Rediscover Bach, Vivaldi and Handel with Camerata Chicago
2018 is poised to be a year for Camerata Chicago to expand its mission of bringing classical musical masterpieces to the people of Chicago and the western suburbs.
Mendelsohn enthusiasts will want to mark their calendars early for Camerata's April 7 concert, when world-renowned violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer String Quartet will perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at churches in Chicago and Wheaton.
The concerts will be 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 6, at Chicago Fourth Presbyterian Buchanan Chapel, 126 E. Chestnut St. in Chicago, and 3 p.m. Saturday, April 7, at College Church, 332 E Seminary Ave. in Wheaton. Tickets are $50, $40 for seniors, $10 for students (ID required). Youth, age 16 and younger, are free, accompanied by a paying adult. VIP tickets for front row seats are $75. Parking at the Chicago location is $6. For tickets, visit www.cameratachicago.org.
The Camerata Chicago Orchestra, directed by Maestro Drostan Hall, enjoyed a landmark year in 2017.
This world-class orchestra, now in its 15th season, engaged Chicago area audiences with five memorable concerts of inspiring classical music. Camerata Chicago also introduced the newly-formed Camerata Chicago Chamber Choir to its growing number of fans.
Most memorable in 2017 was Camerata's authentic rendition of works by the Baroque music giants, Johan Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. Hall and his orchestra dazzled its large audience Oct. 20 at the Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton with their performance.
The audience witnessed a masterful and expressive collaboration of two excellent violinists - the veteran Mathias Tacke and 16-year-old Amelia Piscitelli - as they performed Concerto for Two Violins by J.S. Bach.
As a professional musician in the audience, I was expecting a rather traditional approach in the collaboration, with the first violin leading as the prominent soloist in the musical performance. But the Tacke-Piscitelli artistic approach completely revolutionized the interpretation of Bach's well-known composition, widening my own imagination and knowledge of it.
Mathias Tacke, a renowned musician with over 30 years of experience, did play the leading violin part, but he consciously revised the "meaning" of leading. In his collaboration with Amelia Piscitelli he was supportive, delicate, and tactful. He considered the nature of the tone of Amelia's instrument and was careful not to overpower its voice. In the duet, the instrumental lines in dialogue seamlessly flowed from one to the other, creating a wholesome and musically vivid emotional portrait.
In their interpretation of Bach, the artists refused to add any personal touch, but instead, they demonstrated high respect for the style of the composer as well as a solid knowledge of authentic Baroque violin technique. Their love of the virgin purity of the Baroque sound was revealed in how they masterfully crafted the phrasing of this work. Their performance touched the hearts of the audience with a great variety of emotions.
The concert was crowned by Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with Amelia Piscitelli as the soloist. This performance was another significant discovery for the audience.
Maestro Hall had thoroughly studied this composition. The programmatic notes that Vivaldi had left in the score for performers to consider fascinated him. As the conductor, he could not hold this information back from the listeners.
Rather, Hall gave an introduction by having the performers play segments that Vivaldi had marked out as representing sounds of nature and people. It was enchanting for the audience. Birds sang, thunder sounded and lightening gleamed in spring. Bothersome mosquitoes buzzed in summer. Rowdy peasants celebrated the harvest and dogs barked and guns sounded in the hunts of fall. Winter was represented by the unpleasant sound of sleet, which the string instruments played in an unruly manner, named ponticello in Italian, on the bridge of the instrument. Chattering of teeth in the harsh winter storms was demonstrated by rapid, spasm-like, short bow strokes.
Following this introduction, the orchestra presented a masterful interpretation of "Four Seasons" that revealed a deep knowledge of every technical detail of the style of the Baroque era. Each season was "accompanied" with a reading of lyrics Vivaldi himself had written, presented by Steve Robinson, executive vice president of WFMT 98.7.
The Camerata Chicago Choir made its debut on Nov. 17 at College Church in Wheaton in a collaboration with the Camerata Chicago Orchestra and the organist Lance Peeler. This highly professional vocal ensemble comprises 21 singers drawn from the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. The Choir presented three glorious sacred music compositions: "Magnificat" by Bach, "Gloria" by Vivaldi, and the Coronation anthem "Zadok the Priest" by Handel. Soloists were: Robin Wiper (soprano), Annie Rosen (mezzo soprano), Denise Gamez (alto), Timothy Bentch (tenor), and Gerard Sundberg (bass). Majestic lightness and purity of sound reflected the biblical texts. The high artistry of the performance reinforced Camerata Chicago's mission statement, to provide "an incomparable concert experience which enriches the community."
Drostan Hall, the conductor, music director and founder of Camerata Chicago, is British born. He received his music education at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He is a winner of competitions and a guest conductor for numerous music festivals and concerts. Camerata Chicago Orchestra has made several recordings, which regularly air on 98.7 WFMT Chicago, WQXR in New York and international radio stations. The orchestra toured Europe in 2013. Hall invests his solid knowledge, experience and energy in teaching the younger generation of musicians. He established the Hall School of Music in Wheaton and two student orchestral ensembles, the Senior and Junior Orchestras of the Camerata Chicago Academy. Both ensembles regularly give concerts in Wheaton.
Amelia Piscitelli, a sophomore at Hammond Baptist High School in Hammond, Ind., is a prodigy. Since 2014, she has faithfully traveled on a weekly basis to Wheaton to take private lessons with Hall. She is already an experienced performer and a recording artist, who made her debut with Camerata Chicago at the age of 15 by performing Romance by Svendsen in 2016. She also performed on the prestigious WFMT show Introductions last year.
Mathias Tacke, German born, is a performer and recording artist who is professor of violin and chamber music at Northern Illinois University, a guest lecturer at Northwestern University, and a former member of the acclaimed Vermeer Quartet. In 2008, he was invited to join Camerata Chicago as concert master.
Shmuel Ashkenasi is no longer a stranger to Chicagoans! Born in Tel-Aviv, he developed as a professional musician at the Musical Academy of Tel-Aviv and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Ashkenasi has performed with the most renowned symphony orchestras throughout the world. He made a recording of Mozart's Violin Concerto No 5 with Camerata Chicago and Drostan Hall on the DMD Classics label.
The musical presentations of Camerata Chicago are always memorable, exciting and strikingly innovative. The signature culture of sound of this unique ensemble leaves a long and unforgettable impression, the feeling of rediscovery of the thoughts of great composers. As the audience of Camerata Chicago is growing, both young people and older generations are culturally enriched, better informed, and more educated in the art of classical music.
To attend concerts and be informed about upcoming events of Camerata Chicago orchestra, visit www.cameratachicago.org.