Newport Classical’s Saturday Night festival concert brought the San Francisco-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra to the Breakers Mansion in a delightful HIP of Handel, Biber, and a newly commissioned East Coast Premiere of American composer Mason Bates Appalachian Ayre. With only a three-day notice, guest conductor Christine Brandes adroitly filled in on the podium for Music Director Richard Egarr, skillfully pulling and stretching those notes that gave structure and direction to the musical lines, all the while keeping an energetic pace without losing sight of the tactus (basic pulse) which remained steady throughout the many changes of time and tempo. She telegraphed a palpable connection, and the 19 players responded accordingly.
Stephen Martorella, The Boston Musical Intelligencer
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