BRUCE DICKEY AND HIS SOLOISTS FIND A RICH VENETIAN SPLENDOUR
Arwen Myers and Danielle Sampson (sopranos), Vicki St. Pierre and Nicholas Burns (altos), Ross Hauck and Colin Balzer (tenors); Sumner Thompson (baritone), Martin Auclair (bass), Instrumental Ensemble, Bruce Dickey (director and cornetto): Music of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli, Bassano, Grandi, Fergusio and Marini, Chan Centre, December 22, 2019.
All photos by Jan Gates
In recent years, Vancouver has heard Bruce Dickey’s wonderful cornetto in Monteverdi’s Vespers (interview) and in the delectable ‘entwining’ of voice and cornetto featuring soprano Hana Blažíková (review). The current Venetian Christmas programme naturally centered around the works of Giovanni Gabrieli, but it was the decision to mix his canzoni and vocal writing with those of other Venetian composers that created appealing variety. It was the first time we’ve seen Dickey formally conduct a larger troupe. As evidenced here, his conducting aims at a rich instrumental and vocal solidity, carefully coloured and balanced, and his consistency of approach allows the music to move forward with both spiritual strength and inexorability. The additional ingredient for success on this occasion was the contribution of the vocal soloists, who were terrific.
This concert did not reach full bloom immediately. The opening instrumental canzoni might have had greater precision and tonal luster, but this deficiency was corrected by the time ‘Canzon 8 duodecimi toni a 10’ was reached, which saw stronger separation of lines and cleaner and fuller articulation. Perhaps the turning point in the first half was Alessandro Grandi’s ‘Hodie nobis de caelo a 2’, where the insightful singing of sopranos Arwen Myers and Danielle Sampson started to probe the feeling and intimacy in the music. Gabrieli’s ‘O Jesu mi dulcissime a 8’ also secured a fine balance of dynamics and repose, and more sentient textures. Here we saw the practice of setting the soloists in two mixed antiphonal groups of four singers each, an arrangement carried on throughout the concert. Finding the right mix between the male/female voices in each group for a given piece seemed to be an art form in itself; many different permutations were employed.
Gabieli’s ‘Hodie Christus natus est a 8 ‘and Fergusio’s ‘Gloria in altissimus Deo a 7’ both had an affecting sensitivity and a fine tonal blend. Expressive lyricism and a sense of nobility distinguish the latter and it was interesting to hear Myers sing alongside Dickey’s cornetto; tenor Colin Balzer was also at his telling best. The 12 instrumentalists, and notably the 4 sackbuts, played with increasing confidence and cohesion as the concert proceeded.
In the second half, the opening Canzon displayed fine certainty of line and captivated with the virtuoso writing for the two violins of Tekla Cunningham and Marc Destrubé. Solidity of texture again distinguished Gabrieli’s ‘Hodie Christus natus est 10’, antiphonally intriguing and where the crispness of alto Vicki St. Pierre’s singing was admirable. Then, a wonderful moment of repose: Marini’s ‘Nativita di Christo, per canto solo da cantarsi nel Chitarone’, set for soprano and theorbo alone. John Lenti combined most sensitively with Arwen Myers, the soprano finding a rare combination of refinement and beauty. One could think that greater vocal projection was needed at points, but the intimacy and sense of space achieved was very special. Gabrieli’s ‘In ecclesis a 4’ set a seal on the whole, with Myers and baritone Sumner Thompson fashioning a bevy of vocal delights at the beginning and Dickey setting the greatest feeling of ‘unfolding’ in place. The composer’s striking upward key modulations towards the end certainly left no doubt that something truly elemental was transpiring in this closing ‘Alleluia’.
This concert offered a fully cherishable journey for the Christmas season, and I can’t say enough about Bruce Dickey’s devotion to this repertoire or the quality of the singing.
© Geoffrey Newman 2019