10.06.2005 - Vivaldi Four Seasons, NCH, Dublin
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The Irish Times
Friday, June 10th 2005
Michael Dervan

Vivaldi – Lolimpade Overture. Sonata Al Santo Sepolcro RV130. Sinfonia alla rustica RV151. Four Seasons.

An all-Vivaldi programme is a strong draw for any orchestra exploring baroque repertoire, especially if the ubiquitous Four Seasons are included.

The Irish Baroque Orchestra’s second appearance at the National Concert Hall on Wednesday took the challenge head-on – the Four Seasons, but as you might not have heard them in Ireland before, not least because the other and less well known works on the programme were interspersed with the more famous ones. The most important characteristic of the evening’s music making was not, however, the interleaving of the different pieces, welcome indeed as it was.

Guest director Monica Huggett, who also played the solo violin part, galvanised the orchestra, sharpening and tightening the ensemble, sending the players on new expressive quests, and generally engendering a sense let-your-hair-down enthusiasm that was quite infectious.
Her style of music-making was premised on sharply drawn contrasts of dynamic and gesture, freedom in the manipulation of tempo, and a fondness for the heightening of pictorial elements that sometimes raced well beyond exaggeration and into caricature.

The bird’s in Huggett’s Vivaldi sang like prima donnas, not so much with heedless innocence but instead always taking time to register with their listeners.

The staggering of the drunkard was not left to the woozy shaping of Vivaldi’s already lurching melodic line, but also found the soloist herself tilting and teetering in sympathy.
There were, inevitably, a few rough edges in a concert that risked so many extremes. But the vitality of the playing was irresistible, and the audience demanded – and got – an encore before Huggett led her team off the stage.