Boston Classical Review

The Sarasa Ensemble presented a program of 17th-century music from Bologna Saturday night at the Friends Meeting House in Cambridge.

The Sarasa Ensemble curated a program titled “alla Bolognese” Saturday night at Cambridge’s Friends Meeting House, illuminating a fertile musical moment in the 17th-century Italian city.

At the time, Bologna stood at the forefront of instrumental innovation and evolving ideas of tonality and form. Though the printed program gave little idea of what to expect, the period-instrument ensemble shaped these varied works into a cohesive, intimate experience, revealing how the musical life of a single city could radiate outward in influence.

What was unique about this Sarasa Ensemble was not only the interesting selections and clever program title, but the commitment to the authenticity to the pieces and their own style. Each player in the versatile five-member ensemble employs creative freedom to shape their parts, while intently listening to and relying on the musicianship of others. The concert experience allows the audience to experience each of the historical instruments’ full colors and capabilities, and the inviting atmosphere sparks curiosity about the current and past performance practices of these lesser-known, beautiful works.

Bartolomeo Montalbano’s Sinfonia Quarta “Geloso” immediately set the tone for the evening. Flexible phrasing and sensitive ensemble work allowed each timbre to register distinctly, while flourishes by violinist Elicia Silverstein shimmered in bright, focused colors.

Alessandro Piccinini’s Ciaccona from Intavolatura di liuto et di Chitarrone showcased the bead-like textures and well-voiced clarity of Nathaniel Cox’s theorbo. That work flowed directly into Benedetto Ferrari’s popular secular song Amati, lo vi so dire, with the vocal line taken by Cox’s cornetto, after the theorbo lines passed to the cello, pizzicato then bowed. The tonic to dominant ground bass was firmly etched, and harmonic detours added passing color.

Domenico Gabrielli’s Ricercar No. VII in D minor—composed decades before the solo cello suites of J.S. Bach—explored the instrument’s full compass, from booming low registers to the stringy velvets of its faster articulations. The writing proved strikingly virtuosic and forward-looking. Jennifer Morsches brought a sense of freedom to her performance here: characteristically Baroque in gesture, yet refreshingly spontaneous to the ear.

Composer-nun Isabella Leonarda’s Sonata prima, Op. XVI, unfolded as a tuneful, gracefully proportioned work performed by two violins, cello, theorbo, and organ. Silverstein’s brighter sound paired exquisitely with the warmer hues of Emily Hale’s violin. In both duet and conversational passages, their unity of gesture formed satisfying spheres of sound. The central “Aria” particularly stood out, each player projecting an individual voice through timbre and style while maintaining the ensemble’s blended direction.

After intermission, Silverstein and Morsches turned to Giuseppe Torelli’s Sonata II in D minor from Concertino per camera, Op. 4. A pioneer of the concerto and concerto grosso, Torelli here explored the shifting roles of violin and cello within a duo texture. The acoustic occasionally upset the balance, but the cello’s percussive articulation was still able to cut through the violin’s resonant glow.

Organist John McKean offered Giulio Cesare Arresti’s Elevazione sopra il Pange lingua, weaving intricate figuration over the sacred piece. Early polyphonic passages were somewhat swallowed in the resonant room, yet a later shift to brighter stops lent the music needed bite and definition.

Giovanni Bononcini’s Chi d’Amor trà le catene, Op. 8 followed, its two vocal lines rendered instrumentally by violin and cornetto. The sunniness of the pairing proved apt, with the violin’s slight grit balancing the cornetto’s muted smoothness. A wide descending interval passed through the ensemble in deft counterpoint, the cello joining the exchange.

Maurizio Cazzati’s Sonata No. 3 “La Pezzola” displayed progressive harmonic thinking from the outset, pivoting quickly between major and minor in the introductory material. Born in Luzzara but creatively revitalized after settling in Bologna in midlife, Cazzati seemed to relish experimentation. A brighter central section drew out longer ensemble lines in this performance, revealing small details within impressively sustained phrases.

Cox returned on yet another instrument for Domenico Pellegrini’s Passacaglia for solo guitar, bringing percussive attack to expressive, flourishing lines. In quicker passages, however, the resonance of the space sometimes blurred the notes.

Antonio Bononcini, brother to Giovanni earlier in the program, produced a virtuosic, beautiful Sonata 11 in A minor for violoncello. On five-stringed violoncello piccolo, Morsches drew a timbre at times suggestive of an oboe-tinged viola. The Largo unfolded in enveloping double-stops and the Allegro sparkled with spunky, tremolo-like articulation, fleetingly reminiscent of Vivaldi’s Winter.

An unannounced Ballo and Corrente by Bononcini offered lilting, joyful dances for violins, cello, and guitar. The program closed with Cazzati’s Capriccio sopra 12 note from Trattenimento per camera, Op. 22, no. 13, gathering all five players in fluttering flower-petal runs and tight-knit ensemble playing.

As an encore, the ensemble offered a Chaconne by Vitali (not the familiar G minor violin work), its sweet lyricism complementing the evening’s more percussive, grassy-meadow vivacity.

The program will be repeated 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Follen Church in Lexington.

The Sarasa Ensemble presents “All in the Family,” featuring works of the extended Bach family, 7 p.m. May 9 at Friends Meeting House in Cambridge.  sarasamusic.org/