Graham helps to celebrate McGegan in song

Nicholas McGegan’s 30-year tenure as music director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, which was celebrated with a gala dinner and concert on Thursday night, has been marked by a combination of innovation and steadfast consistency.

Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham was the celebrity guest, giving characteristically agile and brilliant renditions of four of the composer’s operatic arias, and those episodes brought a dose of star power to the proceedings.

In the jaunty dances of the “Water Music” Suite No. 1 and again in the final minuets from the “Royal Fireworks Music,” you could hear an instrumental ensemble trained over many years to operate with sleek, joyful efficiency.

The overture to “An Occasional Oratorio,” celebrating a royal military victory that at the time of its premiere had yet to actually happen, was an irresistible onslaught of gleaming trumpets and thwacking drums, and those sonorities returned in full Technicolor for the “Fireworks” music.

Solo turns by orchestra stalwarts such as Kelley and trumpeter John Thiessen, as well as the excellent ensemble work by the string and woodwind sections, were a reminder of how deep the power of this group runs.