Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart appear so frequently on concert programs that they can start to sound a bit routine.
But there was no danger of that Wednesday evening during a mostly Mozart performance by the English Concert. The 22-member period ensemble took the music back to its roots, offering a refreshing, vivid approximation of how it sounded in the composer’s own time.
Besides the all-too-rare appearance by a touring, international-level orchestra, the concert was also notable because it was the first Friends of Chamber Music event in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
Unfortunately, it was a mixed success. While the larger theater gave more listeners a chance to attend, the Ellie is not a concert hall and its acoustics were not exactly accommodating. The sound too often seemed unfocused and inert.
If the city plans to book this facility for more concerts of this kind, it will, at the least, have to procure a concert shell that can be placed in front of the proscenium to help project the sound. A curtain behind the performers simply will not do.
At a time when sleek, muscular performances of Mozart are common, a period approach to his music can be jarring at first.
But the appeal of the English Concert’s light, transparent, slightly earthy sound quickly became apparent, especially given the group’s flawless technique and innate cohesiveness in the Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, and all evening long.
The program was as much a showcase for Andrew Manze – the group’s conductor, concertmaster and soloist – as it was for the group. This dynamo of the period violin had two opportunities to display his prodigious talents, and he made the most of them.
A fun-loving spirit and showmanship were so much a part of Mozart’s approach to music, and Manze brought healthy doses of both to the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, especially the mischievous third movement with its witty incursions of baroque and folk idioms.
He returned centerstage in the second half for a suitably passionate take on the short Adagio in E major, K. 261.
Opening the concert was the Sinfonia No. 1 in D major by C.P.E. Bach, an undervalued composer who was a bridge from the baroque era to Mozart.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
