United States ‘Fencing Match, Round One’ – Various: Kathie Stewart (flute), Daphna Mor (recorder), Alan Choo, Susanna Perry Gilmore, Emi Tanabe (violins), René Schiffer, Rebecca Landell (violas da gamba), Apollo’s Fire / Jeannette Sorrell (conductor). Bath Church, Ohio, 8.8.2025. (MSJ)
Vivaldi – ‘Allegro’ from Concerto Grosso in D major, RV564
Telemann – Concerto in E minor for Recorder and Flute, TWV52:e1
J. S. Bach – Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV1043
Rameau – Dances from Les Fêtes d’Hébé and Dardanus
René Schiffer – Concerto in D minor for Two Violas da Gamba, ‘Tango’
Vivaldi (arr. Jeannette Sorrell) – La Folia
Encore:
Traditional Mexican (arr. Sorrell) – Xacara
Attending live concerts of classical music is a quest for moments of alchemy. Just because you have people who are demonstrably musicians of the highest accomplishment, playing music that is reputed to be among the greatest accomplishments of human creativity, does not mean that everything will fall into place just right and lightning will strike.
But when it does, it is a startling reminder that humanity is capable of touching an elevated plane, a place where the suffering and nastiness of this world lose their bite even if only for a few minutes. It is an escape to a better world and proof that we are capable of finer things than politics, power lust and jealousy. This is why musicians sacrifice their lives to the pursuit of the elusive ghosts of inspiration and perfection, and audiences give of their time, money and attention to become part of that quest. It proves there is something worthwhile in this world.
If I never hear Johann Sebastian Bach’s Double Violin Concerto live again, it is okay because I heard it strike like lightning on this occasion, the first concert of the 2025/26 season by Apollo’s Fire. One of Bach’s most potent masterpieces features a first movement that combines anxious turbulence with a sort of wistful longing, and a finale that springs like a trap, ferocious and dark. In between is one of the greatest slow movements ever written, an ecstatic entwining of the two violins that unfolds from sweetness to agony and back again in repeated waves.
Older performances of this concerto could be labored and slow, while all too many modern performances have over-corrected and bullied the piece into relentless forward motion. Kudos to Alan Choo, Susanna Perry Gilmore, Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire for rejecting old or new traditions and digging into the depths of the piece. The fast movements were energetically sprung, without ever losing sight of the emotional shape of phrases and leaving room for them to expand where needed. This included small but electrifying agogic pauses in the finale, allowing just that extra fraction of a second for the soloists to snap cascades of notes like whiplashes.
And that slow movement! It is marked Largo ma non tanto, signifying a speed that is broadly slow but not excessively so, which is one of the most specific tempo markings Bach ever gave. Some performances drag and lose momentum, while many modern ones get self-conscious about the ‘ma non tanto’ and forget the ‘largo’ entirely. This performance found that sweet spot where the music never sagged yet seemed to have all the time in the world for the violins to tenderly twine around each other. The contrast of Choo’s urbane polish with Gilmore’s plain-spoken eloquence was vivid, and the way they managed to duel in the outer movements yet embrace in the Largo reflected an astonishingly wide range of human communication. Choo’s détaché bowing at the end of the explosive whirls of notes near the end of the finale was jaw-dropping, and the whole mass of sound became a force of nature in its closing pages. It was that rarest of live concert events: a performance fully worthy of a masterpiece of the first rank. Kudos.
Equally enchanting were Daphna Mor and Kathie Stewart in Georg Philipp Telemann’s Concerto for Recorder and Flute, a lovely work even if it has nothing like the intensity of the Bach. Out of the thousands of baroque concertos (a huge chunk of them by Telemann himself!), it is the only one I have ever heard of for this combination, which works fantastically. Mor offered crisp airiness with her recorder, while Stewart’s liquid flute both blended and contrasted. The Polish folk music influence in the finale was abetted by a propelling drum part from percussionist Anthony Taddeo.
Principal cellist (and viola da gambist) René Schiffer’s Concerto for two violas da gamba made a return visit with Rebecca Landell assisting Schiffer. The piece delightfully demonstrates that the soft-voiced instruments are capable of carrying a concerto when played, as here, with range and brilliance. Additional selections by Vivaldi and an encore filled out a vital concert and demonstrated that Apollo’s Fire can turn a summer evening into pure gold
Mark Sebastian Jordan
Mark Jordan’s review is much more colorful and descriptive than I could ever write. (Thank you, Mark!) We attended the Cleveland (Rocky River) concert. We are SO spoiled in Cleveland. We’ve gotten used to “being blown away” by Jeannette and her fabulous band. Alan Choo, Susanna Perry Gilmore, Emi Tanabe, Daphna Mor, Kathie Stewart, Rene Schiffer and Rebecca Landell, and don’t forget Anthony Taddeo, one of the most creative and expressive percussionists whose music we have had the pleasure to enjoy. They are not only her musicians, but they have become our friends as well. Every Apollo’s Fire concert brings us a piece of Heaven right here on Earth.
It was a stunning performance from beginning to end. And the fencing theme was perfect. It was hard to keep still. Hats off to Apollo’s Fire for this breathtaking performance.