Nicholas McGegan Returns to PBO Podium

Banner for the Web page for the program being discussed

Last night Nicholas McGegan returned to Herbst Theatre to lead the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) & Chorale in a program of sacred and secular music entitled Baroque Garlands. Each half of the program consisted of a single composition, beginning with the sacred and concluding with the secular. The composer for the first half of the program was George Frideric Handel, followed by Jean-Philippe Rameau in the second half. There were only two vocal soloists, soprano Nola Richardson and tenor Aaron Sheehan.

The Handel selection was HWV 232, a setting of the Latin text of Psalm 110, whose title consists of the first two words, Dixit Dominus (“The Lord said”). Five of the nine movements are choral, and they are interleaved with a rich diversity of solo performances. The second and third movements were sung by countertenor Kyle Sanchez Tingzon and soprano Nola Richardson, respectively. They then joined the vocal quintet in the sixth movement, whose other members were soprano Victoria Fraser, tenor Aaron Sheehan, and bass-baritone Chung-Wai Soong. The penultimate movement was a soprano duo with Tonia D’Amelio joining Richardson. Taken as a whole, this was an engaging journey of diversity, given a delightfully upbeat account by McGegan.

The intermission was followed by Rameau’s “La guirlande, ou Les fleurs enchantée,” described in the program book as an “Acte de ballet with a libretto by Jean-François Marmontel.” There are only two characters in the narrative, Zélide (Richardson) and Myrtil (Sheehan). The “enchantment” is that both characters have garlands that will stay fresh as long as they are faithful to each other. As might be expected, the narrative involves the withering of the garlands and their eventual restoration. The “happy ending” is celebrated with dances by herdsmen,  shepherds, and shepherdesses.

As has been the case so often, the entire evening was carried by the enthusiastic attentiveness of McGegan on the podium. He was as committed to engaging listener attention as he had been over the course of his 34-year tenure as Music Director. (Having also seen him conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, I know this his commitment is not limited to any particular period in music history!) I also appreciated the way in which he prepared a program coupling the contrasting spirits of sacred and secular music. Hopefully, he will continue to visit PBO in future seasons.