The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (or Freiburger Barockorchester) is one of the more well-established international Baroque groups. On this Australian tour, accompanied by Australian pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, they are concentrating on Mozart, rather than earlier repertoire. For one night only in Melbourne they were also joined by Europe-based Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg in a delightful and extremely polished performance. The ensemble performed without an up-front conductor, led by Concertmaster Gottfried von der Goltz.
Performing in the warm acoustic of the Melbourne Recital Centre, the first item on the programme was the overture to Mozart’s youthful opera La finta giardiniera, and one was instantly impressed by the precision and obvious close rapport of the musicians. Stagg entered immediately afterwards and, throwing classical convention to the wind, addressed the audience and encouraged them to respond with a big “hello”, then said something about her first two items, Mozart concert arias Chi sà, chi sà and Vado, ma dove?. Both were written for insertion into an opera by Martín y Soler to a libretto by Mozart’s frequent collaborator, Lorenzo da Ponte. They were performed with impressive dramatic energy and smoothly flowing legato. The second item included a mellow clarinet line, and highlighted Stagg’s considered phrasing and beauty of tone.
A third concert aria, Ch’io mi scordi di te?, originally written for Nancy Storace, and including a piano solo, introduced Bezuidenhout on the fortepiano, providing sensitive, delicate accompaniment, culminating in a stunning finish. Stagg temporarily retired at this point, and the orchestra embarked on the Piano Concerto no. 23 in A major, K488. The first movement was taken quite fast, but was remarkable for Bezuidenhout’s light-fingered precision and the orchestra’s immaculate discipline, yet evident enjoyment in their playing. This was particularly evident in the sunny third movement Allegro assai, climaxing in a rollicking finish.
The second half was ushered in by Symphony no. 29 in A major; the only complaint one might make about this is its familiarity as a repertoire staple. It was, like the other orchestral offerings, exquisitely and flawlessly played. While it is otiose to single out any of the musicians, it is hard not to admire the performance of the natural horns with nary a wayward note to be heard. It is also hard not to imagine that Mozart would have been amazed to hear such immaculate playing, given what we know of 18th-century performance practices.