By Nancy Plum
Princeton Festival’s “Viva Vivaldi!” concert on Friday night, June 20 at Morven Museum & Garden’s Performance Pavilion put a new spin on music of the 18th century with compositions of Antonio Vivaldi, 20th-century Osvaldo Golijov, and in particular, the innovative and contemporary Max Richter. Joined by violinist Daniel Rowland and cellist Maja Bogdanovic, Princeton Symphony Orchestra performed works which well characterized the 18th-century European musical world, and then turned that world upside-down. To the audience under the tent at the Pavilion, the virtuoso playing of Rowland and Bogdanovic was nothing short of dazzling, backed by consistently strong accompaniment from members of Princeton Symphony Orchestra.
The technical dexterity of violinist Rowland and cellist Bogdanovic was evident from the outset, with a lively interpretation of Vivaldi’s Trio Sonata No. 12 in D Minor. A set of variations on a 16th-century tune which Vivaldi audiences would have known, the Trio Sonata was scored for two violins and a continuo of lower stringed instruments and keyboard. Rowland and Bogdanovic were joined by violinist Marc Uys, with keyboard player Hanbyeol Lee and harpist Jacqueline Kerrod replicating the lute instruments which would have been prevalent in Vivaldi’s time.
As violin soloist, Rowland was a well-focused player with a plan for the music, easily maneuvering among virtuosic and lyrical passages against clean accompaniment. Harpist Kerrod had a chance to shine in one variation, while the two violins together played dramatically against Bogdanovic’s fast-moving cello lines in another, all while maintaining a dance-like character.
Of all Baroque composers, Vivaldi musically captured weather events most clearly, with furious bowing, fast-running sequences and rapidly-shifting dynamics conjuring scenes of storms and subsequent calm. Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin in E-flat Major brought together a number of these components in three contrasting movements. Subtitled “La tempesta di mare,” this Concerto described a journey at sea through quick violin runs and ornaments, ending in tranquil waters. One could hear the sea churning in Rowland’s agile and expert playing, as strings and keyboard conveyed a joyful spirit. Vivaldi’s trademark sequences in the closing “Presto” brought the ship back to a peaceful sea, reinforced by the rhythmic precision of the players.
Rowland and Bogdanovic linked Vivaldi with current times through a thoughtful piece by contemporary Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. Tenebrae for string orchestra juxtaposed themes of darkness, light, pain and serenity using melodic fragments of French composer François Couperin. Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Golijov’s music, with Rowland and Bogdanovic joining the ensemble, began in Baroque style with lower strings playing a pensive ostinato and a relentless accompaniment from cellos and double basses combined with prayerful melodies from second violins and violas. Principal violist Maurycy Banaszek contributed much of the solo melodic material, bringing the music from darkness into hope.
The core of Friday night’s concert was British composer Max Richter’s re-envisioning of Vivaldi’s most recognizable work by, as the composer described, “throwing molecules of the original Vivaldi into a test tube with a bunch of other things and waiting for an explosion.” In this era of soundbites and short attention spans, the twelve brief movements of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons would seem timeless, and Richter’s Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Recomposed combined modern and minimalistic music with quotes from the initial set of suites to take a Baroque tour de force and launch it into the 21st century.
Scored for strings, harp and keyboard, with Rowland skillfully playing solo violin, Four Seasons Recomposed retained Vivaldi’s relentless rhythms and quick solo passages. With improvisational lines from the violins in the opening “Spring I” movement, the music effectively portrayed the flurry of things awakening. The “Summer” movements captured an unyielding summer heat with a poignant cello solo from Bogdanovic contrasting Rowland’s solo melody. Harpist Kerrod and keyboard player Lee added an appropriate Baroque flavor, and Rowland successfully brought Richter’s music into the audience by playing introspectively from the aisles.
This unusual treatment of a Baroque favorite, as well as the program conceived by Daniel Rowland and Maja Bogdanovic was both an homage to Vivaldi on the 30th anniversary of The Four Seasons publication and mesmerizing performances by two international instrumental stars, all enthusiastically appreciated by the Festival audience.