given the obscurity of some of the pieces -- but all you really had to do was to watch Genaux's expressive face to get the picture. Through voice and visage, these pieces opened up like a translation of an ancient tale, but flowering in an individual and fresh way.
Genaux seemed to inspire Chatham Baroque as much as the audience. While the group opened the concert on its own with a Trio Sonata by Handel that exhibited its exuberant style, the musicians performed much crisper when Genaux shared the stage.
Later in the program, the violinists had some trouble playing cleanly, and at one point there was a mix-up on stage that led to a complete halt of the Scarlatti cantata. But Genaux stayed in character and finished excellently. She concluded the concert with the virtuosic "Dopo notte, atra e funesta" from Handel's "Ariodante" done with control and vigor.
The fact of the matter is that anyone on stage last night was going to pale in comparison to Genaux, and if you want to see Chatham Baroque at its best and in full flower, be sure to attend one of its upcoming concerts.
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