The lutenist Paul O’Dette, who assembled the marathon with David Spelman, the festival’s artistic director, opened the afternoon session with the Lute Suite in A minor (BWV 995) in a delicate, fluid rendering that embraced both the free-spirited, almost improvisatory nature of the Prelude and the stylistic formality of the dance movements. Here and in his performance of the Sonata in G minor (BWV 1001, originally for unaccompanied violin), which opened the evening concert, Mr. O’Dette played with a crispness that overcame the gentleness of the lute’s sound and clarified the counterpoint within textures that, in other hands, often seem merely chordal.
Mr. O’Dette also performed two movements by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, a lute-playing friend and contemporary of Bach’s, partly as a way of setting up the one nonplucked performance of the evening, a robust account of the Suite for Violin and Harpsichord (BWV 1025) by the violinist Robert Mealy and the harpsichordist Avi Stein. The point here was that the harpsichord part in the Bach is, except in its opening Fantasia, a direct transcription of the Weiss sonata from which Mr. O’Dette played excerpts.
The other lutenist on hand, Nigel North, matched and at times surpassed Mr. O’Dette in textural clarity in his performance of the Cello Suite No. 4 (BWV 1010). Mr. O’Dette and Mr. North also joined forces to close the marathon with another Weiss work, the spirited, bustling Sonata in C for two lutes.
Two of the youngest stars of the guitar world, Jason Vieaux and Ana Vidovic, offered strikingly contrasting back-to-back performances during the afternoon concert. Mr. Vieaux gave the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro (BWV 998) a stately, sharply articulated and subtly driven reading, in which the closing Allegro gradually took on the exciting qualities of a perpetual-motion piece.
But you already knew that, didn’t you? With February 14th quickly approaching, we just thought to remind you. At 92YTribeca, we’ll be leaving a trail of rose petals from the front door to the stage, with candles lighting the path and a Fabio CD on the soundsystem. White doves will flutter about.
Haha, no we kid, we kid. But really, whether you’re swooning over the irresistible Paul Rudd, revisiting unrequited love and teenage love poems, learning about what foods will drive your partner wild or even how science can help you nab your sweetheart, 92YTribeca’s got you covered. And we’ll always return your calls. Check out some if what we have lined up for you achy breaky hearts:
This Thu, Feb 4, we will be Bro’In Out with Leo & Tony Featuring Paul Rudd and More for Comedy Below Canal™.
On Wed, Feb 10, try An Early Evening with Dear Old Love, Featuring Andy Selsberg, Emily Gould, Tom Shillue and Musical Guest Jeffrey Lewis. Have you ever wanted to tell the people you’ve loved (or liked) what you’ve always wanted to tell them but never did? That’s the concept behind Dear Old Love, the book and the website. Watch it come alive in an evening of reading, discussion and maybe even a song or two inspired by and dedicated to the people we’ve loved (or at least liked), requited and unrequited.
Fri, Feb 12, brings you Aphrodisiacs with Francine Segan. Explore the stories behind aphrodisiacs like frog saliva, rhinoceros horns, oysters, truffles and caviar with noted food historian Francine Segan.
Lastly, on Sat, Feb 13, we will screen Christophe Honoré’s film The Beautiful Person (La Belle Personne), an examination of amorous pursuit in modern day Paris.
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The lutenist Paul O’Dette, who assembled the marathon with David Spelman, the festival’s artistic director, opened the afternoon session with the Lute Suite in A minor (BWV 995) in a delicate, fluid rendering that embraced both the free-spirited, almost improvisatory nature of the Prelude and the stylistic formality of the dance movements. Here and in his performance of the Sonata in G minor (BWV 1001, originally for unaccompanied violin), which opened the evening concert, Mr. O’Dette played with a crispness that overcame the gentleness of the lute’s sound and clarified the counterpoint within textures that, in other hands, often seem merely chordal.
