January 31, 2025
“Go for Baroque”
Chapman Cultural Center
Spartanburg, South Carolina – USA
Spartanburg Philharmonic. Joanna Mulfinger, concertmaster.
Antonio VIVALDI: Concerto in G Major, RV 146
Henry PURCELL: Pavane and Chaconne
Antonio VIVALDI: Concerto in C minor, RV 118
Henry PURCELL: Fantasia Upon One Note
Heinrich Ignaz Franz BIBER: Batalia a 10
Arcangelo CORELLI: Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 2
Paul Hyde | 11 FEB 2025
It’s often said that classical music in the United States faces significant challenges with an aging and perhaps dwindling audience. But symphony orchestras, much to their credit, are not going down without a fight. They’re offering innovative programs to try to appeal to younger and more diverse audiences.
One might point to, for instance, the dozens or perhaps hundreds of orchestras, big and small, that have embraced live orchestral music with film. The music of John Williams seems particularly guaranteed to fill a concert hall.
Sometimes orchestral innovations succeed, sometimes not. But they’re certainly worthy of support as earnest efforts to ensure orchestral music endures.
Innovative programs can take many forms. They can be large, like the big concert performances of film music, or more modest, such as chamber music programs.
I recently spent a delightful evening listening to Baroque chamber music as a part of the Spartanburg Philharmonic’s Espresso Series. This series recognizes the importance of the social aspect of concert-going. It’s billed as the “ultimate live music fix paired with complimentary food and beverages, all in a chill and laidback setting.” Concerts take place on Fridays. The doors of Spartanburg’s Chapman Cultural Center open early, at 5:30 p.m., an hour before the downbeat. Complimentary food and drinks await concert-goers as they stroll inside.
On the night I attended, January 31, the lobby was packed and the atmosphere was sparkling. The crowd, dressed casually, was ebullient, with seemingly everyone chatting with a neighbor. Since I was a bit late, little was left on the charcuterie table, but there was plenty of wine, beer, coffee, and lemonade available. Spartanburg Philharmonic executive director Kathryn Boucher was pouring wine at one table. Other Philharmonic staff served patrons at other tables.
The Espresso Series, in short, offers more than a performance; it’s a concert experience.
The audience enjoyed complimentary food and drinks in the Chapman Cultural Center lobby before the concert. (image courtesy of Spartanburg Philharmonic)
The performance in the theater that followed the happy hour was only an hour in length, though it felt like a full program. Titled Go for Baroque, it featured 14 Spartanburg Philharmonic musicians. In keeping with the casual nature of the atmosphere, we were invited to bring our drinks into the theater.
It was a stylish concert of string pieces by Antonio Vivaldi, Henry Purcell, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, and Arcangelo Corelli. We don’t hear many all-Baroque concerts in Upstate South Carolina, so this was a real treat. It offered the sort of tuneful music that falls trippingly on the ear. Themes often toggle between spirited buoyancy and introspective serenity.
Enjoying her first season as Spartanburg Philharmonic concertmaster, Joanna Mulfinger led the musicians from the first violinist’s position on stage. Despite a few passing intonation problems, the musicians delivered the lively music with a clear, crisp articulation and a graceful attention to style.
Concertmaster Joanna Mulfinger, seen here in rehearsal, led the musicians from the 1st violin stand. (courtesy of Spartanburg Philharmonic)
Most of the musicians did not play on Baroque instruments — that is, 17th Century instruments — although the harpsichord dated from the period and Mulfinger performed on a 1653 Amati violin.
Mulfinger is a Baroque specialist, and her solos were particularly pleasing. Overall, the musicians were keen to observe Baroque style — for instance, playing the slower episodes with minimal vibrato.
Also in Baroque style, the violinists and violists stood while playing. In keeping with the spirit of the Espresso Series, most of the musicians were dressed as casually as the audience. The 476-seat Chapman Cultural Center proved a fine venue for chamber music.
Peter B. Kay, the Philharmonic’s composer-in-residence who introduced the pieces, emphasized the often weirdness of Baroque music — in the best possible sense.
One particular oddity was Biber’s 1673 Battalia, often translated as “Body of Troops” or simply “Battle.” Inspired by war, the piece features some surprising orchestral techniques. In the second movement, “The Profligate Society of Common Humor,” the scene evoked appears to be a military campsite where troops are singing eight different songs in different keys, all adding up to a tremendous cacophony. Remarkably, the piece was composed a good 200 years before American composer Charles Ives would employ the same dissonant polyphonic technique. Other special effects in this work include foot stomping, left-hand pizzicato, and slapping the bow on the instrument.
Before that piece, in a delightful surprise, the orchestra brought Spartanburg Philharmonic board member Greg Murphy on stage to assist the orchestra with Purcell’s lovely “Fantasia Upon One Note.” Murphy is not a violinist, but he was given a quick lesson so he could play one note (as the title implies) throughout the short piece. The audience loved it.
Other highlights included a haunting and heartfelt account of Purcell’s Pavane and Chaconne.
This lovely concert concluded with the beautiful Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 2 by Arcangelo Corelli. Few composers wrote more delightful or heavenly music. But that’s perhaps no surprise for a composer whose first name is “Archangel.”
All in all, the Espresso Series provides a relaxed and highly appealing way to conclude a work week. And variety plays an important role. Past concerts have featured film music and jazz. The upcoming Espresso concert on March 28 offers an all-percussion performance that promises “to shake, rattle, and roll your soul.” ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Spartanburg Philharmonic: spartanburgphilharmonic.org
Read more by Paul Hyde.
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