Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
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[ Circuit ] I feel when we get it right, I can see the light bulbs going off in the audience." Smillie: "And speaking of light bulbs, very soon the cold hand of Christmas festivities will dull the Louisville arts scene in annually repeated seasonal fare. But one major event stands out: Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio.' Tis oratorio — a style of concert drama, with Handel's 'Messiah' as the best-known example — dates from 1734 and was originally intend- ed to be in six parts, one performed on each of the Sundays of Advent." Smillie's Picks >>By Thomson Smillie Illustration by Bart Galloway B ourbon Baroque has always drawn at- tention for its innovative playing style (on 1600s-period wooden, rather than steel, instruments pitched below standard concert levels) and presentation (funky ven- ues, interesting partnerships with the likes of Squallis Puppeteers and 21c). Highlight of the arts month comes in a performance of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" by the Choral Arts Soci- ety, under its conductor James Rightmyer, and Bourbon Baroque. It'll be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, at St. Boniface Catholic Church (531 E. Liberty St.). "We will be performing for the first time in another of Louisville's magnificent downtown churches," says Bourbon Baroque founder and co-artistic director Austin Clark, who shares those titles with Nico Fortin. Te news that Bellarmine University has started its own baroque ensemble, confusingly called Kentucky Baroque, prompted this dis- cussion with Clark. Tomson Smillie: "Are two baroque ensembles in Louisville maybe a shade too much happi- ness?" Austin Clark: "I don't see it as a problem at all. I see it as expanding the market. Te problem, rather, is the one-horse-town mentality in Lou- isville that believes if we have one group in one area, we don't need a second. On the contrary: Two groups offer the public more chances to know this music and offer more employment to the musicians. Louisville has a wide array of arts genres, and I say we should cause waves and create competition. It's healthy and gener- ates an ebb and flow that is a natural state of the creative mind." Smillie: "What are your and Nico's respective functions?" [26] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 11.12 Clark: "Nico is the go-to person for con- necting with the artists. He has a wonderful personality, a vast knowledge of the baroque repertoire and a deep understanding of the scholarly side of music. Nico and I share this knowledge with the musicians so we can com- municate in the same language." Smillie: "And you?" Clark: "What I do is connect his book smarts and his musicological insights and translate that for the ensemble and for the community. And I decide what will work for Louisville at this time, having the advantage of growing up here and having lived here all my working life." Smillie: "One thing I have volubly admired in person and in print is your attitude toward the market and the business of positioning yourself in that market rather than waiting for people to come to you." Clark: "Well, thanks. One recent example that really worked was the benefit for House of Ruth, in connection with the opening of the show of Princess Diana's wedding gown at the Frazier History Museum. Tere you were look- ing at historic clothes, in a historical museum setting, while listening to Purcell's 'Trumpet Voluntary.' It's possible to pump in taped mu- sic, but what a difference to have actual period instruments played live." Smillie: "And the live audience is a big part of this." Clark: "Certainly. When everything goes right and the audience 'gets it,' it's like being in a classroom. It's an educational moment, like when you see a light bulb go off in a kid's head. Clark: "Tis is a great event for us. Bach's oratorio is, as you know, endless, so we are se- lecting the first three cantatas — one half of the work. St. Boniface will be a new acoustic for us." Smillie: "Acoustics matter." Clark: "Very much. You don't want it too wet like some big churches or too dry like the Church of the Very Low Ceiling." Smillie: "I've never heard of wet and dry." Clark: "You'll get used to it. A wet acoustic is a boomy cathedral with big reverb and reso- nance. Te echo determines how wet or vi- brant the performance space is. A dry acoustic is a low ceiling, carpet, people, flooring, all contributing to a lifeless quality in the music. We like an acoustic that is not too dead and not too alive. You could say we like to be on the moist side." Smillie: "Moist, but never damp." Clark: "Something like that." Final thought Te greatest fear among entertainers of all types is unemployment. I once sent a fan let- ter to Sir John Gielgud when he was at the height of his fame after co-starring with Dud- ley Moore in the original version of the film Arthur. I received a hand-written reply on a piece of paper the size of a small bed sheet, in the middle of which was a tiny, almost-illegible scrawl, beginning, "I have been very fortunate late in life to be adopted by the electronic me- dia…." Te poignancy of the aging, unem- ployed actor is captured in maybe the short- est-ever anecdote. Two old actors pass on the sidewalk, the first carrying a yellow cigar box that actors traditionally use to carry makeup. One asks, "Working?" Te reply comes: "No. Moving." Gielgud was 95 or so (he died at 96) when his biographer interviewed him. Gielgud complained, "Oh! Tis unemployment is just terrible!" Te interviewer asked, "How long have you been out of work, Sir John?" "Since Friday," Gielgud replied. Columnist Tomson Smillie's book, How to Lis- ten, Learn, Love Opera is available at thomson- smillie.com or at Carmichael's.