With the performance of the fabulous Gabetta ConsortHe Colon Theater inaugurated his Baroque cyclea healthy initiative (edited by Verónica Cangemi) which seeks to settle the many debts that the programming of that institution still owes to the music of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Found by the great violinist and conductor from Córdoba Andrés Gabetta, On this occasion the ensemble was made up of around twenty instrumentalists, many of whom were illustrious Argentine musicians residing in our country, including Dolores Costoyas (plucked strings), Federico Ciancio (harpsichord), Diego Nadra and Marisa Schmidt (oboes), or Gustavo Di Giannantonio and Rodolfo Marchesini (violins).
The lecterns have been shared with them by prominent visitors, regular members of the ensemble on their European tours, such as Nicholas Robinson, first violin, Raúl Orellana Bertinelli, second violin, or Claire Demettre, cellist.
Thanks to the talent of all of them, and also to the art of Gabetta, from the first bar everything sounded like a perfect unit, with no rhythmic or dynamic imbalances.
There didn’t seem to be, however, a clear concept in the program, which one it turned out to be a conventional succession of arias from the beginning more or less known works by Handel, Vivaldi, Graun and Torri, plus a duet by Hasse.
extraordinary musicality
In front of a heterogeneous audience (the result of the even healthy policy of popular prices for the under 30s and over 60s) which in any case did not fill the hall, the concert began with a captivating version of the Dance of the Furies of the Orpheus by Gluck.
In this and in the other instrumental fragments (two movements of the Concerto Grosso in C minor of Locatelli and the Concerto in D major called Big Mogul by Vivaldi, all with the conductor as violin soloist), Gabetta displayed her extraordinary musicality, her knowledge of style and an overflowing energy that knows how to infect her colleagues and the audience.
Together with Gabetta, two young countertenors arrived in the country with very different voices, registers, profiles, “looks” and ways of conceiving music and entertainment: the Venezuelan Samuel Marino and the Swiss of American descent Terry Wey.
From his first intervention, with the famous lament of Orpheus, What will I do without Eurydice (Gluck), Wey showed solid qualities as a singer and as an artist which stood out above all in the slow arias: uniform and sonorous register over the whole extension, flow in keeping with the ensemble and the room, rapport with every affect, knowledge of what is interpreted and sobriety in his gestures.
To the beauty of their versions of shadow never was AND wife’s face (From Xerxes and Rinaldo de Händel), Wey added excellent coloratura management in the short run peace and war by Lucio VeroPeter Towers), It’s inside Santa in hyrcana AND Furious the wind blows (Alcina and Partenopealso by Handel).
Representative of a new generation, ascendant Samuel Mariño showed a much more “stellar” attitude (including three different suits, each one more brilliant), a spectacular stage presence and studied gestures which immediately captivated the public.
His voice, with its high range, beautiful timbre and unearthly agility, is a perfect product for records but not for concert halls or large theatres. Even a miraculous acoustic like that of the Colón reveals its defects: its register is uneven, with a weak midrange and a bass right from the front rows, and its high note, although it “runs”, can be extremely tense and shrill when the singer tries to seize power.
Helped by his tablet even in areas known as I will see to my delight (Vivaldi) o leave the plug (Handel), Mariño acquired ease and excelled in the most brilliant ariaswith a climax at the end of the first part, where he engaged in a musical battle with the excellent oboist Diego Nadra in That flame.
Tribute to the castrati
Although this type of duel was frequent between the great castrati and the instruments that competed with them – Farinelli’s famous anecdote with a trumpeter who surpassed in breath, agility and power -, what began here in a funny way turned out to be tiring of repetition.
Two encores close the menu: the finale of the sixth symphony by Luigi Boccherini (the house of the devil) and the duo If ever again I will be jealous From cleohide de Hasse, which was also the program’s last issue.
The coexistence of Wey and Mariño on stage highlighted even more this difference in the way of paying homage to the castrati, those phenomena famous for their spectacular voice but also for their whims and in many cases their willingness to put themselves in front of the music. .
File
Gabetta Consort
Conductor and soloist: Baroque cycle by Andrés Gabetta.
Teatro Colón, Monday 17 April
Qualification: Very good
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Source: Clarin
