Christina Day Martinson, Boston Baroque’s concertmaster. The new X-tet won’t just focus on early repertory: “Eventually I want to do the Bartok string quartets.” Lauren Damaskinos photography
A chamber group goes on a residency—before its first performance? Makes perfect sense.
Boston Baroque has formed a new chamber ensemble from its principal players—X-tet. Actually, X-tet was scheduled to make its debut last March 20. You can guess what happened to that concert.
After a year’s delay, it’s time for a public introduction.
The core of X-tet includes Boston Baroque concertmaster Christina Day Martinson, violinist Jesse Irons, violinist/violist Sarah Darling, violist Jason Fisher and cellist Michael Unterman. They’ll camp out for one week in a South Shore AirBnB later this month, after testing and quarantining.
Filmmaker Nathaniel Hansen will document the residency, going behind the scenes before that scene even gets staged. His film about the unique residency will premiere March 19, and give some insights into forming a chamber ensemble from a period-instrument orchestra. Tickets ($10) for the documentary will be available at baroque.boston.
If you think a chamber group formed from a period orchestra will only play rarities by Holzbauer or Allegri, think again.
“Eventually I want to do the Bartok string quartets,” Day Martinson says. “Bartok was writing for strings that have that raw gut sonority. We can explore a variety of music.”
The notions that there is a correct way to perform early music, or that period practices are limited to Renaissance and Baroque repertory, have long been debunked.
“The only thing that’s authentic is that there was so much experimenting going on, then and now,” Day Martinson says. “All of this music is challenging. These instruments bring something special to what we’re playing.”
X-tet will start with works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Schubert. There’s also a new piece to study—a two-movement quartet composed by Boston Baroque’s music director Martin Pearlman.
Gathering with friends—even longtime orchestra-mates—still has its risks. An earlier date for the residency had to be postponed, after Day Martinson had a once-removed exposure to Covid. But after testing and isolating, she feels ready.
“We all feel like we need to take some risks, the ones you feel comfortable with,” the Jamaica Plain resident says. “To feed your spirit and soul. We’ve wanted to get going.
“We’re taking as many cautions as possible,” she says. “We will rehearse Tuesday and Wednesday on our own, and then they’ll do the filming for a couple days.”
X-tet’s membership will be flexible. “Part of calling us X-tet is not to be defined by a number,” Day Martinson says. “My vision for this is to bring in more and more people, to give opportunities to other players. I would love to do enough concerts so we could spread the love through the group. We have so many great players, and some don’t get the opportunities that I do, or Sarah does.”
“This has been a dream of the principal players since before my time,” says executive director Jennifer Ritvo Hughes, who join Boston Baroque in 2018. “This is an opportunity for this set of musicians to spend more time exploring their craft. And to give the audience a set of repertoire that they haven’t heard on period instruments.
“It’s the hope of Marty and myself that will deepen,” Hughes says. “We want to do a series, to be consistent, and to make a contribution to the early music and chamber music scene.
“But first we want to create a film that has lots of music, but will also be about the story of the launch,” she says, “and the role that this time is playing in it. Something exciting and enjoyable.
“We view this residency as a launching point,” says Hughes, a Needham resident. “This group is different than others. Even though they’re just forming, they’ve played together for a long time.”
Nathaniel Hansen’s documentary of the Boston Baroque X-tet’s residency will premiere Friday, March 19 with an encore showing Saturday, March 20, at 7:00 p.m. Visit baroque.boston or call 617 987-8600 for tickets.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Artists Alone is a series about musicians and the impact of the pandemic. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com