An evening of highly contemporary, majority 21st century compositions, with Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante slap bang in the middle! A very odd programme choice. This however, is because this is where they are... Manchester Camerata are an innovative ensemble who are never afraid to push the boundaries and try out the new, without forgetting who they are and where they came from (hence the Haydn). In fact, this concert is only the second part of a pair of concerts celebrating the Camerata and its roots. Their first concert was at Gorton Monastery and played the music which told the story of the orchestra's beginnings, whilst in this, part 2, it is more an evocation of their future rather than a celebration of their current position... always moving forward, never standing still.
This evening the orchestra chose brightly coloured shirts or blouses to wear with their black trousers, and it looked bright, colourful and very Spring-like. However the soloist and conductor for this evening, Daniel Pioro looked positively dour in comparison in his dark grey jumper.
And now for some candour. I am not a fan of contemporary classical music at all. In general I find it very difficult to penetrate, understand, and most importantly to listen to and enjoy. It is just noise... an all too easily made cliche, but holds true for me in most instances, although every once in a while I am pleasantly surprised. Sadly not this evening. This makes critiquing of the piece or the playing thereof rather impossible, so instead, dear reader, please just accept my 'feelings' and 'thoughts' on them rather than any technical or knowledgeable criticism. All I CAN say is that knowing the Camerata as I do, then their treatment and performing of these pieces will be both accurate and reverend.
So let's first address the Haydn...
With our violin soloist and conductor Daniel Pioro and ensemble soloists Hannah Roberts (cello), Rachael Clegg (oboe), and Ben Hudson (bassoon), the orchestra performed this cheery and jocular work as a sandwich between some very solemn, heavy and dark modern sound ideas, so it came as welcome relief. This was a hugely competent and solid rendition of this early Classical 3-movement concerto, but most regrettably it did lack a certain 'sparkle', that certain extra 'fizz' which I know this orchestra can deliver - I've seen and heard them many times under the baton of Hungarian Gabor Takas-Nagy. All the clever little jokes that Haydn's music is full of - he loved to tease and make fun of his audiences, were missing, despite it being both enjoyable and skilfully played.
And now for something completely different...
Catherine Lamb's 'Tone/Noise (Emergence Patterns' opened the concert, and I think basically the title tells you all you need to know. 9 string players start on a single note ppp, and without conductor this note continues for a long time becoming slightly distorted and then more notes join in - not sure what I am listening to or why, but this drone (fo0r that is exactly what it is) flirts between discord and harmony and goes from ppp to pp - and then it ends.
Next comes Larry Goves's 'The Clouds Flew Round With The Clouds'. This piece is conducted by Pioro, as the orchestra play over the top of pre-recorded piano music (the programme tells me it is Chopin's Nocturne in B). It is a slow, purposeful piece of music, but jarring and odd, and again am I not at al certain of to what and why I am listening.
After the interval and this second half starts with a solo violin piece played once again by Daniel Pioro. This is Cassandra Miller's 'For Mira', and the only word that comes to mind whilst listening here is 'caterwauling'. It is fast, unharmonious, and sets my nerves on edge, with screaming sounds throughout. Thankfully it is not very long. The penultimate piece is Nick Martin's 'Kolysanka' which uses only the string section of this ensemble with Pioro once again taking the solo violin part. This is a slow and reflective piece and sounds almost as though it; perhaps you've heard the melody somewhere before, an Irish folk song maybe, but no, it's not right, it's discordant and not the real melody at all - it's been tampered with by the evil little 'Sidhe' in their bog! Actually not at all unpleasant to listen to though. The final piece in this concert returns to the work of composer Larry Goves, and his Two-way Mirror'. The work is in two parts, with the first part again using sampled music played underneath and at the same time as the orchestra, and consists of s series of chords, although some of the chords are passed through different speakers meaning the quality of sound varies wherever you are seated in the auditorium, not quite quadrophonic, but an interesting ides, if I didn't understand the need for it or meaning behind it. It does go on for a long time though and becomes predictable, repetitive and even boring, until we reach the second section, much quieter and strings only, shimmering to a quiet and unexpected end.
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 6.6.25
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