High Life

HIGH LIFE 103 With flair and guile, maestro Giulio Magnanini conducted the organist and String Quartet of Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, respectively their section principals, as well as more than a dozenmembers of the Women’s Choir of Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, standing in a single row stretching more than half the length of the elegant salon. The audience, especially those seated in themiddle of the venue, had a crystal-clear hearing of the polyphony fromthe sopranos on the left, through mezzos in the centre to altos on the right. This auditory sensationwould not be possible by any means other than live performance. The word “baroque” entered the English lexicon via French, which in turn came from either Portuguese “barroco” or Spanish “barrueco”, meaning a misshapen pearl. When it first appeared in the early 18th century, it was a criticism of the ostentatiously resplendent style of music lost in irrelevant details, as opposed to the measured rationality of the Renaissance. Based on this performance, however, one would be hard-pressed to lambaste Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater as sensational rather than subtle. The composition is neatly structured into 12 movements and, elaborate as they are, there is no unjustified drama, exuberance or tension.