by John W. Lambert
“Cultural Voice of North Carolina”
October 15, 2006
Raleigh, NC: The North Carolina Bach Festival was launched in 1979 with a performance of The Passion According to St. John in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church. For a number of years it found a home in Christ Church, where a superior pipe organ provided aural comfort for those sitting in the Episcopal pews, and where it was
possible to project festive spirit and concentration, too, by holding the event across –
several days each sprin. Many outstanding artists came to perform, many outstanding local and regional ensembles participated. Early on, there was an annual program
devoted to performances by young artists and youth groups. The NCBF defied the odds
by projecting a unified front formed from disparate and often uneven parts. But despite
Support from many distinguished citizens and despite the fact that the focus of the
undertaking is one of the greatest musicians and composers in the history of the universe
(and that’s no hype), the Bach Festival has never become the artistic and social force some people who have watched it since it was hatched had anticipated. It’s hard to say
precisely why. The lack of a permanent home has surely played a role. Less than
spectacular funding support has been a factor. Spreading the offerings throughout the
season, rather than concentrating the event across a single weekend, may be diluting the net results.
In any event, we have Christopher Bickers and Elisabeth Chopinet to thank for the
NCBF’s continuation in recent years and for the Festival’s three-concert 2006-7 season,
which got underway in Ruggero Piano’s Bésendorfer Hall in North Raleigh on the
afternoon of October 15. The program was devoted to works for solo instruments and
small ensembles and featured guitarist Ed Stephenson, who teaches at Meredith College, pianist Salam Murtada, who represented North Carolina in the 2004 edition of the Cliburn
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and long-time Raleigh resident Judith Bruno, soprano. Pianist Nancy Whelan was the assisting artist.
The program was unusual in that only the soprano aria that brought the concert to a close was performed on what might be called an original instrument.
Things got underway with the Sarabande from the Cello Suite No. 1, S.1007, one of the Master’s most serene melodies, and one that —like much of Bach’s music —lends itself
handsomely to being played on something other than cello. Guitar works extremely well,
and Stephenson cast a spell with his performance. There followed the Prelude ‘from
S.998, originally for lute —the piece consists of a prelude, a fugue, and an allegro, and it
would have been nice to have heard the whole thing, but the prelude worked well enough
and made a nice pairing with the opening selection. Nancy Whelan then joined
Stephenson for a performance of Vivaldi’s well-known Lute Concerto in D. The sound
from the Bésendorfer grand complemented the guitar nicely, and Whelan never overpowered the soloist. There was warm applause from the small audience.
Bach’s “Italian Concerto,”S.971, works very well on piano, as opposed to klavier —
indeed, some listeners prefer it in “modern”guise. Murtada played it well enough,
although there were tempo fluctuations in some of the faster passages. In a sense, this
and the Vivaldi concerto, too, put the players at a bit of a disadvantage, since recordings
of both scores by major artists are ubiquitous. Still, there’s much to be said for hearing music like this done live, and there was a tangible sense of immediacy in the hall as the afternoon progressed.
