Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Boulder Bach Festival, Joseph Robinson, Krista Bennion Feeney, MeeAe Nam, Mutsumi Moteki, Nikolas Nackley, Timothy Krueger
Saturday, March 6, I attended the Second Festival Concert given by the Boulder Bach Festival. It was presented in Boulder at the First United Methodist Church on Spruce Street. This concert celebrated the 325th birthday of the amazing composer, J. S. Bach. The works on the program included a secular Cantata entitled “Give way now, dismal shadows,” which was written to celebrate a wedding; a sacred Cantata, “I have enough;” the motet, “The Spirit comes to help our weakness;” and the motet, “Jesus, my joy.”
The Boulder Bach Festival was founded in 1981 and rapidly became one of the leading performance groups in the state of Colorado. They have a reputation of having remarkable musicians within the organization, and also for having the ability to have remarkable musicians as their guest artists. I assure you, that I use the word remarkable because it fits. Timothy Krueger is the chorus director, Krista Bennion Feeney is the concertmaster and soloist, Barbara Barber and Anne Beer are the second violinists, Erika Eckert the violist, Carole Whitney plays cello, Paul Erhard the bassist, Joseph Robinson is the principal oboe, James Brody second oboe, Kim Brody the English horn, Linda Lunbeck and Michael Lightner recorder, and Mutsumi Moteki performs on harpsichord and organ. This is a formidable group of musicians who all have the superior credentials and experience to get the job done.
The guest soloists for Saturday’s performance included Colorado favorite, Dr. MeeAe Cecelia Nam, soprano, and baritone Nikolas Nackley, who is from Massachusetts.
MeeAe Nam has performed throughout the world in operas, chamber works, lied, and sacred performances. Formerly on the faculty at Metro State here in Denver, she now teaches on the voice faculty at Eastern Michigan University. She has given many recitals and concerts with her husband, Dr. Horst Buchholz, who is a world renowned organist and conductor.
The first work on the program was the Bach Cantata, “Give way now, dismal shadows.” This is a long cantata in nine movements or sections that places great demand on the vocal soloist, as well as the oboist and violinist. Often called the Wedding Cantata, it depicts love amongst the melting snows of winter and the arrival of spring. It has an alternating pattern of recitatives and arias which end with a final Gavotte. And by the way, did anyone notice that the second aria is also a theme which Bach used for his Violin Sonata, BWV 1019? For those of you who have heard Ms. Nam sing, you are fully aware that she possesses one of the finest voices in the United States, and that is no exaggeration. Her vocal production is so perfect, and it seems so easy, that it always raises one’s eyebrows. Her diction is always very clear and precise. The performance Saturday night, however, had some problems that can befall even the most experienced and profound group of musicians. This cantata, as I said above, was for soprano, violin, and oboe. The oboist, Joseph Robinson, is one of the finest in the country, and was Principal Oboe with the New York Philharmonic from 1978 to September, 2005. One simply does not stay in that position, let alone be appointed to it, without being an amazing musician. But sometimes groups as a whole, in spite of their stellar musicianship, can be unaware of the balance between them. Saturday night Mr. Robinson and Ms. Feeney, the violinist (who is quite excellent) simply were too loud. In the first aria, it was often difficult to hear MeeAe Nam. Both oboe and violin were playing very expressively, but it was only when they were at their softest dynamic level could one hear the words that Ms. Nam was singing. If there were any music students from the University of Colorado in the audience, this should be a learning situation for them: even the most experienced and profound musicians sometimes need to have someone in the hall to listen for balance, for in spite of their vast experience and musicianship, unknown mistakes can be made. Did it ruin the concert? No, it did not, and it didn’t diminish the effectiveness of the performance and the undeniable virtuosity which everyone possessed. In the fifth aria which was for violin, soprano, and continuo, things were a little better but still the violin was too loud. I hasten to point out that Dr. Nam was not singing too softly. In the seventh aria for soprano, oboe, and continuo, Dr. Nam was again covered to a large degree by the oboe. Only when Dr. Nam sang with just the continuo could one here all of her nuance and phrasing, dynamics, and remarkable diction. If Robinson and Feeney had been told at the rehearsal that they were covering Nam, you can bet they would have adjusted their playing accordingly. I cannot stress enough that all of these performers are excellent and are truly concerned with the music first and foremost. Even if there had been no vocalist involved, the balance would have required scrutiny.
The second Cantata on the program, “I have enough,” is quite dark. The first movement uses text from the words of Simeon, who talks to God after having held the infant Jesus in his arms, and he says: “I have enough; I have taken the Savior, the hope of the Gentiles, into my yearning arms.” This was sung by baritone Nikolas Nackley, who has appeared with the Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, the Handel and Haydn Society, and many others. He is also a proponent of new music. He has a staggering baritone voice that is full and rich, and his diction is so perfect that one instantly believes he could sing anything he chooses. He is extremely confident in front of an audience, and I sincerely hope that we here in Colorado can hear him perform again. But I must say, that once again the oboe was simply too loud and in this cantata, sometimes the bass viol was too loud as well. It is true, that Mr. Nackley was not covered as much as Dr. Nam, but it is a shame that it happened at all, because unintentional and unknown errors could have been avoided if only someone had checked the balance between all concerned. Mr. Nackley sang with great sensitivity and emotion, and highlighted what Jacques Barzun said of Bach in his book, “From Dawn to Decadence” where he states that one of Bach’s many geniuses was in transferring the emotion of words into the emotion of the music.
After the intermission, the Boulder Bach Festival Chorus sang two motets, “The Spirit comes to help our weakness” and “Jesus, my joy.” The choir is excellent and sang with great conviction and enthusiasm. And of course, it is always a joy to hear a choir of that size sing with just continuo.
Everyone concerned with this performance made it clear that they are fine musicians who are quite capable of a world-class performance. But even world-class performers can be faced with learning situations. Was this a bad performance? No, absolutely not. But it could have been so much better.
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