La Follia
Song and Dance: The Essence of Music
Saturday, October 16, 1999
First English Lutheran Church

For its "Song and Dance" concert Saturday night at First English Lutheran Church, La Follia could easily have strung together dance suites by the likes of Bach, Buxtehude and Couperin. But that would have been too mundane for these witty and resourceful baroque pundits. Instead, the eight- member period-instrument ensemble fashioned the concert into a baroque megasuite -- music by 12 composers cleverly arranged by dance type and, naturally, in proper order.

As it has done in most of its concerts, La Follia presented the familiar alongside the nearly forgotten. The standout in the first category was harpsichordist Keith Womer’s engaging reading of the aria (saraband) and quodlibet from Bach’s "Goldberg Variations." Unfolding with grace and fluidity, it justly called for a performance of the complete work from Womer.

Among the lesser-known offerings, a courante by Jacques Duphly and a gigue by Dietrich Buxtehude drew from the rich storehouse of harmonic color and yearning suspensions so characteristic of this era. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Prewitt sang seamlessly and brightly in a saraband and minuet by Michel L’Affilard. In a chaconne from Lully’s opera "Cadmus et Hermione," tenor Christopher LeCluyse and guest guitarist Jonathan Kulp were the perfect mix of lightness and clarity. The concert ended with the entire ensemble in another chaconne -- Tory composer Thomas D’Urfey’s delightfully acerbic "The King’s Health" -- which scorns the Whigs and compares Charles II to Jehovah.

The concert also debuted the ensemble’s newly acquired portable organ, a 17th-century reconstruction with a beautifully rounded, woody tone that complements the group’s period cello, flute, recorders and harpsichord.

Michael Huebner
Austin American-Statesman
October 20, 1999