Word: continuos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...introduction he makes before each piece he performs. These are usually humorous bits giving a brief history of the work. Examples include the tale of the Emperor and flute addict Frederick the Great and his teacher Quantz, which introduced the Bach Sonata in E major for Flute and Basso Continuo, (BWV 1035) and the dangerous nature of dancing in the baroque period, which introduced Couperin's La Pie'montoise. According to Galway, one wrong movement of the finger could cause a person to literally lose his or her head. These comic lectures, intended to make the concert more accessible...
...first piece was a light and airy G Major Sonata by Bach (BWV 1039) for two flutes and basso continuo, including all the players except for Huggett and with Jeanne Galway on the golden flute that is a trademark of her husband. The playing was excellent all around, with the Galways flawlessly performing a passage that requires technical perfection if it is to be successful, creating an elegant echo effect. Cunningham and Moll were solid backup players, neither too loud and intrusive nor too quiet and listless. Except for a few fluffy notes on one of the flutes...
Originally written for organ or harpsichord, the continuo of the four concertos was performed by renowned Boston keyboardist John Gibbons. Opting to play the harpsichord only for the silvery depictions of drunkenness, frantic hunts and feasting of the F major Autumn concerto, Mr. Gibbons adroitly adapted an organ set at modern pitch to the other three seasons' orchestrations. He generously restrained his playing and rightly gave center-stage glory to the spellbinding pied piper figure of Ms. Robison...
Also worthy of esteem was the Autumn Adagio Molto, with the rich initial phrasing of the baroque guitar played with bravura by Olav Chris Henriksen. With Gibbon's rhythmic, plucking continuo, the music lulled guests into imaginary dulcet slumber. During the Allegro, the orchestra, which had been struggling a bit at first with dynamics and synchronicity, finally gelled and the harpsichord rocked along, tying the ends together splendidly...
...solo parts made me think he was playing cadenzas for some Romantic concerti; when the rest of the continuo (which they might rightly be called) come back in, you're left wondering where the rest of the orchestra went. In the fervid parts of the Schumann, their sound had none of the immediacy...