by Steve Newton on January 25th, 2021 at 3:47 PM 1 of 2 2 of 2
The Pacific Baroque Orchestra will give an online performance of J.S. Bach Concertos this Wednesday (January 27). Two of Bach’s most beloved concertos exuberantly celebrate ensemble playing, a joy keenly felt by the musicians of Pacific Baroque Orchestra during this year of isolation, reads the event info. Each concerto features not a single soloist but rather a trio flute, violin and harpsichord in
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and two violins accompanied by bass instruments in the
Double Violin Concerto. The rest of the ensemble supports the soloists and comments on their playing often in a song-like alternation of catchy tutti refrain and fanciful solo verse.
But years of experience has also taught the founding artistic director of Victoria Baroque that when life presents you with a golden programming opportunity, you seize it especially when it involves Handel’s Messiah, one of the surest events of the Christmas season. “Typically, December is filled with Messiahs in Victoria,” Stratkauskas said. “When we realized because of COVID it was going to be a small-scale year, we thought we could do a very nice, small-scale Messiah.” Victoria Baroque is tackling Handel’s enduring hit for the first time Thursday with an all-star roster of Vancouver Island soloists and chamber musicians, ranging from Isaiah Bell, one of the top tenors in the country, to violinist Christi Meyers, the assistant concertmaster of the Victoria Symphony.