Dense impressions

Again the Venetian group Trio Leonardo unavoidably had viola replaced, so their performance was impressive but not like a long-standing group. It would be interesting to hear them with standard membership. Not that replacement Lawrence Jacks didn’t do a great job: he did an excellent job (he’s a retired player from WASO and MSO, so not unexpected). But the group had only rehearsed this material twice ant it’s not trivial stuff. This was high impressionism, Faure and Debussy, all space or floating air or urgency. They did it well. It’s not a style that I love and I wondered how an Australian group might play it. I expect quicker, more dispassionate. I wondered it it’s a thing of the new world, newer surroundings and the rest. But an impressive outing playing a vastly different style from what we’ve heard in this festival.


Trio Leonardo performed at the Daylesford Town Hall. TL are Andrea Dainese (flute), Elisabetta Ghebbioni (harp) and Lawrence Jacks (viola) sat in for Giancarlo di Vacri.

Acoustics excellence

It’s a big call but I heard this room, at least for the music that was played there and my position in it, as the most clear and firm acoustics I can remember, throughout the frequency range. The bass was wonderfully rich and deep and present; the violins were perhaps edgy; the solo instruments, harp then flute (and organ) then viola were clear and strong (other than the organ which seemed light on, quiet, thin). But I was in raptures over this sound. This was the former Wesley church in Clunes, Victoria, now restored as part of the campus of Wesley College, Melbourne, as a country campus. The music that sounded so good was a string orchestra with soloists playing various concerti by Vivaldi, Telemann and Haydn on modern instruments. I just luxuriated in the richness and fullness of the tones and the joy of music of this early-classical-cum-baroque era. Our pleasure with music is a function of sound in space. This just filled the room with clarity and fullness. The pieces were Vivaldi Concerto Dmaj for harp RV93; Vivaldi Concerto Dmaj op.10 no.3 Il cardellino for flute; Telemann Concerto Gmaj for viola; Haydn Concerto no.1 Cmaj for organ and oboe Hob.XVIII. The soloists were Elisabetta Ghebbioni, Andrea Dainese, Lawrence Jacks and Anthony Halliday. I met up with bassist Tim Nelson (the first double bassists so far at this festival) and also with an old mate from Canberra, violinist Louise Hillyard. A pleasure and a massive surprise!

Elisabetta Ghebbioni (harp), Andrea Dainese (flute), Lawrence Jacks (viola) and Anthony Halliday (organ) soloed for various concerti by vivaldi, Telemann and Hadyn at the former Wesleyan Methodist Church in Clunes. The Festival Chamber Orchestra comprised Yvonne Holley, Akeyo Matsumoto, Kate Carman, Wilson Blackman, Millie Koenders and Toni Williams (violins), Ann Smith and Louise Hillyard (violas), Kathryn Saunders (oboe), Miriam Kriss (cello) and Tim Nelson (bass).

An uncommon pairing

Well, a concert of harp and pipe organ is a concert of relatively obscure and uncommon instruments. As proof, I discovered a list of 44 pipe organs in Canberra and there wouldn’t be too many harps, although we do have an aggregation, mostly around Alice Giles. But they didn’t play together, just a segment each. Martin Setchell presented two small sets of English Edwardiana d Victorian music for organ, with names including Lemare, German, Clark, Bache Bridge and Hollins. Not a well known repertoire although the Lemare piece, Andantino in Db, had been ripped off for Moonlight and roses, so the melody was known for that and Lemare made considerable monies from the copyright case. The Scotson Clark Vienna March sounded all the world like a barrel organ – a very complex and expensive one in this case. The organ had problems with some stops so the second set was delayed, but this festival has an organ tuner on call to make repairs – the second one I’ve seen on the fly in few days. Visiting Venetian harpist Elisabetta Ghebbioni performed a spectacularly mixed set: from Phillip Glass Metamorphosis Two, through Albeniz to Handle Chaconne in Gmaj, which is a set of variations. I enjoyed this set, if more for the two ends, the Glass and Handel, but I felt the harp was lost in this space. Elisabetta has a great CV but she’s playing on a borrowed instrument. Well, as is Martin, but I felt this instrument really felt and sounded good here. Perhaps it’s the space or perhaps the organ’s relative youth or maybe its maintenance (if it’s maintained anything like the perfect gardens around the chapel). It’a Fincham & Sons of 1903, and apart from the breakdown, the sound was lively and fresh and big. The arched ceiling and surfaces may have helped acoustics. Again, I measured the organ slightly sharp, ~A=444, like the other organs other than St Pat’s which was similarly flat. Interesting.

Martin Setchell (organ) and Elisabetta Ghebbioni (harp) performed sets at Loreto College Chapel.

Returns

This one was a gentle return to the earlier, more sedate, dignified music of Mozart and Bach, except, due to sickness, a group version of the Goldberg Variation selections was replaced by a new viola player and several pleasant but relatively light quartets by Cimarosa. The other work was Mozart Quintet for Flute, harp and string trio KV299. I followed the second movement well enough (I’d played it with NCO). The other movements were less known but identifiable, but then all Mozart seems like that. His melodies just fall off the pen with immense inevitability. How could they be otherwise? The Cimarosi were played by a quartet of flute, violin, viola and cello. I wondered if the flute part is switched from or easily transposable to another violin. The Mozart added a harp and I wondered similarly about its role relative to piano, but the chords and accompaniment were sparser and the melodies less accompanied by another hand. Probably fairly different, although I remember NCO harpist Elizabeth once playing the harp part on piano in rehearsal. Interesting. Some nice playing, too. I particularly enjoyed the sit-in Helen Ireland and violin Natasha Conrau. Also flautist Andrea Dainese, although wind is an unknown quantity to me. Lovely

The Trio Leonardo performed Mozart and Cimarosa with visitors. Trio Leonardo are Andrea Dainese (flute), Elisabetta Ghebbioni (harp) and Giancarlo Di Vacri (viola). This night Helen Ireland (viola) replaced GdV. Guests were Natasha Conrau (violin) and Miriam Kriss (cello).