Monday, December 15, 2003

By Jane Vranish, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A jovial crowd gathered at Synod Hall on Saturday night for the Renaissance and Baroque Society's "The Holly and the Ivy: A Mid-winter Feast of Fools."

A bountiful entertainment it was, conceived and directed by Grant Herreid of Piffaro, a Philadelphia-based Renaissance band that accents its name on the first syllable.

The festivities centered around Sir Holly (Herreid) and Lady Ivy (Ellen Paltiel), guests at the court of Lord Sire Cristemas (Paul Shipper), where they were vying for mastery of the Christmas season in a wintery game of wit and will.

The Synod Hall stage was festooned with greenery where they, along with their attendants, the Fool (a wonderfully nimble and always alert Mark Jaster), Berry (Tom Zajac) and a back-up band set out to "make we mery, bothe more and lasse, for now ys the tyme of Crystymas."

And "mery" they were, lustily taking to the hunting of the boar, the eating of the meat, the drinking of the ale and the main event, a contest between Sir Holly and Lady Ivy.

But the outcome wasn't as important as the party itself.

Members of Piffaro liberally graced the balcony and the aisles as well as the stage, bringing the gently ribald atmosphere that much closer.

But, for musical tastes, it was the Alta Capella or loud band that provided the most interest. After some initial intonation problems, the musicians settled in for some warm and surprisingly complex harmonies on oddly familiar instruments like the shawm, sackbut and krumhorn, predecessors to modern day instruments, but no less delightful.

Much of the time the singers had spare accompaniments, which meant that they had to rely on an accurate sense of pitch, particularly without the use of a consistent vibrato. This created problems on and off throughout the performance, most noticeably in Herreid's songs and in the purity of the open chords.

But Paltiel had a lovely seductive solo in the contest, and several of the ensemble numbers filled the hall with seasonal and resounding good cheer.

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