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Imagine combining live theatre with a Baroque music concert and you have a good idea of Tafelmusik's presentation of The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres at the Folly Theatre. With the concert constructed so that "music and science are both celebrated in a tribute to Galileo," it gives me the opportunity to address the concepts together without seeming like a total geek or going too far astray. The art-science juxtaposition was intriguing and surprisingly modern.

The concept of a "music of the spheres" is ancient, but after the 17^th century, cosmology scholars began to acknowledge its absurdity. But it leaves one to ponder the irony of modern, and equally bizarre, cosmological oddities such as string theory - the idea that all matter is fundamentally composed of one-dimensional oscillating "strings" that require an 11-dimensional universe for viability. Bizarre scientific theories - now or four centuries ago - aside, Tafelmusik's lively show, up until the end, hit its mark, bringing to life the genius, persecution and eventual vindication of Galileo through a lively and multi-dimensional union of oscillating strings (plus three woodwinds) and eye-catching visual aides.

In this live-theatre experience, Tafelmusik presents the compositions as a character more so than the traditionally-aesthetic role that often is their sole raison d'etre in a normal concert setting. As narrator Shaun Smyth chronicles the life of Galileo in the context of his predecessors (Copernicus), contemporaries (Kepler) and followers (Isaac Newton), the orchestra opened with a tribute to "The Harmony of the Spheres" with works from Vivaldi (Concerto for 2 violins in A Major), Lully (music from Phaeton), and a general selection of "Music from the Time of Galileo," including works by Monteverdi, Merula, Galilei (yes, that Galilei), and Marini. Similarly, the orchestra members were themselves characters in the interplay, moving about the stage in animated fashion and several times some members left the stage to perform from the aisles. The latter provided a natural "surround-sound" effect that gave the already mesmerizing performance yet another spatial dimension. It was a clever device that gave a broader awareness of time and space, both musically and scientifically.

The second half opened with two short pieces by Purcell before moving into a musical tribute to the spheres themselves: Rameau's Entrée de Jupiter, Entrée de Venus, and Entrée de Mercure, Lully's Air Pour les Suivants de Saturne and ending with a whimsical folk tune, The Astronomical Drinking Song. The program closed as it opened, with another tribute to "The Harmony of the Spheres," featuring Bach's Choral Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern ("How brightly shines the morning star") and closing the program with his Sinfonia, BWV 29.

Because the event was as much theatre as concert, I had decided early that some of the very few intonation and note errors could be easily and graciously forgiven in the spirit of the moment. It was therefore so very unfortunate that the closing piece - the Sinfonia - was a near disaster. Violinist Aisslinn Nosky was wholly unimpressive in her horribly intonated and sloppy presentation of a lively and beloved Bach classic that should have put an enthusiastic exclamation point on what had been, up to that moment, a very enjoyable experience. It was shocking to hear that degree of poor technique and musicianship in a venue with as high a caliber as the Folly Theatre. Fortunately, with six other violinists, Tafelmusik presumably has some depth that it can fall back on to remedy such situations.

Having said that, it may come as a surprise that I would give the overall performance a passing grade, but it really was a fun adventure that challenged all the senses. The program was well conceived and the entertainers' lively stage presence was a crowd pleaser. And besides, according to string theory, of the ten simultaneous performances that occurred in the other dimensions, at least a few of them would have had a perfect performance of the Bach Sinfonia. If it's OK with you, I'll just make believe I heard that one...

REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
The Galileo Project:  Music of the Spheres
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Folly Theatre
300 West 12th Street, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org

By Christopher Guerin

Traditional and New Classical music, and Theatre Contributor (Past writer)
Christopher Guerin holds degrees in Music Education, Music Business, and Music Theory & Composition, the latter from the University of Massachusetts (Lowell) College of Music where he co-founded the college's Composers' Guild, and, in 1985, won the Artin Arslanian Composition Award. During college, he also obtained some musical theatre experience as a member of pit orchestras for Threepenny Opera and My Fair Lady. Since 1989, Christopher has been in the very non-artistic corporate sector, where his creative energies have been put to more mundane endeavors 

Christopher credits his musical motivations to his late father, who was concertmaster of the Springfield (MA) Community (pre-cursor to the city's current Symphony) Orchestra and performed popular music on radio in the 1930s. Christopher began his classical training in 1972 at age 10, began teaching at 16 (continuing to take private students throughout college), and traveled extensively with a youth orchestra - including to New Zealand in 1980. After college, and until 1989, Christopher focused on the business end of music as a successful sales manager for one of New England's largest music chains.

Over the past 20 years, Christopher's expertise has focused on medicine as a life risk underwriting officer for a large Midwest insurance group. His past duties included responsibility for risk underwriting in Pacific Rim markets where he traveled extensively to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Burma. Time permitting, he has continued to compose intermittently throughout this period. Christopher is married to Paula, a fellow musician he met during college, and together they have "composed" their magnum opera in three very creative children - an architecture student (go K-State!), an aspiring classical pianist, and a budding writer/journalist. He and his wife relocated from Massachusetts to the Kansas City area in 1997.