For many years now, Laus Polyphoniae has brought together renowned names from the world of early music, focusing on European polyphonic heritage from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. But the Antwerp summer festival also provides a platform for a new generation of vocal and instrumental artists during what is known as the International Young Artist's Presentation (IYAP). For an entire Saturday, you could enjoy no fewer than six ensembles at AMUZ and an exceptionally wide range of composers, often anonymous masters or noble unknowns as well.
IYAP is an annual coaching program by AMUZ and Musica Impulscentrum. Six promising artists and ensembles, specially selected by a committee with representatives from the international music scene, received intensive guidance over the past few days from recorder player, singer and conductor Peter Van Heyghen and soprano Raquel Andueza. Both focused mainly on how the musicians present themselves to the audience: the story the ensembles want to tell, the structure of their program, and interaction with the audience. Because simply taking the stage and playing some music is, in 2023, no longer enough. Instead, the bar for historically informed performance must be raised; audiences should be drawn in even more to the whole experience. Or so we constantly hear from the public's perspective. The goal of this five-day program, as stated in the 2021 program guide: to send the musicians out into the world strengthened.
In the destruction
The audience to be engaged was certainly present in large numbers on this sunny Saturday and would continue to grow throughout the day. For the first concert, that of the Vestigium Ensemble, was already scheduled for 10 a.m., with a new group following every hour thereafter. The three-member Vestigium, made up of traverso, viola da gamba, and harpsichord, led the attendees into post-Lully France, where in the middle of the 18th century a fierce battle raged over the extent to which foreign influences were corrupting traditional musical taste. On these questionable developments, a certain Louis Bollioud-Mermet even published a treatise in 1746 – a work from which gambist Andrés García Fraile would present a short quote in English translation. This starting point resulted in a diverse program, ranging from Lully epigones such as Pierre Danican Philidor (1681-1731) through Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) to the 'modernism' of Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). Thus the design fell into two halves. First there were two excerpts (th AllemandePrelude and ) from the always pleasant, lighthearted yet often quite interchangeable suites of a Philidor: someone who strove to imitate nature with his music. Written like that, it actually seems more lofty than lighthearted, but oh well. In contrast stood the 'degenerate' sounds of Telemann and Corelli, with their sonatas from distant regions that proved considerably more virtuosic, energetic and certainly also more colorful, exerting their influence on Rameau's compositions, as evidenced by his frivolous, more contrastingPièces de clavecin en concerts . The balance between the three was often subtle and unfortunately sometimes rather fragile. Flautist Ana Fernández Anguita took her position to the right of the harpsichordist, where ordinarily the gambist would sit. Did the coaches perhaps have a hand in this? The fact is that she was sometimes a bit overpowered. A real discovery was the beautifully articulatedSarabande Largo () from the sonata in D (opus 2 no. 2) by one Michel Blavet (1700-1768), one of the many lesser-known composers who passed before us today.) from the sonata in D (opus 2 no. 2) by Michel Blavet (1700-1768), one of the many lesser-known composers featured today.
A world heading toward ruin. In other words: the world is plunging into destruction. The opening line that the four ladies of Against Time unleashed on the audience gave the entire program its name and promised little good. Yet even though an atmosphere of violence and war was initially evoked, with their succession of anonymous, polyphonic compositions, this quartet above all left behind a particularly beautiful impression. The interweaving of voices was a pleasure to listen to, while you could also closely follow the evolution of each voice. Impressive! During those rather rare moments when an individual would step out from the whole, it was especially the beautiful voice of Karin Weston that caught the ear— "there is nothing more beautiful in life than to sing" —from that point on, all eyes were on Rubens Rosa, an ensemble that was to perform in the afternoon and where this soprano would likewise take on the vocal part. Throughout the at times solemn and at times calming recitation, the ensemble changed formation with each new song. So it stood in a semi-circle, crossed facing each other, or virtually in a line. Everything was done to project the music as well as possible, even though the quartet gradually lost some of its height. The assembled common folk devoured it nonetheless, bestowed well-deserved vigorous applause, and received a brief encore in return.
In his list of ten concert tips had The Standard also included one of the IYAP concerts, specifically the third one with flutist Liane Sadler and lutenist Elias Conrad. Why precisely this one concert, and not immediately seize the opportunity to put the entire IYAP program in the spotlight? Likely because of a certain Maddalena Casulana, a late-sixteenth-century Italian composer who was brought into the limelight. Thus the Basel-based duo had brought along a collection containing madrigals by Casulana arranged by them. No unimportant lady, as it turns out, for she was the first woman in Western music history to publish her own madrigal collections. Her contemporaries praised her musical talent, we read in the program booklet—quite a substantial tome. Moreover, Casulana had personal contacts with composers such as Nicola Vicentino—possibly her teacher—and 'our' Orlandus Lassus. Equally praiseworthy was the attentive, intimate, and refined dialogue that Sadler and Conrad built with each other and with the music, with the Renaissance traverso being switched multiple times. On the other hand, these are instrumental confessions that don't come into their own in a large church. Let this be a plea to bring the audience closer to this kind of performance, by placing the musicians in the middle of the nave and having the audience sit around them, for instance. For the first time today, a program order change was communicated via an addendum to the program booklet. Could the coaches have had a hand in these changes? I stop wondering about it and simply note that in none of the six presentations were there any truly groundbreaking things to report; quite the contrary, in fact.
A piece of Italy in Cape Town
After the afternoon break, with the Yamane Duo two Japanese musicians took the stage. Under the arm of cellist Futo and pianoforte player Yuki Yamane were two scores: the second sonata from Beethoven's opus 102 (1815–1816) and Mendelssohn's Variations concertantes (opus 17, 1829). With both works, the duo, which is currently perfecting itself in nineteenth-thcentury repertoire at the Brussels Conservatory, wanted to demonstrate the relativity of dividing music into strictly defined stylistic periods. Or in other words: how Classical was Mendelssohn, and how Romantic Beethoven? Of both works in D major, a convincing reading of Mendelssohn's concertante variations was first given. Especially in the more serious and tempestuous passages, it seemed as if Mendelssohn had dedicated this work not to his brother Paul, but to this duo. The fiery commitment with which this music was defended sounded impressively powerful. The somewhat naive theme, on the other hand—particularly Classical in its treatment—received a charming, respectful, but above all disarming phrasing. Curious to see how the pair would fare with Beethoven. It immediately became clear that this next work also lacked for ideas. The result was a speaking tone on the pianoforte—an instrument built by Joseph Böhm in Vienna in 1824—and the grand, expansive sound of the cellist. The pair sat facing each other in both outer movements (Allegro con brio and Allegro – Allegro fugato) very closely to the skin, and at the same time remarkably free musicianship was also possible. An observation that also benefited the suspenseful build-up of the Adagio con molto sentimento d'afetto to good effect. Whether Duo Yamane truly touched Beethoven's romantic soul is debatable, but the fact is that this was an entertaining performance.
By the fifth little concert – it was meanwhile 3 p.m. – just as many ladies showed up who together Rubands Rosa formed, a young ensemble dedicated to medieval music. We had already heard singer Karin Weston. She was accompanied by, among others, the founder and vielle player Aliénor Wolteche. Add a viola d'arco, harp and lute to that, and you get a colorful gathering. Central to their program was a remarkable manuscript: the Grey codex, or the Cape Town codex, a manuscript of late medieval, West European music that had been compiled before 1506 in a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy, and which was donated in 1861 to the national library of South Africa via the British governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Grey. With this piece of Italy in Cape Town, Rubens Rosa touched on one of the important starting points of Laus Polyphoniae, and that is the scholarly foundation of the music heard there. The Cape Town codex is such a scholarly source and Rubens Rosa presented, in various constellations, a versatile anthology from the total of 85 compositions found in it. It resulted in sensitive playing, although the whole could have used a bit more punch and energy. What ultimately stood out most was the surprising vocal finale. It was so disarming that a string actually broke during the performance. A miracle from above that could only have taken place in this sacred setting.
Last in the line of ensembles this afternoon was Apollo's Cabinet, and their concert too was based on an original source. Charles Burney (1726-1814), an English composer and musicologist, made two major journeys through Europe in 1770 and 1772 and sketched in his travel account a very compelling picture of the contemporary European musical culture. Apollo's Cabinet followed in Burney's footsteps and took the audience on an entertaining journey that began in France and stopped in Italy (Venice), Austria (Vienna), Germany, the Netherlands and finally Great Britain. This narrative program was already prize-winning, and deservedly so it turned out. It testified not only to confident professionalism and corresponding enthusiasm, but also to exceptional virtuosity. Especially the two nimble-fingered recorder players Teresa Wrann and Mathis Wolfer made an impression in this way. They also seemingly effortlessly took on the roles of narrator and harpsichordist respectively. The strength of this approach was that by listening carefully, much could also be conveyed, for the music of, among others, Michel Corrette (1707-1795), Jean-Baptiste de Bousset (1662-1725), Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783) and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1623-1680) spoke volumes and ranged from stately and intimate to playful and exuberant, and back again. The singing of Ella Bodeker certainly contributed to those last two qualities, although it must be said that acting came more naturally to her than singing. Early music by definition has a musty image, but Apollo's Cabinet proved with Dietrich Buxtehude and the traditional John come kiss me now that there can be plenty of humor in it. So it was heard, and has not gone unnoticed, as (van) Reve might call it.
A day of spotting talent at Laus Polyphoniae, a rock in the stream of early music festivals, and already doing so for thirty years, made one realize that there is more than just Pukkelpop or Antwerp's Bollekesfeest. So onwards to next year, where there will certainly be another edition of the International Young Artist's Presentation organized. The variety presented to you at such a marathon concert for just 36 euros is in any case phenomenal. In terms of value for money, this is absolutely a great distinction. And the jury and the public know how to appreciate that, as evidenced by the large turnout. "Our main goal is to share art with as many people as possible", artistic director Bart Demuyt told the magazine ZOUT. Well, that mission certainly succeeded today!
WHAT: IYAP – International Young Artist's Presentation
WHO: Vestigium Ensemble [Ana Fernández Anguita, traverso | Andrés García Fraile, viola da gamba | Eliot Xaquín Dios Martínez, harpsichord]; Contre le Temps [Cécile Walch and Karin Weston, soprano | Amy Farnell and Julia Marty, mezzo-soprano]; Liane Sadler, renaissance traverso's & Elias Conrad – lute; Duo Yamane [Futo Yamane, cello | Yuki Yamane, pianoforte]; Rubens Rosa [Aliénor Wolteche, vielle and artistic direction | Karin Weston, vocals | Elizabeth Sommers, viola d'arco | Mélina Perlein-Féliers, harp | Asako Ueda, lute]; Apollo's Cabinet [Ella Bodeker, soprano | Teresa Wrann, recorder | David Lopez Fernandez, violin | Harry Buckoke, viola da gamba | Jonatan Bougt, theorbo and baroque guitar | Mathis Wolfer, recorder and harpsichord]
WHERE: AMUZ – Antwerp
WHEN: Saturday, August 19, 2023
ORGANIZATION: Laus Polyphoniae 2023: Antwerp. Townscape – Soundscape, continuing through Sunday, August 27
