The London Concertante, as the name suggests is a chamber ensemble based in London, and I went along to Manchester Cathedral this evening to catch them play their penultimate concert of the year, and send a maximum capacity audience (squashed like sardines some with very restricted views) away and into the evening with Viennese waltzes spinning in their minds and huge smiles on their faces.
The 'candlelight' part of the concert's title was a bit of a misnomer, since although candles in large candelabra were lit at the front of the stage, the concert can hardly be said to have been played by candlelight as the stage was fully lit from above throughout, thus nullifying any effect the candles may have produced.
The Concertante's sense of humour was apparent right from the start, as I opened the programme and the first words I read were, "During this evening's performance we may be performing some, all, or none of the pieces below!" Fortunately, the cellist also doubled as our announcer / MC, and his brand of raconteur-ing mixed announcement with anecdote and humour. It was a lovely balance and I thought his announcing excellent [even if one or two of his jokes went unappreciated by the majority] In the end they played MOST from the programme's list.
The London Concertante consisted of 12 musicians: 4 violinists, 2 violists, 1 cellist, 1 bassist, 1 brass player, 1 wind player, 1 reed player, and an accordionist. It was an odd combination which worked very well for most of the music they performed but sounded distinctly odd and bare when they played arrangements of full orchestral scores. It would also, for me at least, have been an extremely interesting 'experiment' perhaps to add a zither player into the mix for the more traditional Viennese music.
This bare, rather exposed sound was the most noticeable in both their opening piece, Strauss's overture to Die Fledermaus, and Tchaikovsky's Waltz from Sleeping Beauty. Here both pieces were crying out for lush orchestration and of course that was simply not going to happen this evening. For the majority of the concert however this combination worked well, and dressed as they were in tails and white bow-ties the whole was very evocative of the suave coffeehouse society of a bygone Vienna when live music ensembles would serenade their customers.
The Concertante played un-conducted, but the first violinist was obviously the leader, Oliver Heath, and he also played the solo violin part in Schubert's little known Rondo for Violin and Strings. A lovely piece, and excellently played, which ended the first half of the concert.
With music not just from Vienna or even from the correct era of musical composition, the concert took in more contemporary compositions from Argentina and Russia, but of course finished with the only thing a concert of Viennese music could finish with, Strauss's Blue Danube Waltz.
My favourite pieces this evening were Shostakovich's Waltz No 2 from his Jazz Suite (played superbly with perfectly interpreted dynamic changes), Sibelius's Valse Triste (which sounded even more sad and longing when played with such a minimalist orchestration - just beautiful), and Astor Piazzolla's slow yet somehow rather majestic 'Oblivion'.
The London Concertante played with skill and passion and their music (unamplified - the Cathedral's high vaulted ceiling providing all the acoustic boost necessary) sounded joyous and delightful. Just exactly what one needed after a Christmas of excess and sloth, and, since we more than probably were not going to be in Vienna for their famed and traditional New Year's Day concert, we can now say that we have had our very own miniature version right here in Manchester!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 29/12/18
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