Bach to the Present

J. Reilly Lewis and Jennifer Ellis Kampani, 10/9/08

To really adhere to period performance ideals, music that was originally performed in a cozy space should be heard by modern ears in similarly intimate environs. Yet simple economics often require concessions, as presenters need to pack as many fannies in as many seats as possible. What a treat it was, then, to hear two of D.C.'s finest exponents of the Baroque style — all-around beast J. Reilly Lewis on the harpsichord, sometimes accompanying soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani — playing selections from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach on Thursday night in the Mansion at Strathmore, where the music room's dimensions allowed for an up-close-and-familial experience of this most domestic compendium.

J.Rilla, taking a break from his duties as music director of the Washington Bach Consort and the Cathedral Choral Society, even brought along a harpsichord suited to his task, a copy of a Michael Mietke that he proudly showed off after having sounded the last note. He and the instrument began rockily, as Lewis drastically, haphazardly reshaped the opening aria from J.S.'s own "Goldberg" Variations and tiptoed erratically through the irreverent stylistic shifts of a short solo work by his son C.P.E. But quickly we got more typical Lewis performances; the various shorter pieces he played later in the program fairly crackled with joy, and he drew a wealth of color from the Mietke.

My enthusiasm for Kampani when she sings Baroque music has been extensively recorded, but there always seems to be something more to say about how good she is. On Thursday, in the Mansion's close quarters, one could hear just how precisely she intoned every single one of the treacherous German dipthongs, ending each luminous vowel with a properly rolled "-apt", "-ubst", or "-echt" (or whatever) and making it sound lovely. Our relative closeness making it even more obvious how amazingly secure she is when singing quiet and low; indeed, this is probably the most appealing part of a very appealing voice. Most importantly, she approached these pieces with the same brio J. Reills brought to them; both never imbued a sweet little melody with too much seriousness, chose phrasings that felt right and natural, and had a good ol' time making music.

In among the lil' bonbons that made up the bulk of the intermissionless, 80-minute program, each performer had one longer showcase. For Kampani, this was Bach's aria "Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen," contemplative and reverent. Kampani didn't rush the turns of the melody, kept the harmonic rhythm of the piece in mind as she moved along, and precisely shaded each note to bring out the meaning of the words; the combination made it all the more breathtaking when the harpsichord dropped out, leaving a feather of a sustained vowel from Kampani to float quiet and serene on its own. By contrast, Lewis' performance of the Suite in G dazzled with fleet fingerwork and a sure sense of line and momentum, culminating in an irresistible contrapuntal dance that one hoped would never end. Probably not as well as Bach would have played it, to be sure, but not bad, and about as close in performance and setting as we'll get in these benighted modern times.

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