Baroque Elegance at CitiCorp

Friday, July 29, found us at St. Peter's Lutheran Church at CitiCorp for the first concert in the popular "4x4 Baroque Music Festival." St. Peter's is an old Manhattan congregation that sold its property to make way for the CityCorps Center. The design of the new church mirrors that of the iconic office tower, and they dramatically redefine their corner of midtown and the skyline itself. The church, although dwarfed by the skyscaper, soars and insimuates itself into the open space of the pavillion from one side, and onto Lexington Avenue from another. As you round the corner from Lexington Avenue to 54th Street even the wooden pipes behind the organ case command your attention and direct your gaze upward. The architect described the sanctuary as two praying hands, with light entering through the space between them. This building might seem an unlikely venue for renaissance and baroque music, but the extraordinary shapes, textures, and colors work with instruments and voices to weave a complex and evocative texture. Surprisingly, the room is not particularly resonant, but these masterful musicians imparted to every note clarity, colorful sound, and warmth.

The first concert in the "4x4" series essayed "The Invention of the Baroque: Music from the time of Monteverdi." Ave Stein - brilliant harpsichordist ,organist, and musicologist- is the mastermind behind this series. He conceives the programs, assenbles the musical scores (sometimes editing them himself), and engages the performers. The program demonstrated the role of solo singing, rather than polyphonic vocal singing, in shaping the new aesthetic and compositional styles of the 17th century. Early operas of the period often took as their subject the myth of Orpheus and Euridice."Orpheus ability to free Euridice from the underworld lay in the power of his singing and as such represented the humanistic ideal of music and the musician to move the listener. "And this music certainly did move its listeners. Arranged essentially as a series of dramatic scenes, the music explored human passion and fulfillment, pain and pleasure,
love and betrayal, salvation. Most of the scenes were laid out in the composition itself (such as the famous scene from Monteverdi's The Return to Ulysses - sung to dazzling effect by mezzo Hai-Ting Chinn and tenor Philip Anderson). My favorite "scene" was created by Avi Stein out of three separate compositions by composers unfamiliar to me. In the first the men (2 tenors and a bass)sing of the sufferings of a "burning heart" that no longer wants to love because it always means suffering. The middle aria was a major piece in itself - long, difficult vocally, rich in affekt- was brilliantly sung by Molly Quinn with gorgeous tone, elaborate and graceful ornamentation, and excellent Italian baroque style. Convinced by Molly that "to die for love is madness," the gentlemen returned to forswear the sufferings of love. I especially liked one of the sacred pieces -Nisi Dominus: "Unless the Lord builds the house" - which was performed by three singers and tutti instrumentalists, concluding with a resounding Gloria Patri. The small ensemble of two violins, ,cello, lute and guitar was flawless, and Avi Stein presided over everything from both porative organ and harpsichord with ease and relish.