A Little Caldara to Say Goodbye

A journey through Europe, so the concert by The BanXhies was announced. Whoever closes the programme booklet after the performance has indeed made a journey between Venice and Vienna. One full of beautiful music.

The BanXhies is a young ensemble. Since 2022, the four musicians have been playing together and, to be honest, that's not very long. I didn't know the ensemble beforehand. But that the quartet is already particularly cohesive became clear from the very first notes. The BanXhies doesn't play as four individual musicians, but as one body. With one breath, one movement and – remarkably – also literally one physicality. The movements of the four were sometimes almost synchronised while playing. It does say something about how intensely these musicians play together.

The concert in the distinctive chamber music hall of the Concertgebouw, a sort of square tower that builds itself strongly in height, with audiences on different levels, was structured around Italian trio sonatas. Caldara formed the pivot. He was indeed vice-Kapellmeister at the Vienna court under Fux, and so a beautiful historical and musical line emerged between Italy and Austria.

Around Caldara, a particularly rich programme was woven with, among others, Vivaldi, Legrenzi, Bach, Porpora, Froberger, Biber, Muffat and Fux. Different styles, different composers and different musical characters, yet with clear coherence.

The first notes are always important. The BanXhies came in immediately convincingly with a solo by Yaoré Talibart. There was breath in the playing, with long bows and sustained piano passages. Dissonances were articulated sharply and occasionally the music became playful. Not frivolous, but energetic and with a kind of self-evident pleasure.

It was especially that combination that stayed with me: sustained without becoming heavy, precision without sounding academic and playfulness without becoming superficial.

Legrenzi brought a completely different atmosphere than Caldara or Vivaldi. His music sounded particularly dramatic and for me it almost ended with an open question mark. It was perhaps the work that stood most apart within the programme, but precisely because of that it remained with me.

Between the different works, harpsichordist Louise Acabo had a few moments entirely to herself. What playing! She combined a light touch with sufficient gravitas and seemed to climb into her instrument. Especially in the second toccata, it was again striking how physical her playing was. She didn't just play on the instrument; she seemed to merge into it. The harpsichord breathed at her rhythm, or perhaps she breathed at the rhythm of the instrument. That was not only musically remarkable, but also visual.

After the first toccata, the music immediately moved back into Caldara. And that is perhaps the strength of this programme: the thread was never really lost, even when the music itself went in a completely different direction.

Porpora, for example, made an impression with extremely quiet passages. Silence is of course easy to achieve: you simply play softer. But here those whispering moments gained enormous depth and sustain. You heard how little is needed to say much.

Next came a cello sonata by Vivaldi, with Suzanne Wolff as the central figure. Her playing was particularly vocal: broad legatos, long sentences and a continuous sense of the big arc. At the same time it remained sparkling. Perhaps I occasionally missed some power in this Vivaldi, though that's perhaps mainly a matter of personal taste. In the fast passages, that impression was in any case completely swept away by a virtuosity that left no doubt.

After the second toccata came Biber, with one of the Rosary Sonatas. That music hardly needs explanation. The entry was immediately powerful. Biber brought a completely different dimension to the programme. Where Caldara and Vivaldi had revealed other colours and forms, the music here took on an intensity that became almost physical. Especially the virtuosity stood out. For me, this was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the morning.

Towards the end came Muffat. There was also a nice solo moment there, performed by Roxana Rastegar. I need to check the exact work and instrumentation. The programme booklet put me in some confusion on more than one occasion. For example, at the end it seemed there was more listed for Muffat than was actually performed. A detail? Absolutely. But for those who like to keep their internal GPS running during a concert and carefully follow the programme booklet, something like that is enough to lose your bearings.

The two last scheduled works were Fux and Caldara again.

With Fux you felt again how intensely these four musicians are connected with each other. Moreover, Fux is not a composer you can simply treat as transitional music. Here he sounded as he should: with attention, precision and space for the music to unfold itself. The Adagio, Sarabande and Passacaglia flew by. It was smooth, sustained and particularly pleasant to listen to. Visually it remained agreeable too: four musicians who not only play well together, but also visibly take each other along in the music.

And then came the farewell.

A Little Caldara to Say Goodbye.

I want to remember that sentence.

Not only because it's charming, but because it actually sums up the entire concert. Caldara was the thread running through the programme and yet this was not a concert that locked itself into one composer, one style or one country.

In the last Allegro, that playfulness came to the fore again, but also the sustenance that had characterised the concert from the beginning. It was as if the playing pulled the audience back to the instruments once more.

The grateful audience was able to force an encore through minutes of applause: a piece from an opera by Händel. That was an excellent send-off. It was completely separate from the Italian and German repertoire that preceded it and considerably expanded my image of the ensemble. During the brief remarks at the encore, it also became clear where the name The BanXhies comes from. They don't limit themselves to Italian and German music, but also play repertoire from England, Irish music and even folk music.

That makes one curious.

Because The BanXhies may still be a young ensemble, but it already sounds like a group that knows what it wants to tell together. The ensemble playing is tight, the musical lines are clear and there is room for both refinement and playfulness. Moreover, they don't seem to need to let themselves be pigeonholed.

The Händel encore was therefore more than just a lovely farewell. It was actually an invitation not to really say goodbye.

Rather: see you next time.

And perhaps especially: until the next cd. Because if A Little Caldara to Say Goodbye is a taste of what The BanXhies is preparing on cd, then as far as I'm concerned, that release can't come soon enough.