Polished Baroque from Caitlin Hulcup and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Establishment Australian symphony orchestras lashing out with Baroque music could be a bit of a trend this year. A couple of months ago we had the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s excellent ‘Baroque Brilliance’ concert, and now here comes the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra with Baroque & Roll. This one seemed a little more arbitrary in terms of repertoire, mingling Handel and Vivaldi arias with French orchestral music and a modern work. As with the WASO concert, most of the instruments here were modern ones with the exception of the harpsichord (Nathan Cox), theorbo (Simon Martyn-Ellis) and what seemed to be natural horns (Greg Stephens, Julian Leslie).

The orchestra was conducted by Benjamin Bayl who comes with Baroque credentials (including Sydney’s Pinchgut Opera). There was an entertaining narrative from viola player William Newbery, although one wonders how necessary this was, given that Tasmanian audiences have had good exposure to Early Music over the past eight or so years from their resident group, Van Diemen’s Band.

The first item was Jean-Féry Rebel’s ballet Les Éléments, but on this occasion, rather than just the first movement Le Cahos (Chaos), we were treated to four. One can see the attraction of that opening movement with its startling dissonance in appealing to a modern audience. It was delivered very powerfully, with contrasting contributions from piccolos and bassoons. The other movements are rather more familiar in style, comprising standard dances, including here the Chaconne, a Loure and a Tambourin.

One of the notable aspects of the performance was the highly polished playing of the strings, and one imagines it would have evoked some surprise in the 18th century, given what we know of performance practice then. The next instrumental offering was an arrangement for string orchestra by Australian composer Joe Chindamo of Dido’s Lament (“When I am laid in earth”) from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; here it felt very much in the realm of 19th-century Romantic music. It was followed by Rameau’s orchestral suite derived from the opera Zoroastre, another set of mostly dance movements for various instruments, including clarinets, played with verve and finesse. 

Between Rebel and Chindamo, the orchestra was joined by Australian mezzo-soprano Caitlin Hulcup, now based in Europe. She sang two highly dramatic arias in this bracket, the first being “Gelido in ogni vena” from Vivaldi’s Farnace, a song of incapacitating grief, followed by Handel’s mad scene for Orlando, “Ah! Stigie larve”. Both were delivered with compelling conviction, with forceful meaningful phrasing, incidentally showing off her smooth vocal production and even range. After the Rameau, she returned to conclude the evening with another Handel aria, “Sta nell ircana” from Alcina. This depicts a very different mood, of determined triumph, and was a showcase for some vocal fireworks, with well-articulated coloratura and tasteful embellishments in the da capo and a final ornate cadenza.