Music Reviews : Hanover Band Plays Baroque Program

In previous visits by the Hanover Band, the British period-instrument orchestra has been led by Roy Goodman (and Monica Huggett) from the concertmaster’s chair and, more recently, with stick in hand, by Goodman on the podium.

On Thursday at Ambassador Auditorium, Goodman again directed his charges from a seated position, this time, however, from the harpsichord.

The Baroque program, performed by 15 strings, was a departure from the normal Hanover fare of 19th-Century repertory played by 40-odd musicians.

As when the larger group plays, the audience was rewarded with vital, communicative music-making, if not optimally graceful execution.

First off, Goodman is to be admired for avoiding gratuitous hand choreography for his musicians. Cueing and dynamics have been taken care of in advance of the concert, freeing him at showtime to concentrate on providing a varied, cogent continuo.

Thursday’s program listed four of the Baroque’s Great Hits, by J.S. Bach (C-minor Concerto for violin and oboe), Alessandro Marcello (Oboe Concerto in D minor), Vivaldi (G-minor Flute Concerto, “La Notte”) and Handel (A-major Concerto Grosso from Opus 6), preceded by bits of wallpaper music from, again, Handel and Vivaldi.

The ensemble playing, long on energy and stylishness if occasionally short on polish, was counterbalanced by the expert solo work of concertmaster Benjamin Hudson, his tone consistently sweet, his intonation true; Frank de Bruine, an agile performer on the Baroque oboe, who might, however, be faulted for over-ornamenting Marcello’s sublime slow movement, and flutist Rachel Brown, displaying unfailing purity of tone and mechanical control in the tricky measures of Vivaldi’s programmatic chestnut.