Youth and death

A return to Albert Hall for old some old mates, Australian Haydn Ensemble, performing in string quartet format behind baritone David Greco.  Incredibly in a front row centre seat necessitated by my recording setup: a mic stand between my legs, no less.  It was an interesting amalgamation of a series of Schubert lieders interpersing the four movements of a Mendelssohn string quartet (op.81) and with some introductions by David for several of the lieders.   Schubert lieder is a difficult and depressing thing to my ears, not for the performance, which was emotional and effective and very impressive, but for the themes and concerns of the age and the heavy, sometimes morbid lyrics.  David touched on that, a time of disease and difficulties, so perhaps understandable.  Apparently Schubert died at 31 (older than the 27 Club, rock stars who died at 27, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, and Jim Morrison).  So the song of the much loved son dreaming of the Erlking, who died in his father's arms and the difficult lives and loves of Youth and death and Winterreise and the Hurdy-gurdy man and the Death of the maiden.  Serenade was nicer.  But regardless of Schubert this was very well done, quieter and more emotional, and the Mendelssohn more restrained but still delicious.

David Greco (baritone) led the Australian Haydn Ensemble in string quartet formation with Skye Macintosh and Matthew Greco (violins), Karina Schmitz (viola) and Daniel Yeadon (cello) at the Albert Hall.

Sprawl

It's a big sprawling concoction that perhaps only a composer's mother could love. That's the way we'd all been talking of it, from the orchestra and from the choir, but we'd come to love it as we understood it better ... or at least as we recognised its complexities and movements. Someone mentioned that the parts don't obviously fit together. Perhaps that's an explanation: certainly it was hard to play along with a recording; Lenny's role was central. But the outcome could be sublime. This is Vaughan Williams Symphony no.1 that talks of the sea and seafarers. It's turbulent and sea-like and it runs for 4 movements over ~70 minutes. The final movement alone is 30mins. We'll be unlikely to play it again and probably unlikely to hear it but it was great. Again, the ole "she'll be right on the night" came through. I could see it on Lenny's face towards the end, that sense of satisfaction with work done well. And the first half was similarly special: the Australian premiere of On the beach, a suite taken from the film score by Christopher Gordon. Sparse and intriguing and telling a story of tragedy that we are coming to understand in our climate changing days. And not just the premier but also the conductor in the building. Along with 130 players and choral singers and two vocal soloists of note on stage. This was a big show and overwhelmingly satisfying in full flight.

National Capital Orchestra and Canberra Choral Society performed Vaughan Williams Symphony no.1 and Christopher Gordon On the beach suite at Llewellyn Hall. Leonard Weiss (conductor); vocal soloists were Chloe Lankshear (soprano) and David Greco (baritone). Dan Walker (chorus master) prepared the CCS. The bass end was covered by Kate Murphy, Geoff Prime and Eric Pozza (basses).

Discovering Schubert

Despite their reputation, I hadn't warmed to Schubert's songs before but this was different. Australian Haydn Ensemble came to town with guest singer David Greco. The ensemble was restructured at the short notice after a death in the family meant leader and first violinist Skye couldn't make it. Simone moved from second to first violin and Rafael sat in on second. Otherwise the team was James and James and Jacqueline. The program also changed with mostly alternating Schubert songs and miniature string quartets from The Four Seasons by Felicien David. FD was also new to me but generally much more light and joyous than the Schubert. The whole was presented as a single set with no interval and with discussions and translations of Schubert's songs ad backgrounds by David. Delightfully and unexpectedly, the concert went off with no applause until the end. This was a pleasure. I've come to dislike clapping for jazz solos and the response here was blissfully uninterrupted. It may leave the performers a little lost between tunes but it carries the flow of music purposefully. The playing was neat and involved as always. Jacqueline was solidly tested in a later song, the famed Der Erlkonig, but her presence was rich and full throughout. So were the others. I wondered about balance at one time as passages passed between strings, but it's relatively trivial, and the commitment, especially from Simone, was captivating. David's interpretations were stunners, with big, rich voice, clear enunciation (although given that it's German, I didn't catch much anyway) and emotive, even dramatic, presentation. His tonal formation was to die for. My choir does nothing of the sort: I'd love to hear the choirs he's appointed to, given this sample (Westminster Abbey and Sistine Chapel, no less!). It was a short program given the last-minute changes but deeply satisfying so the repertoire change was no disappointment and it taught me the impressiveness of this Schubert song repertoire. So, it went well. Our condolences to Skye.

David Greco (baritone) sang with the Australian Haydn Ensemble at ANU University House. Tonight AHE comprised Simone Slattery and Rafael Font (violins), James Eccles (viola), James Bush (cello) and Jacqueline Dossor (bass).

Early opera as sitcom

This was opera, but early. Monteverdi from 1619 and 1624; Pergolesi from 1733. Three singers performing with an early music ensemble with harpsichord and theorbo and supplied with the right bows. All in Italian. I could do nothing but think of this as popular entertainment of the time. Presumably it was, being stories of men and women battling in various ways. The main work, Pergolesi La serva padrona (=the maid turned mistress) involved a rebelious servant three hours late with the morning chocolate eventually turning the tables and winning marriage. A wiley woman outsmarting a man who is ultimately glad to be deceived. I can imagine laughter and wines (it being Italian) rather than a festival and respectful listeners impressed by trained voices. Think commercial stations and sitcom or romantic comedy rather than ABC arts programming. But the voices were good, even excellent. We sat with a woman who had studied seriously voice and who was enamoured with the genuine Italian, Marco Beasley, speaking highly of an ability to hit high notes while retaining a masculine, deeper edge, and his skills at performance. This is opera, so dramatic as well as musical. And the other two singers, too, Taryn Fiebig and David Greco were no slouches, looking believable despite the plots and stark, indicative sets. The sets were just two raised stages in the middle of the lengthy room, with audience each side. The accompanying musicians were middle of the space and off to one side. This was a Festival Ensemble, a mix of musos, but I understand it was led by Forma Antigua, a period plucked string ensemble (harpsichord, theorbo and baroque guitar) from Spain. Obscure brilliance is a feature of this festival. (For obscure brilliance, think Nadia Ratsimandresy, Parisian plalyer of the Ondes Martenot. I gave her a lift to the airport. She told me there are maybe 10 professional Ondes Martenot players is France [it's an early electronic instrument from 1930s France] and perhaps 30/40 in the world. I hear her concert was a stunner). As for popular entertainment of the period, I also noted, about Marco Beasley, that he sang in Italian with the ease and fluency of a native speaker. This was hugely pleasant to me, having lived in Italy for several years and of Italian heritage. For all the understanding and practice of English speakers, it just can't be the same. So, a wonderful night, no doubt even more for those who enjoy opera and its Italian heritage. The CIMF remains ever intriguing. And one entreact insert: Anna McMichael playing Francesco Geminiani Violin solo in C major.

Monteverdi and Pergolesi operas were performed at the Fitters Workshop for the CIMF by singers Taryn Fiebig, David Greco, Marco Beasley with support of the Festival Ensemble led by Forma Antigua and including a few mates amongst others, Laura Barton, the Rayner sisters, Rohan Dasika and Anna McMichael.

Anything but heartless

The Australian Haydn Ensemble feels like living music, not electronic digital-perfect but with body and life. I imagine this is what music was like in the past. Instruments and education were not the production of machines and computer accuracy. Each gut string a product of another body. It's a revealing musical experience. Intimate and human. Women in lacey black and harpsichord with country idyl scenes. I hear elemental sounds. Waves of notes, rising and falling and wind and weather and country in the music. This is countryside and nature that none of us, probably not even our rural cousins, would experience now, in our age of vehicles and machines and communications and power in a switch rather than in the legs of a horse of the smouldering of a lump of timber. The period instruments help in this, notably the recorder-like tone of a wooden flute. Perhaps the room influences it, too; the Larry Sitsky room would have been big for musicians of this period. The music itself is located somewhere between baroque and classical. The is Abel and JC Bach and Haydn and Stanley. Some of it feels like popular music. Some of it feels pretty straightforward. Politics and society are always complex, but this music sounds young, of the early days of Western musical history. Lots of unisons, easy rhythms and simple times and attractive melodies, syncopations that are just dotted notes and consonant harmonies in major keys with scalar runs and third intervals. But it's quite beautiful with its mix of tones, the flute in parallel with the violins and the harpsichord plucking in accompaniment and the bass and cello working away below. For a few songs, also a male baritone singing of nymphs and shepherds and the like and the sounds of country and nature. The Australian Haydn Ensemble are artists in residence this year at the ANU School of Music and this was a lovely introduction to their music. Loved it.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble performed in the Larry Sitsky Room. They comprised Skye McIntosh (violin), Alice Evans (violin), Heather Lloyd (viola), Noeleen Wright (cello), Stewart Smith (harpsichord) and Jacqueline Dossor (bass). David Greco (baritone) joined them for several songs.