Baroque Band began its eighth season Sunday night in a program that only a relatively short time ago would have been considered a curiosity.
Star of the evening was Xavier Sabata, the Spanish countertenor who presented in his Chicago-area debut excerpts from operas by George Frideric Handel and Antonio Vivaldi. All were inspired by “Orlando Furioso,” the 16th Century poem of love and war by Ludovico Ariosto.
Central to the work is the madness of the title character brought about by unrequited love, which gave opportunity for Sabata to display not only sounds of extraordinary warmth and ardor but also vivid extremes of vocal acting.
In the former, the “live” acoustic of Nichols Concert Hall at Evanston’s Music Institute of Chicago was a help. The male alto voice can sound reedy and frail in many halls, but not at Nichols, which enables all kinds of performers to project strongly – often too strongly – to the back of the house.
Sunday the balance between Sabata and 14 players of Baroque Band was ideal. He was not overwhelmed by the ensemble’s habitual vigor. Nor did he sound recessive or wan when Handel set him against two violas (in an aria about sleep from “Orlando,” which was reprised as an encore) and Vivaldi gave him a duet with a flute (in a profession of love from “Orlando Furioso”).
Lest anybody think Sabata’s mad scenes sounded unhinged or excessive, they were not. Instead, a range of delicate shadings prevailed, along with unusual ease and fluidity of ornamentation. Those listening for moments of awkwardness between his high and low registers – a danger with countertenors — would have been unable to spot them.
With minimal movement and changes of expression, Sabata also showed himself a convincing actor who projected power and tenderness in about equal measure, even when the temperature of the sentiments went down, as in “Se l’inganno sortisce felice” from Handel’s “Ariodante.”
Nestled among the vocal works was a Concerto Grosso by Handel (Op. 6, No. 10) and a Vivaldi Sinfonia in C (RV 116). Both had conductor Garry Clarke’s usual strength of attack in addition to tiny blemishes and lapses into strenuousness. The finale of the Handel came closest to conveying joy.
The program will be repeated at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Grainger Ballroom of Orchestra Hall, 220 S. Michigan Ave, and Thursday at the Augustana Lutheran Church, 5500 S. Woodlawn Ave.; $17-$39; 312-235-2368; http://www.baroqueband.org/.
More Top Picks Drones