Concert in the time of Covid

It's a strange experience.  This was my first concert since the Covid close-down six months ago.  The group was much the same - twenty or so string players in Musica da Camera with guest guitar soloist and director.  The location was the same, but instead of 100+ audience, there were just 30 seats sparsely strewn in front of us.  Better than nothing.  Someone mentioned the sound was different but I didn't particularly notice, being too busy trying to play the parts.  Because that's another thing: the parts were not too challenging, but my practice hasn't been so established for several months.  Covid has done strange things to our mental states.  And another thing, I couldn't play the Sunday concert.  I have to confirm 14-days staying in the ACT in a bit less than 2 weeks and the Sunday concert was close, but in NSW.  Strange, really, given that ACT is so small, and so many NSW residents come to Canberra for work or pleasure anyway.  But they have to set some rules and this is a little oddity.  So I thought we were just a little rusty but the music was surprisingly satisfying - Grieg, Vivaldi, Whitacre, Boccherini and Piazzolla Libertango.  The soloist was Canberra-trained guitarist Andrew Blanch and the conductor was local music educator and bassist Lizzie Collier.  Both were impressive.  I expected it would be too much guitar, too Spanish, but I came to enjoy the performance immensely: the passionate, driving rhythms and growling bass parts.  Lizzy advised that tango should be played virtually 100% with down-bows on bass and cello.  Interesting and strange but it gave a drive and growl that I loved. The Grieg was lovely folk song as Nordic melody; the Whitacre was colours of autumn interpreted with all manner of time signatures (3/4,5/4,4/4,6/4) and harmonic colour.  The Vivaldi and Boccherini were with guitar, one a guitar concerto and the other including a fandango.  Libertango is just a fabulous, hugely covered passionate tango (from Grace Jones on).  So, I'm sorry I'm not playing the Sunday concert (it's being played as I write this) because the rehash is always more comfortable and committed, but I enjoyed that which I could and I remain Covid-correct.  Thanks to all and hope it's going well right now.

Musica da Camera string orchestra performed Vivaldi, Whitacre, Boccherini and Piazzolla under Lizzy Collier (director) with soloist Andrew Blanch (guitar).

Showcase

This was an ANU School of Music showcase. Six outfits: two classical, three contemporary cum improvisational. They were playing for a few Music Ensemble prizes from the Friends of the School. The two classical were all guitars. The rest were a collection of varied jazz cum contemporary with an experimental improv trio which was pretty much unlike everything else. As is this music. There were judges' prizes and also people's choice awards. First up for classical was the Wattle Guitar Quartet playing Piazzola and Bizet. I particularly enjoyed the second Piazzola, La Muerte del Ange, swinging and edgy and with a fairly challenging harmony. They were later followed by the guitar duo of Andrew Blanch and Callum Henshaw performing Nigel Westlake and Paulo Bellinati. The Westlake was particularly gorgeous with changing time and slithery triplets and such groupings. This pair played it was great confidence and professionalism, lovely balance and gentleness and an easy take on the complex time plays. They won the Judges' award and the Wattle Quartet won the People's Choice award. The classicals started off and were intermixed with the other bands.

The others were a varied mix. This award was for "Jazz and Contemporary music, including jazz, contemporary, improvisatory and popular music". So what a mix, especially after a pair of classical guitar ensembles. Sev Quartet started with a jazz set, in improvised piece called Retrospect and a take on Beautiful love. Varied time feels, double bass, clear playing, perhaps my favourite playing I've heard from Eddie Bernasconi on Beautiful love, swing and groove and various changes. Then the ANU Improvisation Ensemble reduced to three players for the day. A cat amongst pigeons. Piano, bass viol, electronica and bows and ancillary noise makers or alterers; no groove, no charts, much ear and tone and sound and colour. It's a different world and the suggestion to "enjoy the sound, don't worry too much about the music" was apt. Then Three Men One Chamber, a jazz trio playing with e-bass and loops and effects and the rest. Floating or busy or processed or with accompanying sampled voice. I liked the feels and the richness of studio-like processed sounds. I asked after about influences: Explosions in the sky and Toe (Jpn). Finally, a '70s funk outfit with heavy 16th grooves and very clear melody, few chords, simple direct grooves. Takes me back and nicely played. This was the Hugo Lee band with two original compositions from their recent CD. HLBand won both the judges' and people's choice prizes, presumably for their obvious clarity and drive. My fave was 3M1C even though they often disappeared over pedals and weren't so sharp, but the processed tones sounded new and rich to my ears. But vintage keeps being new again and HLBand was certainly sharp.

Wattle Guitar Quartet comprised Jeffrey Cheah, Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle, Cassandra Low and Alex Clark). Sev Quartet comprised Eddie Bernasconi (trumpet), Ben Forte (guitar), Alec Brinsmead (drums) and Brendan Keller-Tuberg (bass). Andrew Blanch and Callum Henshaw played guitar. The ANU Improvisation Ensemble comprised Amelia Watson (piano), Ben Drury (bass viol, Kaoss pad) and Ben Harb (electronics). Three Men One Chamber were Haydn Fritzlaff (drums), Stephen Read (guitar) and Brendan Keller-Tuberg (e-bass). Hugo Lee Band comprised Hugo Lee (alto, EWI), Ben Forte (guitar), Jack Schwenke (e-bass) and Alec Brinsmead (drums).

So much learnt

I missed the Australian Haydn Ensemble but not the associated masterclass. The two guests with the AHE were Marc Destrubé (violin, Canada) and Neal Peres da Costa (keyboards, Sydney) and they ran the masterclass. This session was open to the public and I can only suggest that any interested listener also attend. This was not just for the performers. This is exposure to advanced musical thinking and I learnt tons. Students from the School of Music played five pieces over 2 hours and received comments and guidance from Marc and Neal. Nothing negative; nothing on occasional mistakes. This was mostly on interpretation and improvements were evident even after just a few minutes of guidance from a trained ear. Here are a string of quotes to give you the idea. [When practicing] "don't always start at the start" [so you learn the whole piece]. "In Mozart's time they played only new music" [so recognise the shock of the new in established music]. "Mozart was primarily an opera composer" [so think of the characters, the contrasts, the speech]. Read performance treatises (CPE Bach, Daniel Torke?) on the meaning of the slur and more. "Phrasing marks duplicate speech". Start with the traditional approach of first beat as dominant if there's no other notation. Your Steinway is "much stronger than anything Mozart had", "think of lightening up", use "lightness of touch" [for Mozart's music]. A repeated note probably means it's more insistent. "Trills serve three functions: add tension, remove tension, or decorative". [In the duet,] the piano is the harmonic instrument: "hear ... the most wonderful blackboard" [did I hear this right?]. When phrasing, "keep tension in the silence". "Be aware of function [contours]": in a duet, who's leading, who's following and when. "Read what people say of G major and any key". Practice playing a lighter sound; strength will come in performance. In the Romantic period, pianists almost always played arpeggiations [in place of chords?]; it's more vibrant. Crescendo with slight acceleration gives energy. "Use imagination to give shape". "Pace the energy" [leave have room to increase volume, etc]. The Romantic period used "lots of markings"; ask why. Scarlatti sonatas are "often from some form of dance"; his chords are "fantastic ... make sure we hear them". Music may be metronomic but still needs "energising". "Early music tries to make difficult [passages] sound difficult; new music tries to make difficult sound easy". "Often, if technically we need time, the music also needs time". "The bass line is the driving force" and "look to the rhythm of the bass line". "They didn't write slurs in the [Scarlatti's] time, because players would have played this way". "There are only four tools of expression in music". [I struggled to catch the four tools. I think they were: weight, articulation, colour, speed]. "Dance is about going and stopping". There was more, especially in the context of each piece. My main takeaway was think of the form and how to play each note or phrase. Also, think speech; imagine the conversation. This was a fascinating two hours. You get the picture.

Marc Destrubé (violin) and Neal Peres da Costa (piano) gave a masterclass to students at the ANU School of Music. The students were Yan Tse (violin) with accompanist (name not on program) played Mozart Violin Concerto no.5, 1st movement. Clara Barrs (violin) and Lauren Giddy (piano) played Mozart Sonata in G, K.301. Ellen Falconer (piano) played Smetana On the sea shore. Andrew Blanch (guitar) played Scarlatti Sonata in Amin, K.175. Amelia Noble (cello) played Bach Cello suite no.3, Courante.