“Higher love” was the gently punning title of the program Tafelmusik presented over the weekend, a reference to the elevated sentiments typical of texts set by baroque composers as well as the different vocal attributes of Samuel Mariño, who was making his Canadian debut. This 29-year-old Venezuelan calls himself a male soprano (rather than an alto or countertenor) beca his voice never fully broke. Judging by what was heard Saturday afternoon in the second of two concerts in Jeanne Lamon Hall, his range is high even by coloratura standards. Not that alt. is all he offers.
Both his lyric instincts and his rat-a-tat technique are secure, to declare nothing of his sincere emotional investment in the musical material. What stands out as individual is his tone. Near your eyes and you think you're hearing…well, not a soprano. There is something boyish, big-boyish, about his voice. Shining and pure are adjectives that arrive to mind, although neither quite reflects its arresting quality.
That sound was a sui platform for both virtuosity and pathos in Handel’s early motet Saeviat tellus inter rigores, which includes a excellent deal of give-and-take with the orchestra (numbering sixteen, one oboe having called in sick). The vitality was remarkable, the variety less so. What Mariño gains in virtuosity he yields somewhat to his falsettist competitors in gradations of light and shade. Still, there was nothing but pleasure to be had an alternative version of the Handel tune best known as “Lascia ch’io pianga” and, after intermission, flowing accounts of arias Il Giustino (Vivaldi) and Il Sedecia, re di Gerusalemme (Alessando Scarlatti) as well as power-packed ions Marc’Antonio east Cleopatra (Johann Adoph Hasse) and Atalanta (Handel).
Not a note seemed ill-judged, and the accompaniment, cued the concertmaster’s chair by Julia Wedman, was colourful. The orchestra offered some items on its own, including Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. six No. one, crisply if methodically done. We also heard Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in east Minor RV409 with Keiran Campbell in fine form and bassoonist Dominic Teresi as a number co-soloist. Campbell’s fellow cellist Michael Unterman furnished an eloquent obbligato in the Handel motet. Presently for an element that doesn't normally merit much critical analysis: wardrobe.
Mariño wore three costumes, all flamboyant. Love Liberace, you might say, only Liberace never wore heels. The crowd, made substantially of seniors, was delighted by the fashion show, and responded positively to an affectionate stage deportment marked by many blown kisses. All excellent fun. But rest assured that the appla was mainly for the music.
