EIF Review: Irish Baroque Orchestra

Finally answering the time-honoured question of ‘What would an 18th-century pop concert look like?’, the Irish Baroque Orchestra took the Queen’s Hall stage with a programme plucked from Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre back in May 1742. Organised by the French Horn virtuoso, and shady entrepreneur known only as Mr. Charles the Hungarian, the concert showcased the latest in instrument design. It also debuted Handel’s music in Ireland before the composer, freshly arrived in Dublin, could do so himself.

History does not record whether Charles exited the theatre pursued by an irate George Frideric, but it’s a nice thought.

Under the lively direction of Peter Whelan, formerly of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, there was no doubting the orchestra’s intent to recapture some of that Georgian ‘Top of the Pops’ vibe. Out front with his green harpsichord, Whelan is as much band leader as conductor, laying down notes with one hand, and sculpting the orchestra’s sound with the other.

“History does not record whether Charles exited the theatre pursued by an irate George Frideric, but it’s a nice thought.”

The IBO even had a lead guitarist on offer in the proudly mullet-sporting lutenist Pablo Fitzgerald. Between harpsichord and lute, a concert with percussive strings in the engine room was promised and delivered.

From a toe-tapping opening with, who else but Handel’s II Pastor Fido, through the now antique – but then cutting-edge woodwind-laden Concerto in F by Hasse, the sense of grown-up festival was palpable. Impressing the concert halls of the 18th century demanded catchy melodies and songs with oomph. That oomph hasn’t faded with time, even if the performances have typically grown somewhat tamer.

Into Hasse’s Concerto Op 4 No 1 then, composed for ballet prodigy Barbara Campanini. There was much bopping in the seats as the oboes, horns, and strings did their thing, though no one quite took the floor. It was a close thing though, and Whelan certainly did his best to groove on stage.

Finishing off the pre-intermission was Handel/Walsh’s Va Tacito, an excerpt from Handel’s opera Giulio Cesare. A lively duel between Flute and French Horn (Mr Charles’s speciality, remember?), this was a perky, ‘anything you can do, I can do louder’ game of cat and mouse to entertain the now cake and coffee-hungry audience.

Post-intermission, the Irish Baroque Orchestra surprised the audience by having horn players ambush them from the sides. Mr Charles’s composition Suite 1: Chasse from Duets for Horn showed off what those ‘new’ machines could do.

Then it was into a rich second half, with a classic baroque banger in the shape of Geminiani’s Concerto Gross Op 5 No 12 ‘La Folia’. Sliding gracefully from slow to rowdy sections, the orchestra purred and roared with style.

With the gently pastoral Telemann’s Napolitana, the audience was next introduced to the ‘Oboe of Love’ in a sweet, before some twin Cello delights thanks to Bocchi’s Sonata X. If you think of the Irish Baroque Orchestra as a rock band, this was there sweet and soulful section, the ‘More than Words’ in the middle of an Extreme concert.

Swinging back into some swelling rhythmic goodness, it was then time for Lully’s Marche pour la ceremonies des Turcs. Then as now, a skilled composer who knows how to build a theme into a big, celebratory ending is sure to win a crowd.

Finally, how better to drink Handel’s tears, than to conclude the concert with a healthy selection from Water Music Suites 1 and 2? Opening with charismatic horns, the orchestra brought the goods with a lively run through some of Handel’s biggest hits, concluding with a triumphant rendition of the iconic Alla Hornpipe.

Not every classical concert can be this much fun, but more of them should be. ‘Ba-rock’ on the Irish Baroque Orchestra, ‘ba-rock on.’