Review: Dinner Concert @ The Perimeter Institute
an edited version appears in today’s Record
Friday night was the third of the five Dinner Concerts on offer at the Perimeter Institute this season.
When I arrived, the chalkboard covering the side wall of the Black Hole Bistro was covered with a series of numbers ranging from 802-1776, grouped in five columns of varying length. Thinking them to be leftovers from an impromptu lunchtime breakthrough, my friend and I spent some time puzzling over their significance. String theory? Fluid dynamics? Fibonacci series? 1066, 1215, 1776 and a program entitled “Music of Historical England” finally clued me in. The numbers were simply a list of important dates in English history up until the Declaration of Independence.
A hyper-efficient wait staff noted our choices from the fixed menu almost immediately, so all this thinking was fuelled by a stupendous mixed baby green salad with shaved fennel, toasted pine nuts and goat cheese, drizzled with a roasted shallot dressing. The cold candy cane beet slices were a lovely foil to the distinct flavours of the salad. My friend’s selection, a Jerusalem artichoke veloute, could have done with a pinch more seasoning but was otherwise flavourful with an elegant velvety texture. The appetizers were just the first part of a menu that was a fresh, modern incarnation of traditional medieval banquet fare.
Empty plates were whisked away immediately and we readied ourselves for our first musical course of the evening. Mezzo-soprano Laura Pudwell, violinist Julie Baumgartel and guitarist Terry McKenna arranged a program that matched the tenor of evening to perfection. The music was light and fun and, most notably, not drawn from the abyss of bad taste that is background music. All three musicians are accomplished professionals and their commitment to a high level of artistry, when they have skated through on much less, really made the performance something special.
The main piece on the program was the five-part The History of England from the Close of the Saxon Hierarchy to the Declaration of American Independence in Familiar Verse, Op.11. Created by Benjamin Carr, the piece is a send-up of the history of English monarchs set to various popular tunes including Adeste Fidelis, a hunting Chorus, Roast Beef of Old England, Hail Columbia, the Duke of York March, bits of Haydn and Mozart and the spectacularly named Bloody Minded Pirate.
Benjamin and his father Joseph were music publishers who emigrated from London to Baltimore in the last few years of the 19th century. They specialized in arrangements of popular tunes and original compositions that could be played by amateur musicians at dinner. In the days before records, radio or cinema, these little concerts played themselves out in hundreds of thousands of sitting rooms throughout Europe and America. Carr’s editions were so popular that several were found in Thomas Jefferson’s personal collection.
On Friday evening, both McKenna and Baumgartel were using period instruments. Pudwell, perhaps feeling a bit left out, was quick to inform us that she was also using a period instrument of mid-20th century vintage. The first three sections of the History of England, marked in the score as a “means of improvement for juveniles and students” were done with Pudwell using a spare bow as a pointer on the date-filled chalkboard. Splitting up the work was the right thing to do, as the poetry is wordy and although humorous could easily have fallen prey to the Twelve Days of Christmas syndrome.
The “back of the hall” mentality that plagues many opera singers in small venues was pleasantly a non-issue as Pudwell expertly modulated volume, vibrato and diction to match the character of the piece and size of the space.
Two movements of Sonata in A major (after K331/332) by Mozart arranged for guitar and violin by Andreas Traeg followed. This can be a difficult combination to balance but small space and muted sound produced by the violin’s gut strings meant that McKenna’s tiny Classical guitar was an equal partner in the ensemble.
The next course of food was the main. I opted for venison while my friend went for Cornish hen. Game has become a favourite of mine these past few years, and this was by far the best venison I have ever tasted. It was moist and tender in a way I never thought possible and complimented by a extraordinary apple leek confiture. The accompanying sweet potato mash was a bit disappointing in the texture department but the overall flavour was good.
Since my skills as a sommelier leave quite a lot to be desired, I relied on my server to recommend an appropriate wine. It turned out to be a smart move as the cinnamon and spiced berry notes of the Domaine Magellan Shiraz/Grenache ($8.25/$37) brought out the very best in the venison.
Truffled potato mash was the star of my friend’s dinner. The small bite I was afforded was so delicious it is difficult to describe. Shitake mushrooms and wilted greens worked well with flavour of the roasted Cornish hen but it is fair to say that on this night the humble spud overshadowed the rest of the meal by a significant margin.
While we waited for dinner to settle, Pudwell, Baumgartel and McKenna came back for the fourth and fifth parts of the history lesson. As we sped through Henry VIII, Elizabeth, James I and the Georges I found myself wondering how much more I might have learned in school if we had gourmet lunches instead of dried out French fries and burgers with a questionable meat to cardboard ratio.
After the History was completed, McKenna and Baumgartel stayed on to complete the Mozart they started in the first part of the program. After a very lovely adagio, the duo launched into the famous Rondo a la Turque, where Baumgartel banished any notion that Baroque violinists are somehow technically deficient. A brilliantly played movement culminated in a spectacular final statement of the main theme in octaves.
Pudwell returned for a setting of the Robbie Burns poem My Love is like the Red, Red Rose arranged by Gustav Holst in 1826. Again, Pudwell’s voice was precisely what was required, clear and warm with a hint of melancholy.
The sweet on the menu was sticky bread pudding. A 13th century concoction dreamt up as a way to use stale bread, there was nothing perfunctory about this version. The triangle of white bread cubes soaked in custard, drizzled with a delicately sweet sauce and garnished with fresh fruit was the last just right in an evening full of them.
The next Dinner Concert, entitled French Wine – Swiss Chocolate is on 25th April in The Black Hole Bistro beginning at 5:30pm. Tickets $65 each.
