Review: Who Was That MASQUE-d Man? Davone Tines, with Sonnambula Ensemble at the Frick

Some of the audience at the chamber concert at the Frick Collection—that jewel-box museum of art from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century on New York’s Upper East Side—had fought its way there through the runners of the NYC Marathon. What they found was definitely worth the effort: an unusual, early 17th century performance piece, of a kind, THE MASQUE OF BLACKNESS, showcasing the star bass-baritone Davone Tines and the museum’s ensemble-in-residence, Sonnambula.

The masque, first performed at the court of King James I in 1605, was a complex piece of theatre actually commissioned by the King’s consort, Anne of Denmark, as a showcase for herself. It was produced by poet/playwright Ben Jonson (perhaps best remembered for his play, “Volpone”), composer Alfonso Ferrabosco II, and architect/designer Inigo Jones (known as a scenic designer before becoming one of England’s foremost architects). Some of Jones’s costumes made their way into Mary Ellen Stebbin’s projections; she did the lighting as well.

The MASQUE had something to offend almost everyone at court. Not only did it have the queen and her female companions appear on stage—a scandalous doing for the time—but they appeared in blackface, which was looked upon with disapproval then as now.

Because most of the original music by Ferrabosco is lost, the work has been remembered primarily as a literary piece, with Jonson's text. As luxuriously narrated by Tines as it was, he and Elizabeth Weinfield, Artistic Director of Sonnambula, weren’t satisfied to go with the single aria remaining, “Come Away,” given breathtaking life by him and the instrumentalists. In addition, there was a plan available: Ample detail about what was missing.

Yet, Tines had more on his mind than simple historic reconstruction of a lost work; as a singer, he has worked hard at what he refers to as “socially engaged music-making.” He did a joint performance piece with violinist Jennifer Koh, with both talking about being the musicians that they’re interested in being rather than simply following the European tradition for the development of singers.

The result was a score that gloried in Tines’s mellifluous tones but provided room for commentary on the mores of the times, including the offensive attitudes of Queen Anne (e.g., black water nymphs wanting to travel to Britain to be made white).

It also included some other music by Ferrabosco—specifically, instrumental dances—and by contemporaneous contributors of the same Jacobean traditions, chiefly John Dowland, William Brade and John Coprario. The performance preserves three of the four masquing tune texts, presented as contrafacta (vocal music with replaced text and metrical structure preserved) when necessary. Jonson’s original text, spoken [by Tines], is presented in unaltered form, though cut down from the original 321 lines of verse.

There were, of course, plentiful opportunities for bravura work by the early music specialists of Sonnambula on violin (Jude Ziliak and Toma Iliev), viola da gamba (Weinfield, Amy Domingues and Matt Zucker), lute and theorbo (Dusan Balarin) and harpsichord (James Kennerley).

As an example of an historical document brought back to life, THE MASQUE OF BLACKNESS is a fascinating piece of work. It introduced many to the music of Alfonso Ferrabosco II (1575-1628)—a light of the Jacobean age—through a sublime performance by the early music specialists of Sonnambula with the exquisite presence of bass-baritone Tines.