BAROQUE AT BILTMORE BY SWISS MASTERPLAYERS

We may be smack in the middle of a craze for Baroque authenticity, but that doesn’t stop some musical die-hards from remaining squarely in the 20th Century.

Take the Masterplayers, for instance, a Swiss-based ensemble that made its local debut Tuesday at the Biltmore Hotel, courtesy of the Da Camera Society’s Chamber Music in Historic Sites series. There was not a period instrument in sight, nor even a harpsichord continuo for the program of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann.

Considering that the event took place in the restored magnificence of the Crystal Ballroom--with its fluted columns, silk-draped arches, painted rococo ceiling and private balconies--one might reasonably expect to find an authentic musical complement to the Baroque atmosphere.

But Richard Schumacher, a gray, shaggy-haired paterfamilias who wears a Nehru collar instead of white tie and commands his 16 Masterplayers with affectionate control, has other ideas. Like I Musici, the group apparently prefers the lean, bright sound of modern instruments. By the same token, it plays with a spirit and a sense of stylistic definition that frequently elude some scholars of performance practice.

In fact, Schumacher was able to demonstrate so impressively the differences between Handel, Bach and Vivaldi (the first three offerings) that he offset any doldrums a Baroque program could bring to bear.

The opening Handel, the C-major Concerto Grosso later used by the composer for “Alexander’s Feast,” was enlivened with a big, loopy shape that had plenty of momentum without becoming mechanistically metric. Here, the conductor took pains contrasting the concertino and ripieno, finding lots of dynamic fluctuations to do the job.

Following with Bach’s D-minor Concerto for violin and oboe, he emphasized its greater density of counterpoint and rhythmic steadiness over Handel, while putting forward the sense of godly reverence this composer managed even in his secular music.

And in Vivaldi’s B-minor Concerto for four violins, he proved that the Italian could claim his place as the first musical minimalist--actually capitalizing on repetitive phrases to a point of cumulative impact. Here, however, despite a wonderfully dramatic reading, the solo exposure turned up some less-than-virtuosic playing.

Had the program ended here, all musical points of view would have been commendably served. What happened after intermission was, unfortunately, less inspired and thus more in line with the music-by-the-yard syndrome. Such popular hits as Bach’s Double Violin Concerto and a splashy, bang-up performance of Handel’s Concerto for double oboes and horns (a.k.a. the “Water Music”) proved heartening to the big, enthusiastic audience.