Fond Farewells (6/29/23)

Marc Bellassai 

This was a fun concert and, indeed, a fond farewell to the Gotham Early Music Scene Midtown Concerts season. Mr. Bellassai is a harpsichordist and sometime actor. Here’s the program. 

From the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book: Præmbulum, [Antiphon], In Nomine – John Bull (1562–1628)

Loth to Depart, Fantasia – Giles Farnaby (ca. 1563–1640)

From My Ladye Nevells Booke: The Battell
The souldiers sommons ~ The marche of footemen ~ The marche of horsmen ~ The Irishe marche ~ The bagpipe and the drone ~ The battells be joined ~ [Spoken interlude] – The retreat/The buriing of the dead – William Byrd (ca.1540–1623)

Suite in C minor – Allemande ~ Gigue ~ Courante ~ Sarabande – Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667)

Capriccio B-dur sopra la londananza del fratello dilettissimo (BWV 992) – Arioso: Adagio ~ Ist eine Vostellung unterschiedlich Casuum ~ Adagiosissimo ~ Allhier kommen die Freunde ~ Aria di Postilione: Allegro Poco ~ Fuga – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Well, that’s a lot of word salad. But several of the pieces were about bidding a fond farewell—to a brother, to soldiers on the battlefield, to … well, people. We all have them. 

On to the music. A lot of it was very similar and repetitive. The harpsichord has limited volume variations, so the rest is done with density of chords and fast fingering (think Vivaldi’s Four seasons, but for keyboard). 

The first work was very gentle. The Antiphon was sung by the harpsichordist. He is a fine harpsichordist. The second movement was also gentle (see similar and repetitive, above). 

The second grouping was similar to the first (see above). 

The eight movements of The Battell proved a little more interesting, in that the performer announced each movement. Unfortunately, the announcements were sometimes garbled, though the music was just fine. My favorites were The marche of footemen; The Irishe marche; and The battels be joined. The buriing of the dead had a brief chant before the final dirge, which was oddly celebratory. Obviously, these were fond farewells. 

The Suite was a little slow, then a little more energetic, then had varied phrases, and finished solidly very serious. 

The Cappriccio, once again, had spoken introductions for each movement, with a little more success this time around. My favorite movements were the Adagiosissimo (is that a great word, or what?), the Aria di Postillone (mimicking a hunter’s horn), and the Fuga, which was energetic and bright—a great way to end the work, the concert, and the season. 

The new season begins on Sept. 14, 2023. Sept. 14 is very special to me, since it marks my 1989 (one and only) Broadway debut. 

See you next season, for this series.

ConcertMeister