Naumburg Orchestral Concerts (6/9/26)

BAROKLYN, CONCORA & SIMONE DINNERSTEIN, DIRECTOR & PIANO 

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750)
Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf, BWV 617, (1716) 

PHILIP GLASS (b. 1937), (arr. Michael Riesman)
Suite from The Hours, (2002)
Movement I, Movement II, Movement III

J.S. BACH
Cantata 9, Es ist das Heil uns Kommen her, BWV 9, (1734)*
Chorus: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her; Recitative: Gott gab uns ein Gesetz; Aria: Wir waren schon zu tief gesunken; Recitative: Doch mußte das Gesetz erfüllet werden; Duet: Herr, du siehst statt guter Werke; Recitative: Wenn wir die Sünd aus dem Gesetz erkennen; Chorale: Ob sichs anließ, als wollt er nicht
Louise Fauteux, soprano, Megan Roth, mezzo-soprano, Jack A. Pott, tenor, Jermaine Woodard, Jr., baritone
*Continuo realizations by PHILIP LASSER, (b. 1963)

J.S. BACH
Three Movements from three Cantatas
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV99/1 (1724); Er tödt’ uns durch dein’ Güte, BWV22/5 (1723); So lasset uns gehen in Salem der Freuden, BWV182/8 (1714)

J.S. BACH/LASSER (b. 1963)
In the Air (2025)

(Apologies for the ALL CAPS; it was easier for me to copy/paste all of that from their website than to retype everything.)

The first of five concerts in the series, this Tuesday evening in Central Park was pretty much perfect weatherwise. The opening work was for piano, strings, and oboe d’amore. It was gentle but also pretty full sounding. Brief and effective, it was a great way to begin the season. 

Movement I of the Glass opened with Ms. Dinnerstein conducting the strings in the slightly amorphous work. She then went to the piano to join the small ensemble, Baroklyn, and the music was still amorphous. While the energy increased at times, it was amorphous energy. Guess how the movement ended. Movement II began slow and amorphous. And continued that way. It was a bit longer than Movement I. Movement III began (briefly) sans piano. Soon, it was same old, same old. 

After intermission, Baroklyn was joined by the 20-voice choir CONCORA for J.S. Bach’s Cantata 9. There was an orchestral opening, and then the choir joined in, relatively calm and pure (i.e., limited vibrato). The sound mix† was pretty good. The first recitative was for baritone, accompanied by the piano. The aria was for piano and string (violin) and tenor. The baritone was back for the second recitative followed by a soprano/mezzo duet accompanied by flute, piano and oboe. And chirping birds! A recitative (baritone again) was followed by the final chorale for orchestra and full chorus. The movement itself was also full, ending rather sedately. 

Fourth on the program were three movements from three separate Bach cantatas. The first was sprightly, for orchestra and chorus. The second was for low strings, oboe, and chorus. It was a solid chorale, brief but very effective, while the third was for flute and strings followed by the chorus from the top down in an a cappella section. 

The last work was pretty much Air on a G String with updated additions. It was also quite effective.  

This series is one of my favorites of the summer season, and I look forward to it every year. I’m so glad it got off to such a solid start. Fingers crossed for good weather for the next four. [On demand at WQXR.org, though I'm not sure for how long.] 

†Both the chorus and instruments were electronically enhanced.  

ConcertMeister