PBO Presents Cantatas for Christmas

Conductor Ruben Valenzuela

Last night the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) returned to Herbst Theatre for the next program to audition the next candidate for the position of Music Director. Ruben Valenzuela is currently based in San Diego, where he founded and currently serves as Artistic Director of Bach Collegium San Diego. The title of his program was A Bach Christmas, which was a bit of a misnomer since Johann Sebastian Bach was represented only by the two cantatas that framed the program, both composed for Advent, the BWV 62 Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland and BWV 147a, the “first edition” of Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben. The “inner” selections on the program were both by Bach’s contemporary (and rival for the joint position in Leipzig of Cantor for the Church of St. Thomas and Director of Music at Leipzig Churches) Christoph Graupner. These consisted of the GWV 1138/11 cantata Reiner Geist, lass doch mein Herz and the GWV 445 Overture in F major, a suite of eight movements.

Valenzuela led the entire program with a sure hand. He was particularly attentive to the balance between instruments and vocalists (both soloists and the Philharmonia Chorale). This was very much a “sacred” program, and Valenzuela knew how to convey the religious overtones through the expressiveness of the music and the clarity of the vocalists (solo and choral). Those contributing vocalists were soprano Jennifer Paulino, mezzo Mindy Ella Chu, tenors Michael Jones and Nicholas Phan, and bass-baritone Joel Chapman. (Chu, Jones, and Chapman are all members of the Chorale, whose Director is Valérie Sainte-Agathe.)

The program itself was both well-paced and well-balanced. The coupling of Bach with Graupner served as a reminder of the significance that Leipzig established and maintained as a “major hub” in both the composition and performance of music. In reviewing my archives, I confirmed than my encounters with Graupner have been few and far between, due almost entirely to programs presented by American Bach Soloists. I was clearly due for another “dose” of his music, and I found Valenzuela’s coupling of sacred and secular selections to be both informative and engaging. Both of those attributes established his chemistry with the full scope of PBO resources; and I, for one, would be happy to see him return to the podium.