MSO Celebrates the Music of Bach

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Photo by Jonathan Kirn via MSO - Facebook

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Bach Fest

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Bach Fest

The City of Festivals just gained a new one: a week-long celebration of the music and life of composer Johann Sebastian Bach, coinciding with his birthday. It also happens to be right in the middle of Lent and Eastertide, a time when listening to his music just feels right, no matter your belief. The existence of this new Bach Festival can largely be credited to MSO music director Ken-David Masur, a huge Bach enthusiast who grew up in his native Leipzig, Germany.

I was unable to attend the various smaller concerts and talks throughout the week, but for the two Milwaukee Symphony concert programs that wrapped up the festival, I chose to dive in and hear both programs in the same day. Indeed … Bach-to-Bach. Violinist Rachell Ellen Wong and harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani appeared as baroque-specialist guests.

By the end of the day I had heard three of the six Brandenburg concertos, two violin concertos, a harpsichord concerto, an orchestral suite and the Magnificat. And I still wasn’t tired of Bach! Of all the composers to have a dedicated festival, he is absolutely deserving.

In Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 2, the first piece of the day, Rachell Ellen Wong showed why she is a renowned Bach specialist. Her enthusiasm for the music was contagious, and she performed with a relaxed but highly expressive manner. The personality came through even more in cadenzas or lines that cut away from the ensemble. Unfortunately, her thoughtful tapering of phrases was obscured by acoustic issues that resulted in final notes becoming inaudible, at least to my seat in the balcony.

Kaleidoscopic Cadenza

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Photo by Jonathan Kirn via MSO - Facebook

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Bach Fest

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Bach Fest

Volume and balance issues continued into Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, with the addition of principal flutist Sonora Slocum. But most of the focus was on Mahan Esfahani, an elite harpsichordist, who dazzled in the first movement’s kaleidoscopic cadenza. The Affetuoso second movement, pared down to a violin/flute/keyboard trio, allowed all the lines to be heard. Wong and Slocum played wonderfully together, their movements and emotions in sync. The finale once again belonged to Esfahani, his harpsichord burbling and trilling as an assertive member of the ensemble.

Ken-David Masur arrived to conduct the larger forces in the second half. Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 came off well, with a fine sense of Bach’s style. Ilana Setapen, the MSO’s first associate concertmaster, offered more straightforward playing with an emphasis on sustaining lines. Principal oboist Katie Young Steele brought beautiful touches to the most affecting slow movement so far. The third movement suffered from minor hiccups; the horns had some moments of struggle and some of Setapen’s shredding once again fell victim to a volume balance issue. The courtly fourth movement shone with a vivid woodwind trio. 

Closing out the first concert, everything clicked into place in Orchestral Suite No. 3. Masur had absolute control of his interpretation, keeping a firm grip on tempos and showing landmarks in the musical logic. The famous Air on the G String, the only excerpt of the day that audiences were guaranteed to know, was magical. Esfahani added some gentle ad lib touches in the harpsichord, and the non-vibrato strings got the sound just right. Everyone was committed to letting the music’s timeless honesty speak.

Bach’s Legacy

Between the two concerts, a panel discussion took place in the upper atrium with Wong, Esfahani, Masur, and MSO choir director Cheryl Frazes Hill. The talk covered topics from the communal nature of performing Bach to the composer’s legacy and long history of neglect. Mahan Esfahani’s input was the most provocative, challenging the very concept of festivals that put composers on a “pedestal” or trying to assign universal claims to their music, but then he reiterated his appreciation for Bach in the most poetic terms. Based on his probing thoughts, I would be interested to hear him speak at length on any musical topic.

Program II opened with Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The first movement’s development was exciting, enhanced by the visual element of musical gestures passed between individual players. Concertmaster Jinwoo Lee led the strings well, and the finale had crisp ensemble energy.

As soloist in Bach’s Harpischord Concerto No. 4, Mahan Esfahani was authoritative and engaging. I enjoyed hearing how he unfurled the solo lines in the slow movement against the ensemble’s stark accompaniment.

In Rachell Ellen Wong’s final appearance, playing Violin Concerto No. 1, she gave her most pleasing performance yet. The first movement had clockwork energy, the second was full of crystal-clear solos where she found poetry at every turn, and the third was fiery, with impressive command of the technical challenges. Her stage presence was memorable as ever; aside from her playing style that drew the audience in, she constantly turned to members of the ensemble, smiling, creating a team vibe.

Bach’s Magnificat had been programmed partially to commemorate the 300-year anniversary of his hiring at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he went on to write his greatest sacred works. The Magnificat was intended to impress the people of Leipzig, and the opening movement definitely impressed in this Milwaukee concert. Both orchestra and chorus rose to the occasion. But the quality of the performance sagged with a succession of mostly forgettable vocal soloists. Things improved in the tenor/countertenor duet “Et misericordia” and the trio of women singers in “Suscepit Israel”—strength in numbers, perhaps. Of the soloists, countertenor Scott Bass and bass Darwin Sanders made the best impression. At least the full chorus numbers continued to satisfy until the end, finding particular power in “Omnes generationes” and the grand closing “Gloria Patri.”

In its inaugural year, this festival made some good choices: hiring excellent Baroque musicians for the instrumental works, programming good repertoire (I mean it’s Bach, so it’s hard to make a wrong choice), and keeping the momentum with a stimulating panel talk and events sprinkled throughout the week. In future years, I would recommend better navigation of acoustic issues for some of these intimate chamber-type works (perhaps even using smaller concert halls or churches as necessary) and making sure that vocal soloists shine as brightly as the other guests.