Connections

I chatted with drummer Ko Omura about the Japanese tea ceremony and I thought later that the dignity and precision that's part of that ritual was also on view in his band's performance at the Band Room. Orbiturtle is an artists' community; this incarnation was a quartet composed of two Australians and two Japanese players, formed out of a visit by Steve and Dave to Japan a few years ago. Piano and alto are Australians; bass and drums are Japanese; both pairs played together regularly before Orbiturtle was formed. In format, it's a standard jazz quartet; in music, it's quite familiar, too, with tunes written by at least three members, but maybe it's that precision that so impressed me. They write some devilishly complicated heads, some of which are contrafactuals - melodies written over pre-existing changes. Ko also write a few tunes, and they were similarly interesting: congrats to a composing drummer. The band featured bassist Yoshio "Chin" Suzuki, veteran of NYC and a string of artists, not least Getz, Rollins, Blakey, Liebman, Konitz: a true jazz veteran. But the band was not onesided. This was seriously satisfying and deliciously carefully played. Steve Barry has a huge ability to design lines and follow through with ever perfect connections: chordal, melodic, arpeggiated, substitutions, extensions, polyrhythms, all there and all melding into an exquisite whole. Dave Jackson played with such a sweet and even tone, soft and supportive in the background or clear and stated in solos, always precise but not pushy, easily playing a simple solo line, then doubling and doubling again for flourishes, but again, carrying ideas through, always in easy control and with consistent tone. Chin sat at back, seemingly understated, but brilliantly melodic solos with lovely turnups to finish lines with clarity and some humour and always interesting walks. Interestingly, Chin is from the Suzuki method family (his uncle, I think) and the Suzuki awareness of musicality was evident. And Ko played richly varied drumming - sticks, brushes, a lovely gong that often finished several tunes - with impeccable underlying time that made this all sit with great poise. So, all round good compositions and impeccably precise and satisfying playing. The tunes were mostly from their recent CD (Sakura, listen on Soundcloud) and all original. Orbiturtle are touring the Eastern states with concerts and workshops.

Orbiturtle comprised Steve Barry (piano), Dave Jackson (alto), Yoshio "Chin" Suzuki (bass) and Ko Omura (drums).

Aussies can can

The Merry Widow of Bluegum Creek had me thinking of the difference between musicals and opera. I looked it up, and the distinctions were pretty indeterminate: opera is more centred on music, trained voices, traditional; musicals include more dance and acting and use popular musical styles and are always in the language of the audience. All pretty indefinite: I expect some operas were using popular music and stories and singing styles of their days. Given the popularity of the original Merry Widow (Vienna, 1905, as Die lustige Witwe), I expect the distinctions remain unclear. This take of the MW was performed by the Queanbeyan Players at TheQ with a recent Australianised libretto. It's 1901, Australia is just federated and the first Australian Embassy opens in Paris. The newly widowed wife of a mega-rich grazier/industrialist is expected. The PM has instructed that this widow must not marry a Frenchman because the wealth must stay in Australia. An old boyfriend of the widow works in the Embassy and likes the high life: bawdy bars, Maxim's, chorus girls and the like. I won't give away the rest of the story but it's light and fun and includes the can can. Louise Keast was Anna Gladstone, the widow, and she did a fabulous job, with an excellent soprano and some wide-eyed, playful acting. Likewise a string of others with some very impressive voices. It's a big operation, including a small orchestra in the pits and a big cast on stage (professional musicals are seldom so generous: they have to pay). There were various comedy parts (if rather droll) and they went down well. The chorus singing was very good. The feature singers were very impressive. I particularly liked Michelin and the Viscount and Danny and Lady Valerie. In one joke, Michelin knew all the backstreets and Anna offered to fund the publication of a guide when he wrote it. The embassy wives and staff were humourous (not least in a final can can dance); the two real dancers did a nice job; the orchestra too, accompanied and overtured with responsiveness and skill. The music is unchanged from the popular operetta original; just the story and characters and lyrics are changed. This was a fun night with a Aussie theme but opera voices. Well done all.

The Queanbeyan Players presented The Merry Widow of Bluegum Creek at TheQ. Key performers were Louise Keast (Ann Gladstone, the widow), Charles Hudson (ex-boyfriend Danny Macquarie), Robert Grice (Ambassador), Stephanie McAlister (Valerie, the Ambasssador's wife), Matt Greenwood (Michelin) and Kenneth Goodge (the Viscount). Key roles were Peter Smith (director and the Marquis of Cascada), Jennifer Groom (musical director) and Belinda Hassall (choreographer).

Wood

The woodwinds are a select group with their own sounds but I don't often get to hear them arrayed like this. The breathy flutes, the sinuous clarinet and their deep bass clarinet brothers and brooding double-reeded oboes and bassoons. There was piano and horn, too. Was the horns a ring-in? It's certainly brass not woodwind, it fit nicely. These were various combinations from the RMC Duntroon Army band playing music of the the Twentieth century. Apparently most woodwind music has been written in the last hundred years, after the development of the instruments as chromatic in all keys. The Clarinet quartet (flute, clarinet, bassoon, oboe) started with Wiberny Ulla in Africa, all African rhythms and jazz/improv-like lines. Then my favourite, Poulenc Sextet for piano and wind quintet (flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn). This was a complex piece with feature lines and melodies passed throughout the group through several movements of varied feels and tempos. Great stuff. Then two Ross Edwards pieces, Binyang mimicking birdsong and Interior mimicking the sound of the Australian bush, played by solo clarinet with light percussion. Intriguing and a performance tour-de-force. Then Malcolm Arnold Divertimento played by the Wind Trio (and apparently every other wind trio) - flute, clarinet and usually bassoon, but this time, oboe - and a lovely discovery Alfred Reed Pastorale, a light country lyric on flute with piano accompaniment, and to finish, Canberran Nick Gilbert Creative compounds played by the Reed Quartet (oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon). This was modern, all compound time signatures and seriously satisfying to my ear. So a vary varied program with a range of fascinations and some nicely professional playing. Very nice.

The RMC Band Woodwinds performed at Wesley. They comprised (excuse the missing ranks) Lisa Agnew and Kylie Simpson (flutes), Carl Brumfield (oboe), Matthew O'Keefe, Jacqui Broomhead, Natalie Dajski, Lenore Evans and Steve Wylks (clarinets), Lizz Affleck (bassoon), Tim McCabe (horn), Sean Henderson (piano) and Dick Cutler (percussion).

Farfalle

It was a more compact Adhoc Baroque that gathered for their most recent concert. This was at St Paul's. Just four: harpsichord, cello and a singing pair of soprano and mezzo-soprano. The music was no surprise, though: Vivaldi and Scarlatti but also Bononcini, Bellinzani and Geminiani. Not just the music, but also the themes, were those of the time - Dido and Aeneas, Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Ancient and largely forgotten history to our times. The farfalletta (butterfly) is more current, at least as a theme. It was a clever piece by Vivaldi that really did flip about lightly in the wind, as if on the wings of a butterfly. But how dignified and courtly is this music. The recitatives that speak the stories with minimal accompaniment; the even phrasing; the occasional pairing in harmony of the two singers; the frequent dance-like gait. I loved the harmonised vocals when they came, and enjoyed the sometimes face-to-face interaction of singers Maartje and Greta (although we did lose some direct volume when they sang to each other) and the sequenced cello lines in accompaniment with the continuo harpsichord. Mostly these were tunes with singing, either one singer or two, other than Clara playing a cello sonata (Geminiani Dmin op.5 no.2) with Peter's accompaniment. This is lovely music to close eyes to and follow the stately movements. A lovely, dignified set of tunes from one of our best local baroque ensembles.

Adhoc Baroque comprised Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (mezzo-soprano), Clara Teniswood (cello) and convenor Peter Young (harpsichord). They performed Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Bononcini, Bellinzani and Geminiani at St Pauls, Manuka.

Not so brutalist baroque

It's a strange experience to be transported to early baroque with strings and piccolo trumpet while sitting in a superb example of concrete brutalism, but this is the new world and this is our closest to a cathedral ambience in Canberra. It's the foyer of the High Court. Tall, spacious, relatively bare, with applauded acoustics. It's a much valued space for local musicians. Today we heard Limestone Consort, with guest Justin Lingard on some pieces, playing Alessandro Stradella, Purcell, Arvo Part, Telemann and CPE Bach. All old other than Arvo Part who is somehow in the tradition. The trumpet was a piccolo somewhere in the area of a baroque trumpet. It's such a pleasure: dignified, certain, sharp and clear but not strident. The accompaniment in the trumpet features was stately, courtly, balanced. All lovely even if outside our common experience (can we describe any modern experiences as courtly?). We no longer dance as this music demands, but it certainly is danceable. Then two chaconnes, a daring Spanish dance in its time, from Purcell. Then the Arvo Part. At least for part of his career, Part was influenced by his studies of mediaeval and Renaissance music, but he also indulged in 12-tone and serialist forms. This was not stately like the other works, but regular triple time with holding crochets, moving through harmonies and passing through phrases with minimalist impassivity. Lovely. Then Telemann. Lauren is the leader of this ensemble and she likes to introduce her music, to speak to the audience. Good on her: it was interesting. She coloured the concert with various snippets on info. Not least, that Telemann was a self-taught composer, but more interestingly, that he's the composer with the most published works despite a fairly short life. How fascinating! (The rub on Alessandro Stradella was more lascivious: that he had attempted to embezzle the Church; that he had affairs with noble women, survived one murder attempt and was finished off by another. Oh, and that he developed the concerto grosso form). Telemann's work was his Trumpet concerto in D major, written in Frankfurt. Again, simple, dignified, gentle. Then to finish, son CPE Bach with a wonderful Sinfonia in A major. I sat back to admire Lauren's bouncing bowing and otherwise the clever bowing by cello and bass to handle some on-off phrasing. A pretty tune very well performed and nowhere near brutalism other than in its performance location.

Limestone Consort performed at the High Court. LE was led by Lauren Davis (violin) with guest soloist Justin Lingard (piccolo trumpet).

Uplifting and downcasting

It was a small space for a decent audience and even a smaller one for SCUNA and orchestra and soloists to perform three majestic Handel Coronation anthems and Mozart Requiem. It all deserved more. The Handel is irredeemably satisfying and grand and uplifting. The Requiem is hugely intriguing as well as touching and a little confusing. The confusion is around how much is original Mozart and I've been amused to find out how many people have tried to remedy this. The original completion was by Mozart's young student Sussmeyer and that's the one we generally hear; this completion was by extant US musicologist Richard Maunder; Wikipedia lists 13 others. Maunder removes a few Sussmeyer parts and adds a rediscovered Amen fugue and makes some other changes. The added fugue was obvious enough, but the removed sections weren't. There were also changes to Lacrymosa which were obvious enough. But the overall work was similar and the early movements appeared unchanged (including to the note level for the bass line that I mostly know). So, interesting and occasionally surprising but essentially familiar. This is a big program and choir, orchestra and soloists did a good job on it if there were some little discomforts. Sometimes, this was interpretation, like when I felt the pace was a bit slow, a function of the audience's recall of a piece. There were some glorious passages in the Mozart. I especially enjoyed the two soloist extremities - soprano and bass - on this outing, and the very neat and capable bottom end of the orchestra - cellos and basses. Again, my attention coming to bear. I also particularly enjoyed the brass, which had such a role in this outing, and the timpani which seemed particularly effective and prominent in this small space. But what a great night of truly great music with the intellectual rigour that Lenny brings to his craft. Wonderful outing.

The ANU Choral Society (SCUNA) with orchestra and soloists performed Handel and Mozart at Wesley Church under Leonard Weiss (conductor). Anthony Smith (organ) accompanied and soloists were Rachael Duncan (soprano), Janene Broere (alto), Charles Hudson (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).

Extraterrestrial

I guess you'd say ethereal or other worldly. Certainly, Fiona Maddocks, in The Observer, described the Tallis Scholars as "as near extraterrestrial as you can get sitting in a concert hall". They sing music from an era when the certainty of another world, the nostrums of religion, was omnipresent, but also of centres of wealth and political power to be served. Their 1%. Certainly, this was very beautiful music sung very, very beautifully. This is polyphony, multiple harmonic lines, perhaps 7 or 8, interweaving. Voices unaccompanied but conducted. TS were conductor and 10 singers, five each of male and female voices. This was their eighth performance at Llewellyn Hall: their first was in 1985. They read their parts. They performed five pieces before and five after interval, and an encore. The pieces were genuine period - Philips, Tallis, Tavener, Clemens, Phinot, Crecquillon, Byrd - with a few modern composers in that idiom, Pärt and Muhly. Drones, polyphonic lines, parallel but delayed and pitch shifted, fugal. Strangely, I heard the sounds of hurdy gurdy at one time. The Muhly was perhaps my favourite, all big intervals and chromatics and tritones. The voices were beautiful, all supremely controlled, gentle entries and ends, with careful overall dynamics and internal balance within the group. Perhaps it lacked the cathedral echo we expect with this music, but it was sufficiently strong to comfortably fill the big Llewellyn space. Not that this is loud or intrusive music. Despite being described as rock stars of the style, there was just one on-stage patter (offering CDs for sale in the foyer) then introducing the encore, a Victorian madrigal. Then a dignified march off stage. The program handed out on entry described the music, but didn't list names. The website lists Peter Phillips as musical director and 8 named singers but some photos on the site show the full eleven. A moving feast, I guess, of period polyphony. That fits. So, despite some queries, this was a night of gloriously beautiful singing and some outstanding voices.

The Tallis Scholars performed at Llewellyn Hall under Peter Phillips (conductor).

Return to our local

It's a string of orchestras that we've seen recently but now back in Canberra and I was very pleasantly surprised by our own local CSO, Canberra Symphony Orchestra. They had tough competition: we had heard one work done by the Berlin Phil a few weeks before and the Conservatory orchestra in Singapore was very satisfying with its big size and a small space to give a massive sound. CSO held its own. They played a fascinating and attractive piece by Nigel Westlake, Shimmering blue. Lyrical, punchy, sometimes filmic. Then the Berlin Phil take (interestingly, Berlin Phil had played an Australian piece by Sculthorpe, first up for its concert), Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Op.43. They did a great job, capable, expressive, together if not so smooth and seamless as the Berlin Phil (the comparison is unfair, a casual outfit up against a professional selective world leader). I concentrated more on the variations this time, obvious enough in the early parts and towards the end. I didn't follow so easily in the middle. Then the main work, Tchaikovsky Symph no.4 Fmin Op.36. Again, a tour de force. It's a strange work, apparently with a theme of fate and self, swapping themes or overlapping. An overlaid polonaise over a waltz spells out these two ideas but I didn't catch that. I did catch immense loud, busy passages contracting with quiet lyricism. Four movements. The first is long and expansive; the final one is hard biting, starting with a single ff note and continuing with some devilish lines, not least on bass. I was proudly proclaiming our local orchestra as I left for some evident chops, considerable responsiveness and a surprising volume to fill the large Llewellyn Hall. Very well done and much enjoyed.

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra performed Westlake, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky under Nicholas Milton (conductor) with Kristian Chong (piano) performing the solo part in Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini.

Playing it tough

Maybe it's the age of the audience and maybe it's the jazz they started out with but several said how much they enjoyed this gig by the Matt Ottignon and his Tough Tenors. Just straight ahead, blues-infused, heavily swinging, uncomplicated and earthy (which does not translate into easy to play). Median tempos or up-tempo (even the one ballad, Body & soul, was pretty quick), burning tenor sax with two tenors up front. Tonal, bluesy lines, steady swing and walks, neat piano comping, unison or harmony heads and steady drums. Dirty big tones and satisfyingly twisted lines from hot and sweaty tenors. This may be as serious as your life, but you can feel the joy and even humour. The tunes were from several gatherings of two tenors - Eddie Lockjaw Davis with Johnny Griffin, Dexter Gordon with Wardell Grey, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons - but also a few singles - Ellington, Diz, Clifford Jordan, Bennie Motin, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins. All formative players around the era of bebop and its offshoots. The band was pretty much a recent gathering but it didn't show: they were still blowing tight and together, obviously informed by the various traditions of this art as well as supported by their individual skills (these were some good players). Just a hard swinging night of hot playing with some humour amongst the pleasure. It's getting on to 60 or 70, even 80, years old by now, but how good to return to this formative era.

The Tough Tenors were Matt Ottignon and Chris O'Dea (tenors), Andrew Scott (piano), Tom Botting (bass) and Tim Geldens (drums) and they played at the Gods.

Masterclassing

The Andras Schiff piano masterclass was a continuation of our musicians' theme at day three of the Performers(’) present symposium at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. Melivia Citraavani Rehajo performed Beethoven Sonata no.28 Amaj Op101. Luong Khanh Nhi performed Schubert Sonata Amin D537. Each played the piece then received guidance from AS. As with the orchestra, it all sounded fine to our ears on first performance, but we could follow AS's lessons and heard better as the time progressed. I was stunned to hear the difference in tone when AS played in demonstration: how he simplified and made phrasing or intent obvious but also how the same instrument could sound different under different fingers and bigger under his. Then, there were the comments, often difficult to hear but indicative. Take care with semiquavers - they are not triplets; don't "parachute" hands to the keyboard ("not like karate chop, never"); on playing a march, the military were viewed differently in Beethoven's time; don't play too beautifully but "chisel" Beethoven's second movement, like Michelangelo; the strength in a march comes from the rhythm; note there's humour in Beethoven even if the jokes are lost to modern ears; imagine ourselves into the tune; balance the hands, sometimes highlight the bass, like a cello, or in one passage, "hear the horn?"; "sing" don't hit; what's on the paper is not music until it's played - look at the phrasing; "the metronome is a stupid instrument, the human being is a breathing instrument"; Beethoven wrote this sonata after he got a new London-built instrument with a longer range and he was deaf already - he wrote some notes which he never heard; "there's a German phrase that all good things are in threes"; "when you play p, don't play slower, just softer"; the art of recapitulation is "don't show it, hide it"; use more upper arm, for gravity; "don't forget to dance" (in context of a Sicilian rhythm); drop complexities and repeating notes in practice to find underlying movements; two hands should never be [exactly] together (in this case, when playing 8/9 notes); there was a big difference between music in Vienna and Hannover - Viennese was more "sloppy". This is all out of context, of course, but it was enlightening and invigourating and the improvements were immediate. Fascinating.

Andras Schiff (piano) led masterclasses during the Performers(’) present symposium at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. The performers were Melivia Citravani Reharjo and Luong Khanh Nhi (piano). BTW, no pics permitted so this program cover.

This is CJBlog post no. 1700

Orchestra rehearsal

Day three at the Performers(’) present symposium at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore was more for the musicians in us than the listeners. The first session was an open orchestra rehearsal with conductor Gabor Takacs-Nagy rehearsing Beethoven Symphony no.6 and Piano concerto no.1. I was stunned from the first notes how well the orchestra sounded. It was big (8 basses of the symphony; 4 basses for the concerto) in a lively hall but that was not all. This outfit showed real confidence from the very first notes of the symphony. One example was the basses playing semiquavers at performance pace. This bowled me over but by this time was just a pleasure rather than a surprise. These are capable players and apparently all students. It was not just once that I sat back and luxuriated in this big and confident playing. But conductor GT-N still had plenty to say, about phrasing, interpretation, sometimes bowing (several times he borrowed a violin to demonstrate). This was a man with energy, commitment, obviously a good ear. I was amused how we came to hear more as he highlighted whatever. So, some themes and quotes. Listen and anticipate; supporting others is your role; forget your own part as much as you can and listen; "start to run before you get the batton" (=be on top of the music) "we were alive 9 months before we were born"; "dance with the ball" (he mentioned a youthful love of soccer and highlighted dance and other feels); for strings, many time the left hand should be louder that the right (he got the violins to practice a passage without bow); (about a spot in B6) "here comes the Singaporean storm"; (about a passage in B6 mvt.3) "this is the only 3 1/2 minutes that is not human, really"; much articulation required to be heard in a concert hall; (about another passage) "arrogant and biting: you have to be an angry animal". Then the piano concerto. Piano is percussive, implications for strings playing to fit; follow your interior voice "don't be a violin player, be a singer". There was more and there was plenty we couldn't make out, being behind the back of the voice spoken to an orchestra in a hall. But some hugely satisfying playing and correspondingly huge energy in guidance. Loved this session and learnt a lot.

Gabor Takacs-Nagy (conductor) led an open rehearsal with the Orchestra of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore during the Performers(’) present symposium. They rehearsed Beethoven Symphony no.6 and Piano concerto no.1.