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Lidor Ram Mesika Ⓒ Yoel Levy |
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Daniela Skorka Ⓒ Yoel Levy |
"Pimpinone", Concert No.5 of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra's 36th season, was conducted by JBO founder and music director Prof. David Shemer. The program comprised two works of Georg Philipp Telemann. Soloists were Daniela Skorka (soprano) and Lidor Ram Mesika (baritone/countertenor). This writer attended the performance on May 11th, 2025, at the Jerusalem International YMCA.
Telemann’s extensive oeuvre comprises no
fewer than 135 overtures (ouvertures) or suites for orchestra. Although written
for specific occasions and for different instrumental combinations (perhaps
originally as ballet music) they have joined the canon of concert repertoire
due the composer's inspired writing and craftsmanship. A popular genre, which
had its roots in France, the ouverture also included other influences, such as
that of the Italian style, some also coloured with elements of traditional
music. The evening's program opened with Telemann's Ouverture Suite in B-flat,
"Burlesque", TWV 55:B8 for strings and basso continuo, a work which,
besides two minuets, depicts several characters from the world of the commedia
dell'arte. Setting the scene with the Overture itself, the JBO players lined up
the characters - the villainous, manoeuvring Scaramouche, leaping
Harlequinade buffoonery and japery, an appealing, cantabile description of the
servant Columbine (Harlequin's mistress), the mischievous trickery and
comments of the lovesick Pierrot, then to wind up with a wild, impetuous dance
representing the schemer and trouble-maker Mezzetin, its closing moments laced
with a touch of the oriental. In playing of tasteful, articulate expression,
the JBO instrumentalists brought out the contrasts between the
ouverture's various movements, together with its whimsical and theatrical
aspects.
Also based on the commedia dell’arte
tradition, Telemann's comic opera "Pimpinone" TWV 21:15 originated as
an intermezzo form. Premiered at the Gänsemarkt Opera in Hamburg in September
1725 and performed as an insert in George Frederic Handel’s opera seria
"Tamerlano", it soon took on a life of its own and was heard all over
Europe. Telemann took the highlights from a sparkling Italian libretto of Pietro Pariati and combined them with new texts by German poet Johann Philipp
Praetorious. What emerged was an opera whose texts alternate between the
Italian- and German languages. Telemann set the recitatives in German, thereby
ensuring that his audience at the Gänsemarkt Opera could easily follow the
plot. The comic opera features just two characters – Pimpinone, an elderly,
wealthy, gullible man, and Vespetta, a scheming chambermaid. In search of a
husband and fortune. Vespetta (her name translates as "little
wasp") first convinces Pimpinone to hire her as his maid, then
persuading him to propose marriage. Now his wife, she becomes the real boss of
the household, controlling every aspect of the titular character’s life. The
roles seem tailor-made for home-grown artists Daniela Skorka and Lidor Ram
Mesika. Skorka makes for a coquettish Vespetta, revelling in her underhand
control of the foolish, love-struck Pimpinone, as she constantly shares her
wily strategies with the audience. Mesika, less blusterous, showing fewer
facial and physical gestures (indeed, a reflective, confused Pimpinone) draws
the audience in with his exceptionally resonant singing, his marvellously rich
baritone voice emerging natural, even in timbre and well-anchored. His
aria (or, rather, duet with himself) “So quel che si dice e quel che si fa”, on
the subject of gossiping neighbours, was a special treat, as he imitated the gossip-mongers, juggling their patter in quick exchanges of baritone- and countertenor passages. Skorka
harnesses the sheer beauty of her bright, clear voice and her delightful stage
presence to present the message of each aria. Both singers shifted smoothly
between the Italian and German texts. The succession of arias - saucy and
headstrong pieces for Vespetta and the confused and increasingly outraged
numbers for Pimpinone - were produced with articulacy and fine diction, as were
the duets, some of which presented the characters' singing individual agendas simultaneously!
These also were performed with transparency and zest. The singers were
supported by nimble, high-quality instrumental playing.
Breathing new life into stock comic
characters from the 17th century in this delightful little domestic sitcom,
Telemann's score bubbles with rhythmic verve and melodic invention. Not to be
ignored is the fact that the piece is a musical comment on then-contemporary
professional and private spheres, referring to the hard life of single women,
the significance of wealth and social standing for eligibility for marriage and
the injustices of patriarchal marriage law. Add to those the element of
ridicule directed at romantically-inclined senior citizens. However,
Telemann's own domestic life was turned upside-down after his second marriage
to Maria Katharina Textor, the teenage daughter of a local town clerk.
Rumours of Maria’s extra-marital activities began to circulate throughout
Hamburg society, as local newspapers published detailed accounts of her
romantic conquests, leaving Telemann mercilessly mocked as the aging, senile
and scorned husband. The composer, in turn, responded artistically to these
insults by composing "Pimpinone", aptly named "Die ungleiche
Heirat zwischen Vespetta und Pimpinone” or “Das herrschsüchtige Kammer
Mädchen" ("The Unequal Marriage Between Vespetta and Pimpinone" or "The
Domineering Chambermaid".).
It was a sparkling, uplifting concert,
excellently presented. Prof. David Shemer dedicated the event to the memory of
musicologist Prof. Jehoash Hershberg, researcher of Baroque opera and one of
the JBO's original instrumentalists.