Voices of Music at the Conservatory

Last night Voices of Music brought its latest program to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The full title of the program amounted to a summary of its content: Early Classical music from London, Paris & Vienna: J.C. Bach, Joseph Bologne & Haydn. As might be guessed, the second half of the program was devoted entirely to Joseph Haydn with two concertos: the Hoboken VIIa/1 violin concerto in C major and the Hoboken VIIb/1 cello concerto, also in C major. The soloists were Augusta McKay Lodge and Eva Lymenstull, respectively.

Compared to other genres, the catalog of Haydn concertos is relatively modest. It accounts for only four violin concertos, one of which is lost. There are only two completed cello concertos, the other three in the catalog being (in order of appearance) lost, attributed to another composer, and sketched. However, if Haydn’s interest in the genre was not particularly enthusiastic, last night’s soloists on period instruments, violinist Augusta McKay Lodge and Eva Lymenstull on cello, gave accounts of the music that were more than merely satisfying.

Lodge was impressive in rising to the technical demands of the violin concerto, even if there were a few potholes along the road of intonation. However, it was Lymenstull’s solo work that emerged as the high point of the evening. Also, it was nice to appreciate how, during solo passages, the number of concertante players tended to be somewhat reduced. For the most part, my awareness of Haydn concertos has been limited to my collection of recordings; so, as a result, I found this portion of the program to be a particularly engaging journey of discovery.

Portrait of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges by Mather Brown and William Ward (from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

London and Paris were represented by the first two composers on the program: Johann Christian Bach and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne. Both of these composers tend to be better known for their history than for their music. Bach was the youngest son of Johann Sebastian; and, as can be inferred from the title of last night’s program, he made his fortune in London, where he was composer to the King’s Theatre. Bologne, on the other hand, was born in Guadeloupe, the son of a white plantation owner and a Creole slave. The above portrait suggests that his talent for fencing tended to overshadow his efforts as either a violinist or a composer!

The Bach selection was a three-movement symphony in G minor, the sixth in his Opus 6 collection. The Chevalier, on the other hand, was represented by one of this violin concertos, the second in his Opus 8 collection. The soloist was Shelby Yamin, whose command of pitch was somewhat less certain than that of the other two soloists of the evening. Nevertheless, the performance could still be enjoyed as a journey of discovery of one of the more colorful figures in eighteenth-century music history.

Unless I am mistaken, this was my first encounter with Voices of Music in the Conservatory Concert Hall. This space may not have been as intimate as some of their other venues, but it served them well. As far as I was concerned, acoustics matter more than distance; and I certainly enjoyed the clarity of those acoustics. I would be happy to see them make a return visit there.