An unlikely forty winks

Apparently someone heard snoring in the audience and was surprised given this was a Shostakovich symphony but Rami was just 6 months old so, so be it.  NCO is generous to its audience!  But jokes side this was a big and impressive gig.  NCO played Shostakovich Symphony 5, Weber Bassoon concerto with Ben Hoadley as soloist and Ella Macens  The space between stars.  Ella had studied with Louis so was close to home, but well regarded in her own light.  The Macens is a work celebrating the night sky, picturing stars, constellations, even meteors, all long notes and slow tempos and defined dynamics moving amongst parts.  The Weber is a renowned concerto on the cusp of classical, neat and ordered, steady with flashy inserted passages, ponderous but pensive second movement, and a quick, lively, buoyant third.  This was fun.  The orchestra could have overwhelmed the solo bassoon, but was delightfully restrained.  I personally loved the light touch this demanded.  And a good ear for Ben and a trained eye for Louis, for there were some very malleable tempos.  Lovely and satisfying to play.  Then to the interval and the main work: Shostakovich Symphony no.5 op,47.  It was all a confusing mess at first but came together with practice and rehearsals and ended in concert as a fascinating, challenging expanse over four movement.  Plenty of action for the basses who start two movements with gutsy melodies.  There's a truly delicious passage for the concert master, explosive runs throughout, odd movements and harmonies (I drooled over a passage running scalar to Bb then dropping to an E to end.  Louis directed with aplomb, the winds were stupendous as they so often are, I'd heard some touchy intonations in the basses, but listening after to a little video I thought the intonation was quite professional.  But it's a complex and different work thus challenging and I can only admire people who enjoyed it if not knowing it before.  This is big and a difficult listen but fascinating.  How wonderful to have played it.

National Capital Orchestra performed Ella Macens, Carl Maria von Weber and Dmitri Shostakovich at Snow concert hall under Louis Sharpe (MD, conductor) with soloist Ben Hoadley (bassoon) and Thayer Preece (concertmaster).  String bottom enders were Henry South (principal), Juliet Flook, Jennifer Groom, Talia Meischke, Jeremy Tsuei and Eric Pozza (double bass).

Thanks to Sophia for the bassists pic.

Tchaiks does hooks

My first up concert for the weekend. Busy.  This was Musica da Camera under Brad Tham, who returned after playing with us a year before.  He's quiet and respectful and a talented musician and recent ANU graduate.  His choice started with a relatively straightforward Brook green suite which was written for a schoolgirls' orchestra.  It's shortish despite its three movements and not difficult despite some tricky, malleable counting and some speed in the last dance movement.  Then Lonely Angel by Peteris Vasks, another modern meditation featuring Brad on violin out front.  Slow but can be difficult to manage without a conductor, given offbeat changes and lines.  But the feature was Tchaikovsky Serenade for strings.  Lovely and inviting and challenging enough.  Again it has speed and occasional tricky lines, a delightful waltz as movement 2, a stirring elegie as movement 3, and some fairly straightforward if fast lines and scales in movement 3.  But it's something everyone knows and is immediately pleasurable.  How well does Tchaikovsky do melody, often with the simplest of lines.  Nicely played by our MdCC led by our quietly talented Brad.

Musica da Camera Canberra played Holst, Vasks and Tchaikovsky at Cook under Brad Tham (MD, violin) with Tanya Jenkin (concertmaster).

Good out

Good to get out for some jazz.  I'm busy with all manner of classical music, which I love and some of which I play, but jazz remains a long love and this was a corker.  A corporate gig with a contented and welcoming audience and we play our music, standards and James', and the sound is good and we are playing well.  Relaxed, welcoming and a nice beer and some nibbles.  Such a nice night out, playing, if too rarely listening these days. Close to home, too.

Tilt were James Woodman (piano), Mark Levers (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Keys of a different ilk

I usually think of Linus Lee as an organist and I love his performances and I love organ, especially for the dramatic, deep, pensive nature of the thing.  But this concert was called Interesting Oz Composers and the music was of the early C20th by composers with obscure names, sometimes with pseudonyms, Hall as Morel, Zelman, Mareo as Marsden, Knox, de Chaneet, and titles with subtitles, like Elaine: Marceau brillant or In the gloaming: romance or Glowing embers: narrative-intermezzo.   It was James who suggested music for silent movies, and it's quite likely, being varied and emotive and narrative.  Other than a few ordinary titles, Hungarian dances op.17 no,5,8 and Elegy for the violin, that is.  These were all on piano, but even the organ tunes to end had a similar presence, so Gates of Baghdad, Norwegian cradle song: tone picture and Lady Pompadour: a court dance, all by F Hall as Gabriel Morel.  But whatever the theme and compositions, they were inviting and pleasant and nicely played for a wonderful outing by Linus, even with limited 32' double open diapason or contra violine.

Linus Lee performed early C20th Australian composers on piano and organ at Wesley.