According to those who keep such records, Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach was the fourth most-performed composer worldwide in 2018. To Bachophiles, however—and I unabashedly admit to being one—there is simply no such thing as too much Bach. Concerts of Bach music often become special occasions of note, ignoring claims of ubiquity and attracting a large audience more often than not.
One of those happy occasions of note came yesterday afternoon courtesy of the Cathedral Concert Series at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus—a concert of the music of J.S. Bach by the Amadeus Chamber Ensemble and a number of soloists, conducted by Howard Skinner. The rather large audience in the cathedral’s nave heard a program of two major Bach secular instrumental works that bookended four vocal pieces selected from the composer’s sacred choral works.
The afternoon opened with the Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067, notable among Bach’s four suites for its use of a solo flute against a string ensemble. Hannah Hammel, Principal Flute in the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, was the flutist.
Alto Diana Salesky, daughter of conductor Skinner and a founder of the Amadeus Chamber Ensemble, was joined by soprano Abigail Santos-Villalobos for two beautifully blended duets from Bach cantatas: “Nimm mich mir und gib mich mir” (from Nur jedem das Seine, BWV 163) and “Wir Eilen mit schwachen doch emsigen Schritten” (from Jesu der du meine Selle, BWV 78). Each singer also had an individual aria from Bach’s St. John Passion; Ms. Santos-Villalobos offered a crystalline “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” with Ms. Salesky singing an “Es ist vollbracht” that was gorgeous in its dramatic nuance.
The afternoon concluded with a spirited and nicely balanced performance of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major. Soloists were harpsichordist Chih-Long Hu and violinist Miroslav Hristov of the UT School of Music, and flutist Hammel. The ensemble was filled out with some of Hristov’s students and guest artists, plus violist David Kovác, cellist Nathan Jasinski, and bassist Rusty Holloway.
It should be noted that the recently constructed cathedral is a masterpiece of design and details, every bit as awe inspiring and impressive as cathedrals should be. However, like many cathedrals, its voluminous space is characterized by acoustics that are simultaneously resonant and naturally reverberative in the cavernous sense, which does have the effect of muddling instrumental sound. While the cathedral used a fairly subtle arrangement of microphones and reinforcement for the concert, the resulting sound was a bit hollow, particularly a factor in the Orchestral Suite and the Brandenburg where an adequate balance of Ms. Hammel’s flute was at stake.
The Cathedral Concert Series has extensive schedule for the fall and for the rest of the season, including Scruffy City Orchestra and Knoxville Handel Society in November, KSO Concertmaster William Shaub in February, and the University of Notre Dame Glee Club in March.
