City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney
January 21, 2015

Johann Sebastian Bach was an inveterate innovator. The trio sonata, developed from the mid 17th century onwards, and something of an Italian speciality (Corelli’s outings in the form were probably the most influential), was generally seen as a three or four hand affair. Two melodic instruments took the top lines, a continuo (sometimes comprising two separate instruments), sat on the bottom. But, in his organ sonatas, Bach cunningly combined all three parts in one, using right and left hand plus pedals to make of himself a baroque one-man band. Over the centuries, numerous rearrangements of these six works have come to light, many restoring the idea of three players, some going for two or even a small chamber ensemble.

The Italian baroque group Ensemble Arcomelo (from whom Trio Arcomelo derives) have had some success abroad – their founder, harpsichordist Michele Benuzzi has recorded some fine CPE Bach and Benda – so an evening of Bach’s finest promised much.

The opening sally went pretty well. Bach’s First E  Flat Major Sonata with its catchy, hummable opening movement received a spirited performance from oboist Gianfranco Bortolato. Currently a soloist with the Rome Opera Orchestra, Bortolato isn’t a period specialist as such, but he was nevertheless a stylish practitioner delivering a stream of pleasing tone with plenty of attention to period detail. It wasn’t effortless playing – it clearly required a deal of concentration – but on the whole it was flawless, the clarity of his instrumental sound allowing us full access to Bach’s world of patterns, themes and joyful dances. He was ably backed by Benuzzi on a fine-sounding harpsichord, his clean, graceful line supporting and blending perfectly with the oboe.

I wish I could say the same for the third member of the trio, Guatemalan violinist Claudia Lopez Gomez. A check of the groups line up suggests that she isn’t a regular with them and one can only presume she was an expedient substitute at some stage in the planning process. An undemonstrative player, she conveyed minimal emotion and lacked any sense of immediate communication with her fellow musicians, being generally glued to the music. Sad to report, she was insecure in intonation throughout, and fault which seriously marred four out of the six sonatas.

Benuzzi and Bortolato soldiered on in fine form in the Third Sonata in D Minor (the largo with its unexpected chromatic sidesteps was a real gem), and the latter in particular played his heart out in the subsequent three-handers, really getting into the swing of the dance rhythms.

After the interval, the second half brought pretty much more of the same (one of the problems with these ‘completest’ programs where no other composer or musical form gets a look in). Bortolato relaxed into Bach’s delightful music, Gomez remained implacable. I’ll draw a veil over the C Major Sonata (probably the most uplifting and best known of the set), which was performed in its solo violin and harpsichord version.

So, despite some fine playing, an overall disappointment and certainly not up to the standard you’d expect from an International festival.