Specialising in Baroque repertoire on period instruments, Zefiro was founded by woodwind players Alfredo Bernadini, director, together with Paolo Grazzi and Alberto Grazzi. For the Valletta Baroque Festival they brought a programme of music themed around ‘Follia’: dreams and nightmare madness. The clue to the approach of the group were the brightly coloured items peppering the normal black attire – zany ties, scarlet rimmed specs, hair clips, feathers, fascinators and even spotted socks. The music was never less than brilliant, Bernadini presenting each piece with self-deprecating humour and charm. An infectious wildness grew through the performance, musicians daring each other to push musical and physical boundaries.
In a tightly knit ensemble, oboists Bernadini and Paolo Grazzi, and bassoonist Alberto Grazzi were joined by six violins, viola, cello, violine, harpsichord and theorbo, opening with John Joseph Fux's Concerto, “Le dolcezze e l'amerezze della notte”, where each movement represents a particular scene from the nightwatchman’s call to nocturnal fantasies, featuring Paolo Zuccheri’s snoring violine. The music whirled past, players handing themes to each other, playfully chirpy woodwinds in the Minuet, solemn strings in the Trio and a unison foot stamp as the music danced back, players leaning in as harpsichord and theorbo became more percussive in breathtaking final Presto.
Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in D major, RV 234, nicknamed “L’inquietudine”, is agitated in all three movements, Elisa Citterio tackling fearsome runs, packing ornaments into a blizzard of notes. Even the Largo grumbled with mental uncertainties, solemn, Citterio running up and down her instrument as if looking for an escape. The final dotted Allegro was taken at an impossible lick, the string ensemble brilliantly together, Citterio both feet off the ground at one point in the excitement. “Was that restless enough for you?” she asked Bernadini. Telemann’s Oboe Concerto in C minor was ahead of its time, with strange harmonies, folk tunes and experimental ideas. It proved a showcase for Bernadini, pulling slow long notes, before brightening into a lively Allegro, oboe and strings organically exchanging phrases with exciting changes of dynamic. I loved the experimental approach, Bernadini adding a jazzy touch to a run then turning to his players who all clearly approved. A blistering Catherine Jones on Baroque cello rounded it off in style.
Zelenka’s Hipocondrie à 7 Concertanti drifts major to minor and back, far from straightforward in style. The opening sounded rich, as the woodwind and first and second violins battled for supremacy with a strange fugue. Just watching how the group interacted was a joy, the delight on players’ faces when given a theme and almost disappointment when passing it on, like children in a musical ‘pass the parcel’. Zelenka’s piece finished in the depths, players physically crouching down in sympathy.
Reinhard Keiser's sinfonia from his opera Der lächerliche Prinz Jodelet, a crazy ‘emperor with no clothes’ story, had the players embracing the ridicule. A busy unison at breakneck speed, the Follia theme was followed by a stunning Trio where the violinists waltzed behind the players, playfully changing sides, musicians standing tall for loud phrases and crouching for soft. The fun continued with Geminiani’s Concerto grosso in D minor, based on Corelli’s La Folia, the slow theme giving way to lively variations with a terrifyingly fast pulse. Musicians swayed back and forth, but the japes came in Mozart’s Gallimathias Musicum, a work written when he as a child. Musicians mocked the simple themes mercilessly, dancing about, picking on each other while playing perfectly.
The joy of Baroque music is that it human, edgy and unpredictable. Zefiro's musicians demonstrated just how much fun can be packed around a performance which was as entertaining as it was thrilling.
David's press trip was funded by Visit Malta
