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I 1+1 I: 200ANYONE WITH REASON TOcall the Handel and HaydnSociety in Boston will find abit of history at his or her fingertips. The phone number is617-262-1815, whose final fourdigits proudly declare the yearof the society’s birth. No othermusical organization in theUnited States can claim such

& Countingstriking accomplishments overthe course of zoo years and it’simpossible not to applaud thesociety’s pluck and perseverance.

The bicentennial this year ofthe organization known as H+Hprovides as many reasons togauge where it stands today—and even to look ahead—as itdoes to glance at an illustrious

by DonaldRosenberg

Photo C2011byJames (~t

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venerability Add to that a list of and dramatic history. What, for

I.” Lfdexample, isH+H doing to

- remain relevant- in the 21st cen

- tury and drawmore people tomusic of distanteras performedwith historical practices inmind? Will anorganization

-4 that gave thefirst completeAmericanperformancesof such monuments as Bach’sSt. MatthewPassion,Handel’sMessiah andSamson, Haydn’sThe Creationand Verdi’sRequiem remainrooted in themusical past oralso find waysto replenishthe orchestraland choralrepertoire?

All signs indicate that H÷Hhas no intention of allowing

dust to accrue, even while continuing to illuminate atreasured canon. In recent years, especially since MarieHéléne Bernard arrived as executive director and HarryChristophers as artistic director, the organization hasopened its arms to new ideas about style, programming,and outreach. It may have taken H+H more than 170

years to embrace period instruments—thanks to thelate Christopher Hogwood, who led the historical waystarting in 1986—but the institution has caught up invirtually every respect and now can be considered thevery model of a modern major arts organization.

Created in 1815 “for the purpose of improving thestyle of performing sacred music, and introducing intomore general use the works of Handel and Haydn andother eminent composers:’ the organization is doingso much more two centuries years later. Recordingactivity has shot up since Christophers took the helm,with two to three discs released each year. Touring hasincreased, not only in New England but also outside theregion. (H÷H has made several appearances in Europe,

and another foreign tour is being contemplated.) Youngconductors are receiving training in period-instrumentperformance. One of the most significant developmentshas been the expansion of H+H’s education program,which is touching thousands of students and takingmultitudes of youngsters each season to SymphonyHall, the acoustical wonder that is home to the BostonSymphony Orchestra, not just to listen but also to participate as choristers in H÷H performances. “Many of thesekids had never set foot in Symphony Hall:’ said Bernard.

“They sing to an audience of 2,500 enthusiastic music lovers. It’s an experience that can change children:’

The upswing in H+H endeavors could only be possible by beefing up the organization’s budget and endowment. The annual operating budget, normally $4.2—$4.5

million, is $5 million this season due to increasedbicentennial activities. Last October, H-i-H announced

“Instrumental Voices: A Campaign for H÷H,” whichalready had raised $9 million toward a fund-raisinggoal of $12 million. The endowment fund was $3.2 mulion when Bernard arrived and now is nearly $7 million.All of these advances are part of a five year strategicplan that, by 2017, will enable the organization to draw areasonable amount of income from the endowment forartistic and educational needs.

Artistic InitiativesBritish conductor Christophers, who founded

the esteemed vocal ensemble The Sixteen in 1979,

first stood before the H÷H orchestra as guest conductor in 2006 during the Haydn Festival at theEsterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria. There, inthe hall where Haydn led his own music as PrinceEsterhézy’s Hofkapellmeister (and which is now calledthe Haydnsaal), Christophers conducted the H÷Hensemble in three early Haydn symphonies “Le matin,”

“Le midi’ and “Le soir”—that are depicted in paintingson the room’s resplendent ceiling. “It was a wonderfulexperience:’ Christophers said. “From that moment, Iknew there was something special about this organization. That, for me, is about how we make good music.There has to be a real sense of camaraderie to achievethe same aims. It’s not about having robots sitting inthe seats and playing the music. It’s about making goodmusic together. It sounds so simple, but how often doesit happen?”

Christophers had no idea he’d become artistic director of H+H when he led the orchestra in Austria. Hewas hired in 2009 and assumed the post a year later.Christophers credits H+H predecessor Hogwood fortaking the bold step of turning the orchestra into aperiod-instrument ensemble, a metamorphosis he’dalready achieved with a group he formed in London in1973. Hogwood shot to international attention when hethrust the Academy of Ancient Music into the forefront of historical performance practice. “They used

Spring 2015 EMAg 57

Hi-H: 200 & Counting

to joke about it.” Christophers said of Hogwood andthe Academy’s musicians. “They were paid to learnand experiment. In Boston, it was a big movementand I think a great thing to do, because, quite frankly,without it maybe Hi-H would have stagnated again. Byhaving a period-instrument orchestra, it’s making themusic sound new, and that’s exactly what Chris felt hewas doing with this music, and I very much have takenover his mantle of that. It was Chris who stripped thecobwebs off of the music.” Christophers has anotherreason for admiringHogwood. “In ig8a,

he made a famousrecording of Messiah[with the Academy]that was televised onBBC [and is available on DVD]. I hadjoined the WestminsterAbbey Choir at thattime and sang in thatperformance. Therewere elements thatwere chaotic, but it wastotally revolutionary Ithad a big effect on me:’

Christophers has hadhis own revolutionaryimpact on H÷H. Whilecontinuing to honethe period-instrumentorchestra, he hastransformed the chorusby engaging singerswho are skilled in bothensemble and solocapacities. “There are[former] choral singers who are the greatsoloists today:’ he said.

“Singing in a chorusremains with them for life. That’s what we’re beginningto establish at H÷H. We have some really good singerswho can stand up in Symphony Hall and perform assoloists.” At the same time, Christophers insists uponcultivating the natural sound of these artists. “I lovethe King’s Singers, but I don’t want to hear 40 King’sSingers. Give me an El Greco any day to a watercolor. Iwant as vibrant a brushstroke as possible.” He uses thebrush in the spirit of collaboration, as he learned fromHogwood. “Conducting at H+H is a democracy. We’reall feeding off of each other. Everybody has somethingto say. My job is to mold that or bring it into one sort ofgood idea and bring it across. That’s what’s exciting:’

The goal is not “authenticity” a word that promptsChristophers to give you a gleeful earful. “I hope in away I’m not too authentic:’ he said. “I’ve tried not get

bogged down in too much academia. We use the scoresand editions we have available to us, so that’s veryimportant. We follow as much detail as the composersgive us. A lot of detail goes on in rehearsals. Distinctfrom baroque orchestras of zo years ago, we know somuch more about performance practice. It’s not justabout lightness of touch. It’s about different ways wecan phrase things.” Christophers’s aim is to make surethe orchestra and chorus give performances that are alivein every way. “They need to get more physical in their

singing and playing toget across what we’retrying to do—to geta great performanceand interpretation. Ihope that what we dois stylish and authenticin that sense, but thenit has to come into thezist century.”

One personChristophers said hasmade a difference isAisslinn Nosky, theorchestra’s concertmaster since 2011. ACanadian musicianwith short, bright-redhair—she dyed it whencast in a TV commercial and never wentnatural again—she alsoplays in three notedToronto-based periodinstrument ensembles:Tafelmusik, the EyblerQuartet, and I Furiosi.Nosky is “an incrediblystylish young lady whoknows a lot about bowtechnique:’ said

Christophers, and is “revolutionizing the strings.” Theviolinist arrived at H+H knowing little about its history,but she quickly reveled in its rich achievements andimportance to the community She is involved withH2, the organization’s young professionals group, andalways on the lookout for new opportunities to champion Hi-H and music in general. “I do think that oneway to connect with new listeners is to approach themusic as though it was composed yesterday or eventoday.” Nosky said. “That’s one of the guiding principlesthat I try to follow when I play any music, but especially very old music. I try to think about what it wouldsound like if it were just coming off the page, if the inkwere just drying. I try to make as educated a guess aspossible. That’s one of the ways we can keep everythingsounding fresh, even though it’s old.”

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As concertmaster, Noskyoccasionally assumes aduty violinists long agoundertook regularly: leading the orchestra from herchair in place of the conductor. “For someone whoacts as a concertmaster inan orchestra, it can be anatural extension to moveto directing the concert:’she said. “In Hi-H, wehave a wonderful conductor in Harry. It’s reallyimportant in oratorios tohave a conductor to coordinate things. But in smaller works, like Vivaldi andCorelli, it’s possible to have it led by an instrumentalist.It’s something I really enjoy doing:’ This season, Noskypresided over a Vivaldi program, during which sheplayed several concertos. With Christophers as conductor, she recently was soloist for performances and therecording of Haydn’s Violin Concerto inC major, HOB.

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Bicentennial andBeyond

All of those concerts are part of a bicentennial seasonbursting with works H÷H introduced to Americaor that have served as signature pieces. Messiah andThe Creation hold special places in the organization’shistory: selections from each oratorio were sung onthe inaugural concert on Christmas Day 1815 and laterreceived their first complete American performancesby H+H. (John Stevenson’s glee, “They play’d, in airthe trembling music floats:’ also figured on the firstconcert; Christophers excavated it for the bicentennialseason’s opening concert.) March 2015 is a big monthfor H+H’s orchestra, chorus, and guest soloists, withperformances of Elijah (led by former Hi-H musicdirector Grant Llewellyn, in place of the originallyscheduled Hogwood) and St. Matthew Passion (underChristophers) three weeks apart.

H+H audiences have come to expect vibrant thingsfrom Christophers and his musicians, for reasonsthe conductor is eager to articulate. “I’m very muchsomeone who’s asking the orchestra to play in a vocalway and the chorus to sing in an instrumental way,”he said. “As a man interpreting something, I’ll say tomyself, ‘If that sounds contrived, I will sit back andchange my ideas: Ultimately, what we’re doing mustsound as a most natural process. Look at the way I’mdoing SL Matthew Passion. Not one to a part. With adecent-sized chorus and orchestra. I’m very much ofthe feeling when you have an orchestra and chorus, we

utilize the size of that outfit according to where we’re performing. If it’sin Symphony Hall, we’ll need largerforces:’

Those forces are used mostoften in music of the 18th and 19th

centuries. But H+H has maintaineda culling-edge tradition from thestart, programming many workswhen they were new. The organization might have boasted aboutpresenting a premiere by Beethoven,who was commissioned in 1823 fora choral work, if the composer hadgotten around to writing it. (Nowonder: he was busy that year withthe Diabelli Variations and MissaSolemnis, and the Ninth Symphonywas just around the corner.) Forthe bicentennial, H+H is doingits bit to freshen up the repertoireby commissioning Gabriela LenaFrank for a work based on a Bostonhymn. It will share a concert withmusic by Palestrina, Handel, JamesMacMillan, and Arvo Part on June18 during the Chorus AmericaNational Conference.

In another gesture toward thefuture, H+H has built a relationshipwith New England Conservatorythat enables conducting students toabsorb historical performance practices through contact with Hi-Hconductors, musicians, and guests.The students observe rehearsals,occasionally come onstage to leadthe orchestra when a conductorgoes into the hall to check balances,and even have the opportunity toserve as cover conductors. “The

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Right:ConceertmasterAisslinn Nosky leadsmembers of the H+HOrchestra in a Vivaldiprogram. Photob James Doyle

Left, top:Harry Christophersand Marie-HeleneBernard. Photoby James Doyle.Bottom: Whoelse? Handeland Haydn.

Page 60:H+H Chorus memberJenn~er Asheteaching students atthe John F. KennedyElementary Schaolin the Jamaica Plainneighborhood ofBoston in tall 2013.Photo by James Doyle

Spring 2015 EMAg 59

H÷H: 200 & Counting __________________

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Executive director Bernard and artistic directorChristophers play no guessing games when it comesto H+H, but they do have wish lists. They’d like to see Uvhssicfor recorifers, strings,flute,the organization become more deeply entrenched inthe community, especially where young people are guitar & cfzam6ergroupsconcerned. Bernard wants to make sure H-i-H will “staynimble and find new ways to break the model that has 9scorders & accessoriesweighted down major orchestras:’ Christophers wouldlike to give more concerts. “If there is a problem, we Stocking: Amadeus Verlag Carus Verlagdo nine projects a year, one per month through theseason. I see the orchestra through five out of those:’ he Corda, London Pro Musica, Moeck,said. “Ideally, we’d really love to work week in and week Musica Rara from Bre itkopfa Hartel,out. Because there isn’t that much early music going u~ Orpheus &‘other fine publisherson in America, unlike in Europe, one week they’replaying on modern instruments and the next week on JEAN ALLISON OLSONperiod instruments. When we increase the workload,that will increase the percentage of playing on period 1604 Portland Ave. St. Paul, MN 55104instruments. That can only be for the good of the 651.644.8545 jean~honeysucklemusic.comorganization:’ www honeysucklemusic.com

Given the passion flowing at H÷H these days, achievingthis and other goals shouldn’t nearly take 200 years.