A Barrelful of Baroqueers
I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t expect Tuesday night’s concert, titled “Baroqueer,” at the Branded Saloon to be as packed as it was.
People piled in the back to catch a glimpse of Baroque bows caressing gut strings. A server parted the crowd while balancing a tray of Dirty Shirleys. Wafts of garlic bread mingled in the air with Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks.
A merch table boasted the full array of pronoun stickers, rainbow masks, as well as t-shirts saying: “We’re here, we’re Chamberqueer, get used to it.”
Chamberqueer, the organization behind “Baroqueer,” was founded by cellist Jules Biber, soprano Danielle Buonaiuto, baritone Brian Mummert, and cellist Andrew Yee. It aims to champion LGBTQ voices in classical music.
But in a night marked by anachronism (because isn’t that what queerness is?) there was also a greater kind of authenticity (another charged word). If anything, the drinking, chatting, laughing, and hollering evoked the salons of yore.
The program began with the “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” from Solomon. I appreciated there was no discussion about whether Handel was really gay. For tonight, he is.
To drive home the queer theme, the music was interspersed with poetry by Sappho. Michel Lambert’s “Vos mépris chaque jour,” from 1689, was juxtaposed with Rufus Wainwright’s “Poses,” from 2001, both sung beautifully by Mummert.
Rafa Prendergast, who is performing with Gotham Early Music Scene on Thursday, played Francesco Rognoni’s diminutions on Palestrina’s “Io son ferito,” which they described, unpretentiously, as from a “treatise on how to decorate notes.”
Throughout, harpsichordist Kevin Devine, and violist Jessica Meyer were both excellent. I just kept wondering how they squeezed Devine’s instrument in there.
The program also included two chorales by double bassist Kebra-Seyoun Charles, who grew up in the Jamaican Pentecostal Church. “I’m really inspired by Bach,” joked Charles, “because he’s my grandpa and best friend.”
The chorales featured a high and virtuosic bass part, but because of it, I craved harmonic grounding. I wanted that feel-it-in-the-floor rumble.
Sandwiched between the chorales was Julius Eastman’s “Joy Boy,” which, though not Baroque, was of the most exciting things on the program. Semi-improvised, with wispy spiccato and tremolo.
I wished that the cello, played by Biber (relation to Heinrich unknown), would sing out more in the “Canzona Seconda” by Claudia Rusca. Because when I did hear them, they sounded fab.
“Morir non puo’l mio cuore,” by Maddalena Casulana, was not really Baroque, having been written in 1566, but I’ll let it slide. My only quibble is there should have been more of Buonaiuto on the program.
But the finale was Corelli’s variations on “La Folia.” Biber provided brick-solid foundation as Prendergast went wild, saving the full-on shredding for the end.
I had to consciously stop myself from whooping after every variation.