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Bach, Mozart and Jim Cockey:  Soloists, Boise Baroque Orchestra, Daniel Stern, music director; Dawn Douthit, concertmaster. Brandt Auditorium, Nampa Civic Center, Nampa, Idaho. 2.2.2009 (PSh)

J S Bach Overture #2 BWV 1067 (1721)

Karlin Coolidge, flute soloist
David Tacher, Harpsichord continuo

Mozart  Divertimento #11, K 251 (1776)

Jim Cockey (born 1947) Concerto Grosso for String Trio and Orchestra (2008) World Premier Performance

The Langroise Trio: Nominally Geoffrey Trabichoff,v; David Johnson, vla; Samuel Smith, vc. [In the absence due to illness of Mr. Trabichoff, Paula Stern played first violin.]

David Tacher, Harpsichord continuo


The BBO is a thoroughly professional, thoroughly American ensemble.  Although they play at least as well as any other string ensemble in the world, they are not the ASMF, the ECO, I Musici, Musica Antique Köln, or the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.  They might be compared to the Mostly Mozart ensemble from New York, but they don’t play everything too fast like the Manhattanites do.  The playing of the BBO is precise under the careful stewardship of Dawn Douthit, often astonishingly so.  Their phrasing is lyrical, their musical line fluid, their rhythms danceable, their tone clear and smooth.  That they should in addition have an old world sheen and shimmer to their tone is way too much to ask, and who expects that here in the USA anyway? 

I first heard them two years ago when they played the Mozart Violin Concerto #2; their attack on the very first note was the cleanest I have ever heard from any string ensemble, on records or off.  Their Mozart is always slightly raw with prominent brass and winds, the way Mozart himself heard it.  K251 was one of the first works by Mozart I ever owned on LP and I played it so often that I had sworn years ago that if K251 was played I would walk out of the hall; but I didn’t walk out and I’m glad I stayed.  Their performance was a triumph, the overly familiar music made new and alive.  For one beautiful moment I thought we were going to get an improvised oboe cadenza, but, no, he just played the obligatory flourish and cadence.  Music Director Stern gave us solid tempi, well terraced dynamics, and lively dance rhythms.  Knowing he had brought off a triumph the crowing expression his face as he took his well deserved bow was priceless.

When I saw the setup for the Bach I thought someone had made a mistake because the flute was at the rear of the stage, behind the orchestra, but as soon as they began to play I saw that, in contrast to the frequently encountered attitude that this is a flute concerto for a solo virtuoso, the flute was treated here as a member of the orchestra.  Flute sonority blended with string sonority during the ripieno passages.  Where there were flute solos, then everyone quieted down and let the flute sing out.  Suddenly this made perfect sense; one just doesn’t hear it this way often.  Flutist Coolidge played with grace, agility, and pure lyric tone.  This was the first item on the program and the ensemble was not tightly focused during the earliest movements.  With the Bouree everything came together from there forward for a brilliant finish.

After intermission during the spoken introduction to the Cockey work, it became clear why the orchestra were so unsettled at the beginning of the concert.  The violinist of the Langroise Trio, Geoffrey Trabichoff, had been in Europe playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concertos 1 and 2 on tour.  Upon deplaning in Boise two days before this concert he became suddenly ill and unable to play.  Paula Stern, usually the second first violin in the BBO, was persuaded to play in his place, and she did so extremely well, so that the performance could go forward seamlessly.  In view of that fact that she had other musical obligations during the previous days, her efforts in learning the part for this difficult brand new music represent a truly Herculean effort since there was not much time for last minute extra rehearsals.

The Cockey Concerto Grosso is in three movements: Introduction and Fugue—Air—Rondo, played without pause.  The instrumentation is for strings and winds with harpsichord continuo, with solo string trio.  From the first repeated pizzicato chords the style is high Spanish baroque, unlike anything Cockey has previously written, but exhibiting his customary neo-romantic, pantonal, polyrhythmic style.  Since the form is not a strict ouverture, contrapuntal passages gradually coalesce into a dense fugality coming to a sharp, slightly unexpected cadence, leading at once to the aria.  One who had never been to the movies could not possibly have written this aria, but this aria with its apple cider harmonies and propulsive, slightly off the beat, adagio meter could never possibly be used as a film score. The result is singing music of aching, sensual, beauty; you want it to go on forever.  There is a very subtle but uncanny suggestion of the spectral Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers circling forever in a heavenly—Spanish—ballroom.  But, as before, it abruptly ends on the first beat of the rondo which sweeps on energetically to a brilliant finale.  The audience leapt to their feet to give the artists and the composer a much deserved standing ovation.  It should be noted that a lesser composer might not have survived Mozart and Bach as warm-up acts.  My advice to you is to remember the name Jim Cockey.  I think you’ll start hearing it a lot from now on.

Paul Shoemaker

A footnote:  The management of the hall, through conspicuous posters and an introductory speech from the stage, make clear their objection to cell phone ring tones and text messaging during the performance.  They refuse to allow late comers to enter during the music, only opening the doors during applause breaks.  All very good.  But then, in apparent deference to “family values,” they allow squalling babies into the hall!  (Even Mormon tabernacles have cry rooms!)  Far more disturbing is that during the pre-concert seating period they play, at rock concert volume levels, a TV commercial style video promotion for their “fine arts” concert series season tickets, with generous “musical” excerpts.  “Fine arts” in Nampa consists largely of acrobats, cowboy singers, rodeo acts, and traveling versions of Broadway shows.  If after all this you’re in any mood to play or listen to quality music you’re a tougher man than I.  If you ever attend a concert at Brandt Auditorium make sure you wait in the lobby (with me) with ear plugs in until minutes before the music begins, then dash into your seat.  At least all the seats are reserved and assigned.  Don’t sit near the exits, that’s where the parents sit so they can carry their crying babies out the door and listen to the music while they try to calm the kids down before bringing them back in for another go-around.


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