The Northern Chamber Orchestra continued their current
concert season with a collection of pieces that are not often performed for one
reason or another. The opening Sinfonietta No. 1 by Malcolm Arnold was
originally composed for an English baroque revival string orchestra – the Boyd Neel
Orchestra. Its three short movements displayed a variety of stylistic elements
from the first part of the 20th century, the orchestra director, and
founder, Nicolas Ward, was right to comment that parts of it were similar to
Shostakovich’s compositional style. While the Sinfonietta is distinctly not
baroque in its harmonic or melodic content, it was in structure and mood.
Arnold really exploits the sonority of the string orchestra, along with with
oboe and horns, and the NCO were able to maximise all of these colours to great
effect. At times, though, the rhythmical challenges of this piece were not met
– particularly in the oboes and horns, with a few small flourishes slightly off
the mark. This type of music must be difficult to perform without a conductor,
but certainly not impossible and the NCO for the most part delivered a
wonderfully expressive and playful performance.
It must have been truly exciting to witness the first
performance of Carl Maria Von Weber’s clarinet work. He was tasked with writing
three pieces on the reinvention of the clarinet in the early 19th century. This was a period in music history when many instruments went through
a massive upgrade – in the clarinet’s case, this meant that it could play many
more notes with an improved chromatic ability. It also improved the overall
timbre of the instrument. His second clarinet concerto is a real showstopper
and Julian Bliss gave the audience at the Stoller Hall a masterclass in
clarinet performance. While a piece like this is demanding in regards to
accuracy – and not a note was missed by Bliss – often virtuosity can be at the
cost of emotional value. Passages with many, many notes were presented to us
with emotional value by Bliss, and those passages that were more lyrical, such
as the second movement, were truly sung out from the heart. Bliss looked at
ease with the orchestra around him and clearly was connected to the music when
he wasn’t playing. Again, the NCO seemed to be having a lot of fun with this
piece and that is truly infectious. Watching this orchestra perform is a real
treat – you get a strong feeling that there is great team spirit and true
enjoyment in making music. Apart from this, of course, they are a truly
wonderful orchestra to hear both in it’s interpretation of stylistic
approaches, and also in its musical capabilities. The third movement finale was
truly magical and exciting and it is no wonder that this piece is still a staple exhibition of clarinet technique that any aspiring clarinettist aims to
master.
As an encore, Bliss performed the premiere of a fiery arrangement
of the Hungarian folk dance Czardas.
While he did not name the arranger, you could presume that it was written
specifically for Bliss in more ways than one. While typically performed on
violin, it translated to clarinet very well and again a sound timbral variety
was displayed. This was a real crowd-pleaser and a good choice to pair with the
preceding clarinet concerto. Goodness knows where Bliss got the energy to
perform both of these back to back, but he did not miss a note nor a beat.
Moving back to the 20th century, the NCO
performed a short piece by the composer Suk, a son-in-law of Dvorak. Originally
composed on the outbreak of world war one, this piece was a prayer of hope for
the future of Suk’s homeland – Czechia. In the classical period, much music was
created with no real meaning behind it. Pure music, as it is called, was music
for music’s sake. As time went on, meaning began to creep in – the programme
music of the romantic period often explored emotional aspects with great
imagination. In the 20th century, perhaps because of the terrible
violence of each of the world wars, emotional context was sometimes placed on
the things that occurred in daily life – this seemed to be the case with Suk’s
Meditation. While it certainly is a prayer for the future, its music really seemed
to portray the emotions of what people were experiencing at that time. It is
like an emotional photograph of that time. The NCO wanted to mark the
anniversaries around the centenary of the end of world war one with this
performance, and it was a performance that really touched the audience. Again,
the NCO, as a string orchestra for this piece, were able to show off their
fantastic talent colouring this piece with great warmth and expression. There
were many moments in this performance which were sheer bliss, with the strings
giving a deep pathos and delicate expression.
Haydn’s symphony 102 in B flat major is not performed often,
but is a perfect example of his latter style. Haydn at this time was
commissioned to write pieces for a very eager London audience. Most of his life
he had been composing for the royal court at Esterhazy, in Hungary, and freedom
to compose as and for whom he wished certainly pleased Haydn, who as
the most famous musician of his time, was increasingly concerned with his
musical legacy as he got older. This symphony displays the many structural and
compositional techniques he developed over the years but it also has a unique
character through a variety of solo parts – sometimes only for a moment. You
can easily imagine the audience mesmerised by the orchestra and enjoying these
cameos. The NCO certainly excels in
music from this period – indeed most classical period music was originally performed
without a conductor and lends itself to conductor-less performance today. This
was a very enjoyable performance and the various soloists relished the chance
to shine out in an already shining orchestra!
It was great to listen to a repertoire of less familiar
music by the NCO, they are really a pleasure to listen to and the Stoller Hall,
with whom the NCO has a residential collaboration, is a fantastically welcoming
venue. Introductions and notes from the orchestra director, Nicolas Ward, also
add to the welcoming feel and give an insight into the music we are about to
hear.
Reviewer - Aaron Loughrey
on - 27/10/18
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