by Ivars Taurins
As I look back over 25 years of concerts, tours and recordings with Tafelmusik, I am astounded by the vast, glittering array of guest soloists and directors that has graced our stage. The list of artists is almost too unwieldy to digest, and yet each guest has brought with him or her something new and vital to share with Tafelmusik's musicians. In our early years, guest artists were as much teachers and mentors as they were performers. They generously shared their expertise and insights through rehearsals and master classes. Cellist Anner Bylsma, violinists Lucy van Dael, Stanley Ritchie and Sigiswald Kuijken, and fortepianist Malcolm Bilson were crucial to our early musical development. Frans Bruggen joined us in a veritable leap of faith as guest director and soloist in an all-Bach programme that took this fledgling orchestra to Lincoln Center in 1982. Recorder player Marion Verbruggen was also instrumental in our early touring, this time to Europe.
With all these musicians, I remember the consistently high standards they expected and coaxed from us, each in his or her own way. "Uncle Anner's" relaxed, almost carefree manner, anecdotes, jokes and philosophical musings were as much a part of his music-making as his cello playing. Frans Bruggen's quietly intense eyes peered in the distance as he listened with keen ears to the sounds we were creating - his comments rather matter of fact, but ever so on the mark. And the Kuijkens, violinist Sigiswald and flutist Barthold, both so immersed in baroque style that they seemed to breathe it, demanded incredible refinement of tone, technique and musicality.
Singers always add a different kind of excitement and discovery, and we have been treated to an embarrassment of riches in this area. From our early days with the quietly elegant and mellifluous baritone Max van Egmond, to a shining array of sopranos, including Emma Kirkby, Ann Monoyios, Karina Gauvin, Nancy Argenta and Suzie LeBlanc, to name but a few. Altos Catherine Robbin, Nathalie Stutzmann and Marie-Nicole Lemieux, and countertenors Jeffrey Dooley, Alan Fast, Matthew White and Dan Taylor have joined us in concerts, tours and recordings. Tenors have included Wilfried Jochens, Benjamin Butterfield, Charles Daniels, Paul Agnew, and yes, in an early performance of Bach's Magnificat, Ben Heppner. Daniel Lichti, Nathaniel Watson, William Sharp and Locky Chung are among the basses who round out our roster of guest singers.
Nicholas McGegan and Alan Curtis first introduced us to the fantastical world of baroque opera, a world we continue to explore with the many conductors who work with Opera Atelier. As choir director, I am particularly grateful for the insights brought to our performances of choral repertoire by guest directors Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman, and most recently, Richard Egarr.
Touring or recording with a guest artist fosters a more in-depth and intense musical relationship than in a regular concert run - one that has time to blossom and mature. This is especially true with conductor Bruno Weil. We have worked with Bruno at home, abroad and in the recording studio regularly since 1991, and he has introduced us to the repertoire of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. When Bruno founded a festival in the German town of Irsee in 1993, he invited Tafelmusik to be orchestra-in-residence, and we have returned every year since. Over the past 25 years we have been truly blessed by the generosity, support and artistry of our extended musical family.
Ivars Taurins was a founding member of the Tafelmusik Orchestra and violist for its first 23 years. He is founder and director of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir.
