Violinist Kati Debretzeni leads and soloes with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra in "L'estro armonico', an evening of Vivaldi violin concertos and other Venetian works

Kati Debretzeni (Yoel Levy)

 

Violinist Kati Debretzeni has a long-standing relationship with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, so her leading and soloing in ‘L’estro armonico’,Concert No.4 of the orchestra's 33rd season, was not only a festive event but yet another link in the amicable collaboration that began with Debretzeni's first forays into the world of Baroque violin. Performing with her were JBO string players, theorbo player (Eliav Lavi) and JBO founder and director David Shemer on the harpsichord. This writer attended the concert on February 13th 2022 at the Jerusalem International YMCA. 

 

Although Antonio Vivaldi is best known for his iconic set of violin concertos - 'The Four Seasons' - 'L’estro armonico' ('Harmonic Inspiration' or 'Harmonic Fancy') Op.3 is among the most important of his works. These concertos met with great acclaim soon after their publication in 1711, then blazing across Europe. Dedicated to Ferdinando de' Medici of Florence, one of the patrons of L'Ospedale della Pietà (the orphanage for girls in Venice where Vivaldi was employed for over thirty years) these Op.3 concertos would have mostly been performed by the composer's young lady students at the institution. Displaying Vivaldi’s preference for three contrasting movements (fast-slow-fast), the twelve works fall into four groups of three concertos, each group comprising one concerto for four violins, one for two violins, and a solo violin concerto.  Over time, many arrangements have been made of them for other instruments, the most important being the six transcriptions by J. S. Bach, these having played a crucial role in escalating the Vivaldi revival of the early 20th century.

  

Although the audience members in the YMCA auditorium might have needed to summon up quite some imagination and fantasy to envision being seated in one of the grand Venetian edifices, Debretzeni and her fellow musicians took them into the lively, exuberant and brilliant allegros, the lyrical, lingering bel canto cantilenas and the Italian passion and good humour of the 'L'estro armonico' concertos. But their playing also exuded a strong feeling of the intimacy of chamber music, offering ensemble playing of refreshing freedom, diversity and personal expression on the part of all soloists as the evening's performance reflected detailed and profound probing into both the musical and subjective meaning of each motif and gesture. How fascinating it was to witness the chain of events of Concerto No.10 in B minor (RV 580), a work that could only be viewed as highly original, even experimental, and not only due to its novel instrumentation — four solo violins (Debretzeni, Noam Schuss, Lilia Slavny, Noam Gal), strings, and continuo. From the opening movement's rapid exchange of passages between soloists as the main theme becomes varied and ornamented almost before it has been completely stated, to the mysterious slow movement, the four soloists playing over a quiet continuo accompaniment, with the 'cello (Orit Messer-Jacobi) assigned an important role in the continuo throughout, then to join the wonderfully unpredictable solo episodes of the powerful final movement.

 

Kati Debretzeni explained that Vivaldi had composed Concerto fatto per la Solennità della S. Lingua di S. Antonio in D major RV 212 to be performed with himself as soloist, that he had written out his own improvisations for the Grave movement in detail and noted in his own ornaments, rather than leaving them to the discretion of a performer. Leading and soloing in this spectacular music, Debretzeni awed listeners with her concept of the work, no less with her handling of the two long highly virtuosic cadenzas, at the same time reminding the audience that music is, indeed, a form of entertainment, its moments of whimsy an intrinsic component to be enjoyed. Although we know that 18th-century listeners were astounded, even intoxicated, by the rhythmic drive and extraordinary intensity of expression in these Vivaldi concertos, there is no doubt that today's listeners experience the pizzazz of these pieces with excitement and elation.

 

Interspersed between the ‘L'estro armonico’ concertos were works of three other Venetian composers: Sonata à 5 'La Fugazza' Op.8 No.11 of Giovanni Legrenzi, played with a fine balance of grace and intellect, Tomaso Albinoni's Sinfonia in D major T.Si.4 and renowned violinist and composer Biaggio Marin's Passacaglia Op.22, in which Debretzeni and the JBO instrumentalists set aside the composer's characteristic virtuosity to indulge in the lush affects of this beguilingly tragic piece.

 

Born in Transylvania, Kati Debretzeni studied the violin with Ora Shiran (Israel) and Baroque violin with Catherine Mackintosh and Walter Reiter at the Royal College of Music, London. Since 2000, she has led the English Baroque Soloists (Sir Eliot Gardiner). In 2008, she was appointed to be one of the leaders of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, with which she has also soloed and directed. Debretzeni has recorded widely, featuring as soloist in two versions of J.S.Bach's Brandenburg Concertos - one with the European Brandenburg Ensemble (Trevor Pinnock), the other with the English Baroque Soloists. Over recent years, she has been invited to direct various ensembles in Israel, Canada, Norway, Poland, Iceland and the UK. She currently teaches Baroque- and Classical violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague.

 

Noam Schuss,Kati Debretzeni,Dafna Ravid,Lilia Slavny (Yoel Levy)