Category Archives: Live Performance

Andrew Eikner (piano)

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Hale Auditorium

 

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

In his recital on Wednesday, visiting American pianist Edward Eikner paid tribute to Mozart in the first half of his program – and offered an all-Spanish second half.

It was a recital of sometimes disconcertingly varying standards with moments of insight cheek by jowl with episodes that left a good deal to be desired.

Mozart’s much-loved Sonata in A, K331 was a case in point. The famous rondo alla turca was a splendid offering with agile fingerwork maintaining a blistering pace, the jangling, faux-Turkish Jamissary flavour of the writing altogether convincing. But in the concluding variation of the first movement, tone sounded hard and strident. In the minuet, the playing was sadly below par with clattering clusters of wrong notes and little evidence of the elegant stateliness that lies at the heart of the writing. And in the exquisite slow movement from K330, one listened in vain for a revelation of its interior mood of grave dignity.

The first six of Granadas’ Spanish Dances, some reservations aside, provided very much more satisfying listening, especially Rondalla Aragonesa with its pleasing tonal colourings and tempo nuances which, no pun intended, struck exactly the right note. No 3 in D, too, was presented with bracing attack and follow-through. Villanesca was altogether persuasive. With its repeated figurations, there is always the risk of tedium setting in – but in Eikner’s hands, interest was maintained throughout in this buoyant, clear-toned offering.

But tone tended to edginess in the outer sections of Oriental – and in Andaluza, that most famous of the collection of dances, notes cried out for reflective, lyrical treatment. Certainly, the direction that the pianist play dolce in both pieces was quite overlooked as was the need to play cantabile in the poco andante section of the first of the set. Falla’s celebrated Fire Dance was despatched in noisily energetic fashion.

Copyright 2006 Neville Cohn


Jessica Ipkendanz (violin and voice)

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Conservatorium Auditorium

 

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

For violinists, surely one of the most formidable challenges must be the presentation of an unaccompanied recital – not least because most of the repertoire is horrendously difficult to bring off successfully. Here, the slightest lapse, be it of intonation, notational accuracy or stylistic vagary, is at once glaringly evident. So it was with particular interest that one listened to Jessica Ipkendanz in that loftiest peak of unaccompanied expression – Bach’s Partita in D minor.

This is unforgiving, unforgettable music, not least the massive Chaconne that brings the Partita to a conclusion.

There is about Ipkendanz’s platform presence, a strength of purpose – some might say it verges on defiance – striding to centre stage and with no fuss and little ceremony, launching into Annunciation, her own composition. She plays as if totally absorbed, wielding her bow like some enchanted spear as measure after measure of the most passionately intense music pours from the violin.

Then, quite unexpectedly, the playing ceases to be an unaccompanied offering as Ipkendanz, startlingly, begins to sing – a wordless vocalise, which projects arrow-like, to the furthest corners of the venue – to an accompaniment of robust violin arabesques. Here, one would very much have liked to have had an explanatory program note regarding the genesis and development of this remarkable offering.

It is a most unusual experience that sears itself into the memory.

Then the Partita: the sense of power that had informed Annunciation is everywhere apparent here. Like all the rest of the program, it is played from memory. Her tempi are invariably sensible, her rhythm rock-solid. And the grandeur that is the essence of so much of the work, especially the Chaconne, is revealed.

On the debit side of this otherwise splendidly healthy musical balance sheet is tonal monotony, an almost unvaryingly substantial sound. Could this perhaps be a miscalculation in coming to terms with the venue’s
notoriously bright acoustics? But it is only on this count that the offering is less than satisfying.

In the Sarabande, chords are wonderfully well sustained and the Gigue is a joyful, vigorous prelude to the Chaconne, a monumental challenge that is met in the most unhurried and dignified way.

Ipkendanz’s own Obsession is the final work which, stylistically, makes a lavish obeisance to Wieniawski. Whining double stopping and chassidic-like minor-key melodies make this compelling listening.

Copyright 2006 Neville Cohn


Musica del Mondo

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Callaway Auditorium

reviewed by Neville Cohn

Those who gathered at Callaway Auditorium at the weekend to hear tango ensemble Quartetto were told that, due to illness, the concert had been cancelled. Instead, we heard Musica del Mondo, a quintet whose prime focus is folk music of central Europe.

I dare say that for most at the performance, this would have been a first encounter with the del Mondo players. And, as we were told by affable team leader Alex Millier (best known to concertgoers as clarinet player in the WASO), this was the very first time the group had ever played in a venue which had both walls AND a roof!

The ensemble’s more usual haunts are outdoors markets. And this would have explained why the decibel levels produced by the players on Sunday were so high. But that extra sonic grunt and staying power that are necessary for the del Mondo musicians to make themselves heard out of doors competing against traffic noise, airplanes overheard and shouting spruikers one encounters at open air markets, turned out to be overkill at Callaway Auditorium.

Musica del Mondo brings very real skill and enthusiasm to its playing which, in both technical terms and stylistic authenticity, are immediately apparent and indisputable. But the ensemble will need to rein in its sonic exuberance as well as introducing more tonal light and shade when it comes in, quite literally, from the cold.

How fascinating (and serendipitous) it was to come across this ensemble and to listen to the sort of music – unsophisticated, earthy, atavistic and powerfully communicative – that composers such as Bartok diligently collected from remote villages to conserve for posterity before it disappeared altogether. There was also some klezmer music with Philip Everall, engagingly sporting a trilby (as did accordionist Mark Bozikovich) coming close to the heart of a genre that, like the tango, is enjoying a remarkable worldwide renaissance.

Musica del Mondo consists of five players who are not only gifted but versatile. Russell Johnson, for instance, is as articulate on the hurdy gurdy as the violin (I understand he also plays percussion and the Arabic string instrument known as the oud.). And between them, Millier and Everall play a variety of clarinets ranging from the peeping sopranino to the gruffly burping, low-register contrabass clarinet. Bozikovich certainly knows his way around the accordion as does Phil Waldron on double bass.

This concert may well have been a journey of discovery for many. I look forward to hearing Musica del Mondo again whether indoors or (weather permitting) outside at the markets.

Neville Cohn Copyright 2006


Leonardo

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Christ Church Grammar School Chapel

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

If the Eileen Joyce Studio on the University of WA campus is one of the country’s most pleasingly appointed intimate recital rooms, the Chapel of Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont is its equivalent on a larger scale. Certainly, listening to music while looking out over a boat-dotted Freshwater Bay as dusk fell, was a most agreeable experience.

And the gentle pleasure of a Sunday twilight was significantly enhanced by the performance of Leonardo – Cathie Travers (accordion), Paul Tanner (percussion) and Phil Everall (bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet).

Much of the repertoire on offer was music which, to one extent or another, evoked moods of yearning and nostalgia. Certainly, this would apply to Richard Galliano’s New York Tango in which a pulsing bass clarinet combined with the richly sonorous tones of the accordion, a sound mix further enhanced by some very sensitive playing on the vibraphone.

The same composer’s Fou Rire occupies a very different mood world, its lively, up-tempo measures in the best sense buoyant.

Piazzolla’s Milonga del Angel, on the other hand, is music pared to the bone; it hasn’t a superfluous note. As ever, its subdued mood which powerfully suggests a sense of loneliness and worldweariness, made magical, hushed listening. So, too, did the same composer’s Grand Tango in which nuanced subtleties and a moody blues quality combined to most satisfying effect.

Paul Tanner’s mysteriously titled Back in 1516 is a jazz-inflected piece I’ve not encountered before, holding the attention throughout with its abrupt rhythmic gear changes, gentle burpings from the contrabass clarinet to an overlay of vibraphone arabesques. There was also music for unaccompanied bass clarinet – Iain Grandage’s curiously named ffDuck, much of it couched in abrupt, jagged utterances laced with what sounded like little screams. A little of this went a long way.

In Galliano’s French Touch, Cathie Travers provided a pleasant antidote to what had gone before, a virtuosic solo for accordion that sounded veritably drenched in Parisian café atmosphere. Tanner’s marimba solo – one of Gordon Stout’s Mexican Dances – was another charm-filled interlude that was musical to the core.

This concert raised funds for Anglicare.

Copyright Neville Cohn 2006


Plectra Ensemble

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16th May 2006
Eneksis vocal ensemble

30th May 2006
Conservatorium Auditorium

 

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

The Plectra Ensemble, a nine-strong classical guitar choir – performers who are currently students at both the Conservatorium of Music and UWA’s School of Music as well as post-graduate players – was taken through its paces by director Jonathan Paget who also teaches a number of the guitarists.

Apart from arrangements of two of Granados’ Danzas Espanolas, all the music presented was written between 1993 and 2006.

Philip Houghton has an unusual background in that his main occupation is mining for opals. He is also a largely self-taught composer. His score for Opals is dotted with instructions that call Erik Satie’s quirky, even surreal, tongue-in-cheek directions to mind.

Of the work’s three movements, it was the central piece – Water Opal, that lingers in the memory, not least for its quiet, languid, shimmering haze of sound and soft golpo thuddings. White Opal is another delight with its gentle murmurings.

Rory O’Donaghue’s Jubiloso fell most pleasingly on the ear, a most accessible offering that radiates a sunny optimism.

Duncan Gardiner’s Postcards poses puzzles for the ear. From what countries are these musical missives posted? Gardiner has not revealed this, leaving the listener to make a geographical judgement. Could the first be somewhere in Greece with its intriguing rhythmic pattern that calls the theme music of the movie Zorba the Greek to mind? Piece no 2 has a folksy, Celtic quality; the third sounds vaguely Italianate.

Of the two Granados pieces, No 5 – Andaluza – fared best with pleasing touches of rubato. But No 2 – Oriental – sounded unusually slow with trills in the melody line not always evenly spun.

There was more guitar music at a lunchtime concert in April in which Karl Hiller made magic of Brett Dean’s Sleepwalker in a Storm.

An abiding recollection of these performances is their consistent refinement of taste whether in relation to quality of tone or the shaping of a phrase.

Eneksis, a vocal ensemble coached and directed by Michael McCarthy, offered fascinating fare in the form of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Romancero Gitano for choir and guitar.

In what was claimed to be a first performance in Western Australia, the singers of Eneksis responded to the score in singing of a most tasteful sort. In fact, the quality of corporate sound could hardly be faulted; it was a joy to listen to although whether this consistently mellow, rather ecclesiastical, sound was entirely appropriate to the work could be debated. Some of the brief solo contributions were intonationally dubious, though.

McCarthy prefaced the performance of Romencero with a disconcertingly lengthy spoken introduction. Could this effusion not have been given in the form of a pre-concert talk or a printed program note which would surely have sufficed?

Romancero is a setting of texts by famed Spanish poet and dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca. And as McCarthy indicated in his tediously drawn out commentary, cante jondo is a factor in Romencero. In the simplest of terms, cante jondo could be thought of as flamenco singing of a deep and sombre kind, the antithesis of flamenco chico which relates to the lighter, even frivolous and cheeky, side of the flamenco experience.

But in the performance, beautifully modulated as it was with splendid clarity of line, impeccable phrasing and distribution of sound, there was barely a hint of jondo quality. The presentation sounded more in the style of the Anglican church tradition.

Jonathan Paget played, as ever, with commendable musicality and intonational security – and he was the only one onstage who wore shoes. Everyone else sported black socks. Why?

Croce’s O Vos Omnes was beautifully sung as was Ride in the Chariot, a traditional gospel song.

 

Copyright Neville Cohn 2006