Arts & Events

The New Century Chamber Orchestra’s Music Director, Daniel Hope, has presented a Christmas program across Europe in collaboration with Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. Now, for the first time, they have brought this delightful program to California, with three concerts in The Bay Area December 18-20. I attended the December 20 concert in Berkeley’s First Congregational Church.

The New Century Chamber Orchestra is one of only a handful of conductorless ensembles

in the world. Musical decisions are made collectively, though British violinist Daniel Hope, who is now in his second year as Music Director, provides leadership as a veteran soloist of more than 25 years on the international music scene. Anne Sofie von Otter has likewise enjoyed a career spanning more than three decades as a leading performer of opera, concert, and recital. Both Daniel Horn and Anne Sofie von Otter have recorded extensively.

The Christmas concert they presented locally featured music associated in one way or another with the Christmas season. The New Century Chamber Orchestra opened the program with George Frideric Handel’s Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 6, No. 10. During Handel’s time in Rome, he got to know Arcangelo Corelli, who is credited with ‘inventing’ the concerto grosso, a genre featuring a handful of solo instruments (usually two violins, a cello, and a harpsichord), which alternate in a complex interplay with the larger musical ensemble. Corelli’s own Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8, “Christmas Concerto,” opened the concert’s second half.

Following the work by Handel, Daniel Horn introduced Anne Sofie von Otter, who sang the aria “Bereite dich, Zion”/ “Prepare yourself, Zion” from Part I of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 from 1734. Next came the aria “vedrò con mio diletto”/“I will see with delight” from Antonio Vivaldi’s opera Giustino. In this lovely aria, Anne Sofie von Otter demonstrated exquisite breath control in the long melodic lines of this music, set to a staccato accompaniment in the strings. To close out the first half of this program, the New Century Chamber Orchestra performed Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons. Violinist Daniel Hope’s solos in this familiar piece were impressive to say the least.  

As indicated earlier, the second half of this concert opened with Corelli’s “Christmas Concerto.” Then Anne Sofie von Otter returned to sing a series of songs beginning with one from her native Sweden, Koppången composed in 1998 by Per-Erik Moraeus. This lovely song, with text by Py Bäckman, evokes an evening’s walk in nature at Christmas time. Next came a song, A Child Is Born, by American-born composer Thad Jones, who lived in Denmark. Originally composed as an instrumental piece, A Child Is Born was set to a text by Alec Wilder. In its simplicity, this song was exquisitely sung by Ms. von Otter, and it featured superb playing by bassist Anthony Manzo. Next up was irving Berlin’s White Christmas, charmingly sung by Anne Sofie von Otter. Another Christmas chestnut came next, The Christmas Song, which begins with “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” And, to close out the program, Anne Sofie von Otter invited the audience to sing along with the German folk song “O Tannenbaum.” This was a delightful, well-chosen concert of music associated with the Christmas season, and congratulations are due to Daniel Hope and Anne Sofie von Otter for bringing this program to the Bay Area for its first performances in the United States.