Baroque Music Festival Begins

The 14th annual Baroque Music Festival Corona Del Mar got underway Sunday afternoon--and this year, there is a difference.

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Artistic director Burton Karson) has jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak, and for the first time has brought period instruments and historical performance practices to his weeklong festival. The opening concert, featuring six concertos and six soloists at St. Michael and All Angels Church, indicated that this is a promising development for the June-time series.

Essentially, Karson imported the services of the Los Angeles-based period-instrument ensemble Musica Angelica, thereby obtaining already finished goods. Indeed, the ensemble had performed some of the music on this concert, sans Karson, Friday and Saturday in other locations.

Sunday’s concert balanced concertos by the usual suspects--Bach, Handel and Vivaldi--with lesser-known pieces by Johann Joachim Quantz and John Stanley, and featured assured work by soloists and ensemble alike.

In Bach’s familiar Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 1054, the splendid keyboardist was Yuko Tanaka, whose projection of line and rhythmical vigor gave real weight to her interpretation. She also produced a singing phrase as convincing as one is likely to hear on a harpsichord.

Archlutenist Michael Eagan) gave a quiet, gentle (and discreetly amplified) account of Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto, RV 93, highlighted by his tasteful, florid embellishments of the beautiful slow movement melody.

Stephen Schultz) offered a strong performance on Baroque flute of Quantz’s Concerto in G, showing the instrument in all of its fluid, rich, resonant light, though his effort seemed somewhat wasted on this workaday music.

It also didn’t quite seem worth acquiring photocopies of Stanley’s Organ Concerto No. 1 from the British Library, but organist Patricia Murphy Lamb) played it solidly and gracefully.

Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto, RV 418, with Mark Chatfield) proving to be a rugged, expressive soloist, and Handel’s Concerto Grosso, Opus 3, No. 3, with Schultz, Chatfield, Tanaka and violinist David Wilson in the limelight, rounded out the event. Karson led sensitive and polished accompaniments throughout, and the period instruments sounded especially full in the chapel’s acoustic.