There was barely an empty seat in Canongate Kirk for this concert and the Bach Ensemble of Edinburgh rose to the occasion with a programme to match the unsettled Edinburgh weather.
Vivaldi’s series of concertos was a safe bet for the newly-formed group’s one-off Fringe performance. It is a crowd-pleaser; flashy without being too challenging and with plenty of well-known, singable melodies. The first and most famous of all that begins Spring opened a confident and accomplished performance. There is a danger with such lively music, however, of allowing this confidence to overflow and to make the music too fast, a trap which the Bach Ensemble fell into. Soloist Sheena Jardine had some trouble with the tempo, struggling at times with her tone, which was a shame: she would surely have been in control at a slower speed.
In a nice touch, a different soloist from the four-strong violin section tackled each concerto and Summer was entrusted to Robert Dick. The sparse opening was played well but once again, in the Allegro, speed was preferred to dramatic precision. The performance undoubtedly suffered from the generous acoustic not really suited to the crisp Baroque style but the ensemble could have benefited from giving the music more space. This poise was best achieved in Winter thanks to an assured and dynamic performance by soloist Simon Graham.
Despite never quite bristling with the intensity Vivaldi’s vibrant music demands, this was an impressive performance and a very promising one for this new ensemble.
