Crescendo Will Open With Bach

What better way for Crescendo to celebrate its 15th year than with Bach’s splendid “Magnificat”?

This is Bach at his grandest, launching the piece with a thrilling orchestral fanfare — possibly the longest of any of his choral pieces, said Crescendo’s founding artistic director Christine Gevert. The chorus joins in on the word “Magnificat,” voices brilliantly rising and falling, a theme that carries through the work to convey a spirit of celestial striving.

“When I was thinking about celebrating our anniversary, I wanted something absolutely festive,” Gevert said. The trumpets, timpani, and woodwinds, joining the rest of a large orchestra (for the time) and 5-part chorus; it all makes for a perfect choice. It’s also appropriate for anticipating the Christmas season.”

If that’s not enough, the fall concert also features the Coronation Anthems by the other giant of the High Baroque, Handel. These are equally celebratory, yet stately works in the English master’s fashion. (For my money I’ll take Bach for his depth and complexity, but, wait, why worry when I can get both?)

While Bach’s piece was liturgical in nature, Handel’s anthems were written initially for his dying patron, King George I, and to mark Handel’s naturalization as a British citizen. With the passing of the king, they were turned into coronation anthems for his son, George II.

“They immediately became wildly popular and have been played ever since,” said Gevert. “They called for an immense choir, double what we have, and required the royal chapel to be greatly enlarged.”

For Crescendo, too, this is a big production that will involve an extension of the stage at St. James in Great Barrington to accommodate a period-instrument orchestra of 18, the largest ever for the group.

Returning to join Crescendo for the occasion is renowned Baroque soprano Julianne Baird. The other soloists are Jennifer Tyo, countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, tenor Philip Anderson, and bass-baritone Charles Beutel.

This program of Baroque masterpieces will have the added fun of inviting audience participation in selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.

The ever ambitious Gevert has even bigger plans for Crescendo. The upcoming season includes, among other things, a chance to join the chorus and a period orchestra at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, New York, to sing to the cows (you heard that right), a semi-staged performance of a Spanish Baroque opera, “Acis y Galatea,” and a lecture demonstration by Baird on the subject of George Washington’s commitment to music education.

Yes, the “Father of our Country” was a music lover and devoted pedagogue.

Much the same could be said of Gevert, who considers Crescendo a labor of love “to bring people together, to bring great artists to our region, to uplift and to educate.”

“Baroque Splendor: Bach and Handel” will take place on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 4 p.m. at Saint James Place, 352 Main St., Great Barrington, MA, and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 4 p.m. at Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT.  For tickets and information, go to worldclassmusic.org or call 860-435-4866.