Helsingin Barokkiorkesteri

Richter, Grandes Symphonies 1-6 Richter, Grandes Symphonies 7-12

Read my review published today in the Style section of the Washington Post:

Charles T. Downey, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra at Library of Congress
Washington Post, November 1, 2010

On Saturday evening, concertgoers skirted rallygoers to hear the latest at the Library of Congress. In honor of the birthday of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the institution's beloved patron of music, members of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra performed music of Bach and his lesser-known contemporaries Dietrich Buxtehude, Franz Tunder and Andreas Kirchoff. The last three were connected because a Swedish kapellmeister named Gustav Düben copied their music into a manuscript collection now at the Uppsala University Library.

Countertenor Teppo Lampela displayed a broad vocal range, most effective at shifting down into the baritone register and less assured at the top. The tone was pretty, and he added some striking ornaments and expressive nuances while maintaining admirable clarity and agility in the rapid passages, as in Kaspar Förster's gorgeous "Laudate dominum omnes gentes." Paired violinists Minna Kangas and Tuomo Suni took up the singer's motifs and traded them back and forth, often engaged in smiling one-upmanship while embellishing their lines. [Continue reading]

Helsinki Baroque Ensemble
Music by Bach, Buxtehude, Franz Tunder, Andreas Kirchoff, Kaspar Förster
Library of Congress