The Bach Camerata at the Huntington Library on Tuesday

I was a guest of Judith and Stanley on May 12th for a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's "The 6 Brandenburg Concertos by the Camerata Pacifica at the new theater at the Huntington Library in San Marino.  

The program stated that although they are often performed as a set, there was nothing inevitable about their grouping;  Bach simply put together six works he had produced over the ten prior years and sent them to the Margrave of Brandenburg, in hopes of securing a position at the Berlin court during the 1700's.

Many of the six are very familiar.  In fact, I was looking for Garrison Keillor to appear for an episode of "A Prairie Home Companion" when one of the concertos was played.  The Camerata musicians changed with the concertos but many reappeared.

Here are some of photos' of the musicians receiving applause after their performances:

The performers for the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major wit 3 oboes, 2 horns, bassoon (John Steinmetz who played this piece in the first Camerata concert 25 years ago), 3 violins, a viola, cello, double bass and a beautiful harpsichord played by Paola Bordignon.

The No. 6 in B-flat major was next with Richard O'Neill (black suit with racing stripes on the left) and Jonathan Moerschel, violas, Ani Aznavoorian, Raman Ramakrishnan and Andrew Janss, cellos.

The No. 2 in F major was next with Melanie Lancon, flute, Nick Daniel, oboe, Mark Owen horn, Priya Mitchell, Catherine Leonard, and Agnes Gottschewshi violins.

The group for the No. 3 in G major.

Adrian Spence (far right) the director of the Camerata Pacifica, joined the group and played the flute for the No. 5 in D major and the No. 4 in G major. 

 

These "Bicentennial Tapestries," 1975 designed by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) and woven by Pinton Freres, Aubusson, France, hang in the lobby of the beautiful new auditorium at the Huntington.