MUSIC REVIEW: Jonian Ilias Kadesha and Manchester Camerata - The Stoller Hall, Manchester

In a very last minute change to their advertised programme, renowned Greek-Albanian violinist, Jonian Ilias Kadesha, joined Manchester Camerata for their concert at The Stoller Hall this evening.

A different soloist also meant a revised concert schedule, but that neither fazed the Camerata nor its loyal audience. We were treated to 5 varied and contrasting pieces of music which were all given the 'Camerata treatment'. 

Manchester Camerata are no strangers to putting themselves on the edge, pushing forward, moving boundaries, and challenging perceptions of what can sometimes be seen as stuffy, old-people's music. And Kadesha proved to be a more than worthy ally in this regard. Despite of, or maybe even in spite of, his brilliance and genius, there was this evening every danger that the cleverness in his interpretations of the pieces might become too far removed from the composers' original intents or the styles in which they were written. We heard Mozart's Violin Concerto No 3 in G, and here was a perfect example of this. The piece as directed and performed by Kadesha was teetering very precariously on that edge. It was still recognisable as Mozart, but only just.

The opening music in this concert was 'Battalia' by Biber. A suite of 8 short pieces all very varied in their moods and styles, but all written with the composer's tongue in his cheek! The Camerata, under Kadesha's direction from his position as leader, kept the piece light and frivolous, and were performed quite expertly. It was to be my favourite item in the concert.

This was followed by a quintet of wind players performing Ligetti's 'Bagatelles'. Played with obvious skill, these Bagatelles followed on in the jocular fashion created by the opening piece, and showcased the wind section of the Camerata expertly.

After this was the Mozart Violin Concerto (mentioned above), and then, after an interval, we returned to listen to 'Concerto Funebre' by Bartok. A two-movement piece which didn't sound at all funereal; and was instead full of Hungarian folk melodies and the strident discordant passages which one associates with Bartok, with a more melodic and flowing section in the middle before returning to the original melody and Hungarian folk music.

The concert ended with Haydn's Symphony no 45 "The Farewell".  Again, this was performed with Kadesha leading the orchestra, and again, some of the interpretation was a little too self-indulgent for my liking, taking us away from the clear, bright, crisp, Classical style he is so well known for. The final movement, as written by Haydn, requires the musicians 'to snuff out their candles and leave the stage'. (hence the "farewell"). Here, starting two thirds of the way into the final movement, one by one, the musicians stopped playing and exited, leaving only Kadesha and one other violinist on stage at the end to play the final cadence. This worked excellently.

A brilliant concert performed by an ensemble of talented musicans, led by a genius; it was simply that that genius (in my humble opinion) was allowed to wander too far from the path.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 4.12.21