Thomas Wikman Reviews
Nothing To Fix In Music of Baroque
Pioneer Press Sunday, November 2, 1995
by Dorothy Andries, Music Critic
Precision and poetry.
That's what the Music of
the Baroque delivered
Oct. 23 when it opened its
season at First United
Methodist Church in
Evanston with an all-Mozart
program.
First we heard an
impeccable performance of
the composer's Symphony No.
28, followed by the
Requiem. The latter was never
finished and will be forever
linked, for millions of us, to
the tragic, and probably
fabricated tale in "Amadeus."
Music director Thomas
Wikman chose a version of the
Requiem completed soon after
Mozart's death. Whether it is
the best completion is moot. It
was performed with exquisite
precision and heartfelt
emotion.
The Music of the Baroque
chorus has less than 30 voices,
but it is an instrument of
flexibility and depth. Soloists,
soprano Patrice Michael Bedi.
alto Karen Brunssen, tenor
William Watson and bass
Peter Van de Graaff are
chorus members as well. That
attests to the caliber of singers
Wikman is able to attract to
this prestigious organization.
The MOB's next concert,
Charpentier's Midnight Mass
for Christmas, is Nov. 14 at St.
Luke's Episcopal Church in
Evanston.
