# Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra at Bing Concert Hall, April 27, 2016

[Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra](http://www.philharmonia.org/concert/april-2016/) featuring [Thomas Cooley](http://www.thomascooley.com/), [Dominique Labelle](http://www.dominiquelabelle.com/), and [Ashley Valentine](http://www.sopranoashleyvalentine.com/), accompanied by the Philharmonia Chorale, members of the [Stanford Chamber Chorale](http://chorale.stanford.edu/), and members of the [Chamber Chorus of the University of California at Berkeley](http://chamberchorus.berkeley.edu/)  
2016-04-27  
[Bing Concert Hall](http://live.stanford.edu/bingconcerthall/)  
[Stanford University, 327 Lasuen St, Stanford, CA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Stanford+University,+327+Lasuen+St,+Stanford,+CA&hl=en)  
7:30 PM, Wednesday, April 27, 2016

[[2016-04-26|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2016|Up to the 2016 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2016#April_events|Up to the 2016 event list!]] ☸  [[2016-04-28|On to the next event!]]

## Tentative Program

* Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
* Beethoven: _Elegischer Gesang_ (Elegiac Song)
* Beethoven: _Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt_ (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage)
* Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2, _Lobgesang_ (Hymn of Praise) 

## Set One: Beethoven selections

[7:31 PM lights down, announcements]

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

01. [7:34 PM] _Leonore_ Overture No. 3, Op 72b  
[ends ~7:47 PM, pause for a minute or two]
02. [7:50 PM] _Elegischer Gesang_ (Elegiac Song), Op. 118 (1814)
03. [7:57 PM] _Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt_ (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage), Op.112 (1815)  
[set ends 8:04 PM]

## Set Two: Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2

[8:24 PM lights down, tuning, announcements from Nic]

Felix Mendelssohn: _Lobgesang_ (Hymn of Praise), “A Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible, for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra" AKA Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 52 (1840)

01. [8:30 PM] Symphony
02. [8:56 PM] _All men, all things, all that have life and breath_ (Chorus)
03. [9:01 PM] _Praise thou the Lord, O ye Spirit_ (Soprano Solo and Semi-Chorus)
04. [9:03 PM] _Sing ye Praise_ (Tenor Recitative and Aria)
05. [9:06 PM] _All ye that cried unto the Lord_ (Chorus)
06. [9:07 PM] _I waited for the Lord_ (Soprano Duet and Chorus)
07. [9:13 PM] _The sorrows of Death_ (Tenor Air)
08. [9:17 PM] _The Night is Departing_ (Soprano Solo and Chorus)
09. [9:21 PM] _Let all men praise the Lord_ (Chorale of _Now Thank We All Our God_)
10. [9:25 PM] _My song shall be always Thy Mercy_ (Soprano and Tenor Duet)
11. [9:29 PM] _Ye nations, offer to the Lord_ (Chorus)  
[set ends 9:35 PM; all off after a minute or four]


## Performers

### Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

[Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra](http://www.philharmonia.org/)

(I was too lazy to verify whether or not this list is correct ... someday I might compare it with the one given in the program)

* Paul Avril: horn;
* Elizabeth Blumenstock: violin;
* Danny Bond: bassoon;
* Phoebe Carrai: cello;
* David Daniel Bowes: viola;
* Lisa Grodin: principal viola;
* Paul Hale: cello;
* Maria Ionia Caswell: viola;
* R.J. Kelley: principal horn;
* Katherine Kyme: concertmaster, violin;
* Tyler Lewis: violin;
* Anthony Martin: principal second violin;
* Nicholas McGegan: conductor, music director;
* Carla Moore: violin;
* Maxine Nemerovski: violin;
* Ellie Nishi: viola;
* Gonzalo X. Ruiz: oboe;
* Marc Schachman: principal oboe;
* Andrew Schwartz: bassoon;
* Sandra Schwartz: violin;
* William Skeen: cello;
* Timothy Spears: contrabass;
* Noah Strick: violin;
* Tanya Tomkins: principal cello;
* Hanneke van Proosdij: harpsichord;
* Jolianne von Einem: violin;
* Lisa Weiss: violin;
* Gabrielle Wunsch: violin;
* Laurie Young Stevens: violin;
* Kristin Zoernig: principal contrabass.

### Vocal soloists

* [Thomas Cooley](http://www.thomascooley.com/): tenor vox;
* [Dominique Labelle](http://www.dominiquelabelle.com/): soprano vox;
* [Ashley Valentine](http://www.sopranoashleyvalentine.com/): soprano vox;

### Philharmonia Chorale

* [Bruce Lamott](https://www.sfcm.edu/faculty/lamott): director;

### members of the Stanford Chamber Chorale

* [Steven Sano](http://web.stanford.edu/~sano/): director;

### members of the Chamber Chorus of the University of California at Berkeley

* [Magen Solomon](http://music.berkeley.edu/people/magen-solomon/): visiting director;


## Notes

The first set tonight was short but sweet. Beethoven seemed to be an odd choice for a baroque concert to me, but the three pieces all came off quite well. I especially liked the first half of the last piece, which was terrific at evoking the terrifying stillness of a ship bobbing on a calm, windless sea. Good programming with that one! 

In retrospect, it was also smart to schedule a short front half because the second set seemed overly long and slow. If both halves had been long, I would have fallen asleep by the end of the show, as it was, I had just enough mental stamina to make it through the end of Mendelssohn's unexpectedly tedious _Lobgesang_. It's not that I didn't like the work, but there was just too much of it; what with all the vocal repeats, Mendelssohn was probably writing to fill a particular time requirement, but for my attention, brevity would have been the better option!

Stephen Smoliar posted an atypically cheery [review](http://www.examiner.com/article/mcgegan-s-attentively-energetic-approach-transcends-mendelssohn-s-shortcomings) of the following night's gig in San Francisco. My guess is that he went into the show with a higher energy level than I did.

Similarly, Steve Winn also posted a glowing [review](https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/Philharmonia-Baroque-Orchestra/Mendelssohn-Scores-in-Thrilling-Philharmonia-Baroque-Performance), though he was a bit less enthusiastic about the first set than I was. Guess I'm just a simpleton with simple taste in music!

{{tag>music Philharmonia_Baroque_Orchestra Thomas_Cooley Dominique_Labelle Ashley_Valentine Bing_Concert_Hall Paul_Avril Elizabeth_Blumenstock Danny_Bond Phoebe_Carrai David_Daniel_Bowes Lisa_Grodin Paul_Hale Maria_Ionia_Caswell R.J._Kelley Katherine_Kyme Tyler_Lewis Anthony_Martin Nicholas_McGegan Carla_Moore Maxine_Nemerovski Ellie_Nishi Gonzalo_X._Ruiz Marc_Schachman Andrew_Schwartz Sandra_Schwartz William_Skeen Timothy_Spears Noah_Strick Tanya_Tomkins Hanneke_van_Proosdij Jolianne_von_Einem Lisa_Weiss Gabrielle_Wunsch Laurie_Young_Stevens Kristin_Zoernig  }}

[[2016-04-26|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2016|Up to the 2016 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2016#April_events|Up to the 2016 event list!]] ☸  [[2016-04-28|On to the next event!]]