You can perhaps imagine the scene in Dublin when Handel arrived in 1741 to stage performances for the benefit of local hospitals, only to find that Mr Charles “the Hungarian” was already performing his music in the city. Charles was a fine horn player and impresario, introducing novelty instruments like the oboe d’amore and the tiny chalumeau to Irish musical audiences. The horn was extending its world from the hunting fields into the concert hall at this time, as music for the instrument started to appear. For last night’s performance at the Edinburgh Festival, Peter Whelan, director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, recreated a 1742 Mr Charles concert from a found newspaper item. The Queen’s Hall was packed to standing room only.
Familiar to Scottish audiences from his time as principal bassoonist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Whelan directed his forces from the harpsichord, genially explaining the Handelian rivalry. Handel’s brisk opener, the overture from Il Pastor Fido, set the warm tone and perfect balance for the complete band, Whelan shaping phrases meticulously and letting the notes fly as woodwind, strings and horns established the baroque sound world. Throughout the concert, lutenist Pablo Fitzgerald mixed the lyrical with an exciting struck percussive edge, playfully adding subtle embellishments here and there, bringing an infectious organic unpredictability to the orchestra.
Showcasing the natural horns were Anneke Scott and her companion Martin Lawrence, appearing in a doorway, bells in the air with Charles’ short dramatic Chasse from his Duets For Horn. An arrangement of “Va tacito e nascosto” from Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Scott sharing solo spot with Miriam Kaczor’s flute, was a highlight, with the horn resonating wonderfully and the flute a balancing counterpart. The da capo was a tour de force with added trills and seemingly impossible embellishments for a natural instrument, topped by a stunning short joint cadenza so brilliant it really deserved a jazz audience cheer as the music returned. Mr Charles would have been delighted.
Novelty instruments were introduced, Nicola Boud’s chalumeau with Emma Black’s oboe in Hasse’s Concerto in F. The chalumeau, a forerunner of the clarinet, is about the size of a descant recorder but plays an octave lower. Both slow adagios grew into dancing allegrettos, the continuo increasing the attack, Carles Cristobal’s agile bassoon runs and jumps spectacular as Black and Boud eyed each other like mischievous schoolgirls in a game of virtuosic dare. Emma Black later returned with a lovely Napolitana from Telemann. Her long notes on the oboe d’amore were a gorgeous showcase which left me wondering what Irish audiences would have made of hearing the instrument for the first time.
Irish cellist and composer Bocci’s three movement Sonata X for cello and continuo had Sarah McMahon delivering blistering runs while Samuel Ng’s second cello added richness to the slower passages. The final vivace was pure double cello verve, the lute throwing in bouncily percussive sweeps to his chords spicing the music to an exciting finish. The musicians all returned for a precise and lively Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs by Lully.
In Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso Op.5 no.12 “La Folia’” for strings, Whelan ensured momentum in melancholic slow passages and kept order in the alternating manically fast cycle of variations. To end, there was fine playing in half a dozen movements in John Walsh’s arrangement of Handel’s Water Music Suite no.1 with resplendent horns, joined by baroque clarinet for two movements from the Suite no.2, Whelan guiding the ensemble with detailed phrasing shapes and dynamics in a very fine end to the performance.
