Once upon a time string orchestras were thick on the ground
here: there was Boyd Neel, Reginald Jacques, the English Chamber Orchestra and
other ensembles often providing good concerts so that we heard Arthur Bliss'
fine Music for Strings, the Frank Bridge Variations of Britten and other
pieces that are not so frequently played now. But 3000 miles away there is one
class act, the Australian Chamber Orchestra. It was founded as far back as 1975
but gained strength in '89 when Richard Tognetti was appointed Artistic
Director and Lead Violin. And now, nearly a quarter of a century later he is
still there. And he still looks as fresh as he did then and he has not lost any
of his ability to play like a master and to uphold his by now international reputation
for being a fine trainer of string players (and they sometimes sprout wind and
brass for the bigger classics).
The ACO is here to visit Edinburgh for the Festival and
London's Cadogan Hall. The programme began with a Paganini gallimaufry, a Caprice
on Pag's Caprices, thought up by Tognetti himself, a pleasant overture/cum
visiting card, flitting between No. 20 in D and No. 17 in E flat. Curiously the
scalic upbeat to the E flat was not articulated so that one heard the notes and
not just a flurry. Why, I wondered? Next we heard that fine Oz composer Richard
Meale in tonal mood, his somewhat contrived Cantilena Pacifica. The
first half ended with another of Tognetti's enlargements: the String Quartet of
Maurice Ravel. These string orchestral versions are like viewing a familiar
sculpture from an unusual angle and they make one rethink, usually with
pleasure, a favourite piece of chamber music, perhaps introducing it to some
listeners.
Dawn Upshaw, American soprano, delighted us with songs by
Schumann, Schoenberg and Schubert, each accompanied by strings. Mondnacht,
magical evocation of nocturnal love, the Litanei from the String Quartet
No 2 and Tod und das Mädchen, three teutonic gifts to the
world. The concert ended with more Schoenberg, his early, tonal masterpiece, Transfigured
Night, Verklärte Nacht, an Art Deco scene that sounds to me always
as if it were an Egon Schiele canvas buried in pink wallpaper. The work is
violently passionate as if it would tear your heart out, an engulfing
experience.
A special bouquet for the principal viola
player, Christopher Moore, whose sound on his instrument was beautiful.
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