Inclusive as always, and reflecting a major aspiration of its Artistic Director Erik Dippenaar (centre in photograph), the 2023 Baroque Music Festival is a rich mélange of tradition, innovation, sentiment, and a touch of the exotic, says BEVERELY BROMMERT:
The last-mentioned element is represented by music from 16th century Renaissance Spain in a programme devised by mezzo-soprano Lente Louw in accordance with Dippenaar’s policy of diversity of voices when it comes to repertoire selection.
“This is actually pre-Baroque music, but it helps one understand true Baroque,” remarks Dippenaar.
Titled “A Spanish Salad – Vocal polyphony from Renaissance Spain”, this event is a fine example of collaboration since its executants, from the Lutesong Consort, are presented by the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra and the Cape Town Concert Series. Among the works performed are two “ensaladas” (religious allegories about redemption), a genre of popular appeal analgamating the sacred and the secular. An ensemble of period instruments will accompany four solists: soprano Lynelle Kenned, mezzo-soprano Lente Louw, tenor Jason Atherton and bass Keaton Manwaring.
The first concert of the festival is bracingly titled “New Music for Old Instruments”, this time in collaboration with the South African Composers’ Symposium, and features contemporary works played on baroque instruments.
Dippenaar himself will participate, performing on virginals and harpsichord alongside Rosamund Ender on the viola da gamba, Caroline Walters on recorder, Annien Shaw and Ralitza Macheva on baroque violins, and Emilio February on percussion.
The sextet will offer music dating from 1997 to 2007 and framing two newly composed works by Arthur Feder and Antoni Schonken, centerpieces of this celebration of an aesthetic over three centuries old.
Tribute to William Selway Robson
Lending human interest to the festival is a charming tribute to local harpsichord and organ maker William Selway Robson, whose 80th birthday this year apparently has no effect on his unstoppable creativity: in addition to a tour of his workshop in Noordhoek to view the genesis of instruments from raw timber, festivalgoers can attend one of two sessions of a concert for four keyboard instruments on the afternoon of Sunday 24 September.
These will take place in the newly restored chapel on Robson’s property, which the intrepid instrument-maker brought back to life during COVID, with locally sourced materials.
Distinguished international guest artists Anna Fusek (baroque violin, recorder and spinetta) and Gianluca Geremia (theorbo and guitar) will join Dippenaar and Dale de Windt as they play on Robson’s creations: harpsichord, chamber organ, spinet and virginals. After that, wine and birthday cake round off the experience.
The series of events celebrating baroque music will culminate in a grand finale on 1 October as soloists and ensemble players come together under the intriguing rubric “Double Trouble!”. This refers to the character of works chosen for performance, namely dialogues between solo instruments and orchestra.
After exploring new territory, one returns to enjoy the genius of three icons of the baroque age who composed double concerti: Vivaldi, Telemann and JS Bach.
Dippenaar expresses astonishment that Bach’s exquisite Concerto for 2 Violins has not hitherto made an appearance in the Baroque Music Festival, an omission remedied this year. Telemann’s Concerto for Flute and Recorder, and Vivaldi’s Concerto for Viola da gamba and Recorder complete the delectable programme, in which international guest artists and local musicians appear together.
All in all, a festival for all tastes. Long live Baroque!
What: 2023 Baroque Music Festival
Where and when: Different venues in Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Rondebosch and Noordhoek from 22 September to 1 October 2023
Book: Quicket
WS
