★★★ (out of four)
Haus Musik with members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and DJ BSMNT at 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture. May 10.
[Originaly published in the Toronto Star]
If you’ve even been to a Tafelmusik concert lately, you’ve no doubt noticed the slow paced hobble down the aisles by patrons wrestling with bad hips, poor hearing and even worse eyesight. Don’t laugh. It will happen to all of us. An ageing audience makes period orchestras appear less palatable to younger folks, who seem to prefer a little bit more vitality in their musical pursuits. The secret of course, (audiences aside) is that Tafelmusik itself brims with youthful vitality, and if anyone can make you wonder what the difference is between Justin Bieber and H.I.F. von Biber, it’s Tafelmusik.
To help distinguish your Biber from your Bieber, Tafelmusik launched the first Haus Musik concert series on May 10 (Toronto’s take on London U.K.’s Night Shift series) for 80 or so mostly sub-35 bi-genre curious patrons equipped with club wristbands and a few dollars to spend at the wet bar.
I couldn’t help but notice history repeating itself. In the 17th-century, a house concert, or Haus Musik, was commonplace. Like a house party of sorts, they featured small groups of intimate instruments like the lute (as was the case Tuesday night) playing a central role. Even Mozart went to them. House concerts provided the blueprint to today’s garage-band. There was even a swooning Biber 300 years before the “other” Bieber came along.
We heard works by Purcell, Marini, Bertali, Constantin, and even Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue, which may have been old ground but sounded as radiant as the spring sunshine.
The performance — with Lucas Harris on the lute, surrounded by the singing violins with Patricia Ahern, Julia Wedman and Christina Zacharias — was just as impressive as they are on the concert stage. Maybe even more so. It would have been nice to hear an introduction to each piece from the performers, who looked to gradually loosen up as they played.
Stationed like a king from the stage was DJ BSMNT, who provided pre- and post-show rumbles with a modular synth setup. Things got cooking after 10 p.m. when the “after party” took-off. All told, it was a bit like a social mixer with some music, rather than a music-first type experience.
As far as presenting new models of what a concert is, the 17th-century Haus Musik format is a welcome tonic to today’s rarefied and revered concert hall template.
Haus Musik puts the music at your feet. No word on when the next one is, but let’s hope it comes around again soon.
#LUDWIGVAN
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