MSO Continues Water Festival with Baroque Program

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Image: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Milwaukee Symphony Water Festival 2023

The Milwaukee Symphony audience was treated to an all-Baroque program this weekend, the second of a three-part Water Festival, under the baton of guest conductor Nicholas McGegan, hailing from the U.K.

Water imagery featured heavily in the opening piece, Rameau’s Suite from Naïs, which traced a romance between the Roman god Neptune and a water nymph named Naïs. The orchestra showed great command of Baroque style, with the strings sounding like a single, unified instrument, remarkably in tune while playing straight-tone. Novelty percussion like a thunder sheet and wind machine brought the story to life and provided a visual treat. Other highlights included the infectious dance rhythms of the rigaudon movements and two minuets with piccolo and bassoon solos over plucked strings. 

Acting concertmaster Ilana Setapen then took to the stage for a Vivaldi violin concerto. She gracefully executed the technical passages and maintained a sweet yet focused tone, like spicy honey.

In Vivaldi’s concerto for piccolo, we got to hear this underdog instrument in a far more developed role. The symphony’s own Jennifer Bouton Schaub wowed in this music, perfectly agile and precise in Vivaldi’s motoric adventures for the soloist. Call me crazy, but something about the slow movement reminded me of a Morricone western soundtrack.

Handel’s Suite from Water Music closed out the program with very fine music-making. The always superb Katherine Young Steele made a memorable moment out of her oboe solo in one of the opening sections. She and the rest of the orchestra’s excellent woodwind section also got a showcase in the Bourrée. The famous ending Hornpipe often pops up at weddings or classy social events, but those settings usually feature an abridged version for small ensemble or solo instrument and piano. Hearing it in this concert in full splendor, played by some of the best musicians in the Midwest, was a welcome reminder of its greatness. It really is a paragon of Baroque energy and elegance, written at a time when a king would commission such a piece for a majestic boat ride down the Thames. No wonder it’s still a go-to music choice for when we want to feel fancy.