Thu 4/25
Apollo’s Fire has been exalted globally since its inception nearly three decades ago. In this 29th season of 2020-2021, this phenomenal baroque orchestra brought the audience at Akron’s First United Methodist Church to its feet numerous times in a joyous program composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The evening opened with the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, widely regarded as one of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era. Ms. Sorrell’s conducting is exuberant and infectious, but her vivacious eloquence as a harpsichordist is enthralling. The orchestra and soloists complement her dazzle and shine as bright as the Olympian god that is the namesake of this sensational orchestra. Indeed, Apollo’s Fire seems to aid the soul in healing from the darkness that the Covid -19 pandemic has plagued upon our collective psyche.
Alan Choo was the featured soloist in the reconstructed Violin Concerto in D Minor. Choo is an articulate soloist whose striking confidence melded with the vivacity of the orchestra, having studied Bach’s original harpsichord concerto and making his own violin adaptation. But the second half of the program proved to triumph over a praiseworthy first half.
It opened with Orchestral Suite No. 3 in d major, known affectionately as AIR or Air on the G string. Jeanette Sorrell describes a sense of exhilaration that she and the orchestra feel in performing this piece, in her program notes: “Some of that is due to the sheer virtuosity, which is at an athletic level – This air is a profound example of Bach’s extraordinary ability to move the emotions through music. The gigue is a virtuoso romp that keeps all parties on their toes.” Assuredly, it kept this rapt audience on the edge of their seats.
The finale was a joyous celebration that Bach composed as his only church cantata scored for a solo soprano and trumpet. “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” (“Shout for joy to God in all Lands”) featured fan favorites, soprano Amanda Forsythe and trumpet player Steven Marquardt, who performs exclusively on historical instruments.
Ms. Forsythe floated onto the stage, as a pleasure to behold in a hand-embroidered navy tulle evening dress. Her diminutive stature contradicts her magnificent virtuosity. The pairing of these soloists with this orchestra brought numerous ovations and genuine exhilaration to an audience that had been pent up and socially isolated for much of the past year.
Ms. Forsythe seemed to understand the depth of disheartenment that her audience and orchestra peers have endured the past year and a half and gently coaxed a ripple of delight from her audience with the help of Mr. Marquardt’s and the orchestra’s mastery of Bach’s first three arias. With the last two arias, Ms. Forsythe commanded the stage and led her enraptured audience into a genuine flourish of exultation
This world-renowned orchestra and its soloists, with the help of a devoted and passionate conductor, absolutely lived up to its namesake in ability and shine.
[Written by Lisa DeBenedictis]