The Omega Ensemble’s French inspired program at the Nielsen, Pier 2/3, began with the hedonistic Premiere rhapsodie by Claude Debussy (1910), a competition piece that grows inspiration across its short terrain. The rhythmically inspired playing by David Rowden breathed sharp gallic clarity, but with a brief intimation of Gershwin and jazz in its virile schwung. Its melismatic freedom was intoxicating. This was an arresting start to a crisply curated program.
Then, how lovely then to hear the chamber music of Gabriel Faure. The melodic beauty dappled across the first movement of the Piano Quintet No. 1, Opus 89 (1906) is tightly structured, yet rich and refulgent. This is music that is both piquant and poetic, but always strives for balance and poise. Its heightened emotional terrain plays with recollection and refinement, as though Orpheus had been summoned to adjudicate.
The piano is a driving force across this work, and can sometimes overwhelm the string players, but in this performance - though Vatche Jambazian initiated a forthright tone - an overall balance between instrumental forces was achieved. In the symphonic climaxes that punctuate the work, the combined soundscape was truly thrilling. The opening arpeggios were high and clear.
The violin playing of Peter Clark and Natalie Hervey was exemplary, from the soft intake of string tone to the heartfelt outburst. The viola playing of Neil Thompson was equally eloquent. The interplay that Faure designed for these three instruments was beautifully articulated, tender, and clear. The cello of Paul Stender supported the super structure of this work with clear and dramatic scaffolding. The dazzling extended crescendo of the final movement was vigorously tackled, summoning athletic musical energy.
The program ended with a reworking (2024) of Alice Chance’s Clarinet Concerto: Échappsodie (2022) for a small ensemble. This outing gave the music a more democratic uptake, across the refined and spot lit instrumentation. All were soloists, including the double bass (William Hansen), though this did not truly tame the exuberance of the clarinet’s agitations and ruminations as a muscular player in the musical game. The spectral marking of the score gave some intimation of its actual content and progression, but it is a wildly protean work that invokes both energy and lulling melody (friss und lassu). Shy and curious is the marking for the first movement. The soloist’s extended extemporising, which in the concerto was supported by the crystalline orchestral layout, now means that the soloist sometimes must demand to be heard.
The starry nocturnal ambience of the second movement is more crystalline in this chamber arrangement, with the clarinet truly highlighted as it weaves its stately arabesques. The pulse is still febrile, but mediative, though it must be said that the brass and percussion solo/exchanges were particularly effective in the original concerto.
The final movement was charged with energy. The cadenza like iterations were beautifully played by Rowden – witty and playful, though still drawing on aspects of the ruminative palette that the clarinet can so seductively instantiate. The furiant of the finale is short breathed but effectively ends the work.
These French and French inspired works formed a pleasing musical offering, by turns exuberant piquant and meditative.
Omega Ensemble – Nielsen, What 2/3l – Sydney, 17 February, 2024
Gar Jones
Then, how lovely then to hear the chamber music of Gabriel Faure. The melodic beauty dappled across the first movement of the Piano Quintet No. 1, Opus 89 (1906) is tightly structured, yet rich and refulgent. This is music that is both piquant and poetic, but always strives for balance and poise. Its heightened emotional terrain plays with recollection and refinement, as though Orpheus had been summoned to adjudicate.
The piano is a driving force across this work, and can sometimes overwhelm the string players, but in this performance - though Vatche Jambazian initiated a forthright tone - an overall balance between instrumental forces was achieved. In the symphonic climaxes that punctuate the work, the combined soundscape was truly thrilling. The opening arpeggios were high and clear.
The violin playing of Peter Clark and Natalie Hervey was exemplary, from the soft intake of string tone to the heartfelt outburst. The viola playing of Neil Thompson was equally eloquent. The interplay that Faure designed for these three instruments was beautifully articulated, tender, and clear. The cello of Paul Stender supported the super structure of this work with clear and dramatic scaffolding. The dazzling extended crescendo of the final movement was vigorously tackled, summoning athletic musical energy.
The program ended with a reworking (2024) of Alice Chance’s Clarinet Concerto: Échappsodie (2022) for a small ensemble. This outing gave the music a more democratic uptake, across the refined and spot lit instrumentation. All were soloists, including the double bass (William Hansen), though this did not truly tame the exuberance of the clarinet’s agitations and ruminations as a muscular player in the musical game. The spectral marking of the score gave some intimation of its actual content and progression, but it is a wildly protean work that invokes both energy and lulling melody (friss und lassu). Shy and curious is the marking for the first movement. The soloist’s extended extemporising, which in the concerto was supported by the crystalline orchestral layout, now means that the soloist sometimes must demand to be heard.
The starry nocturnal ambience of the second movement is more crystalline in this chamber arrangement, with the clarinet truly highlighted as it weaves its stately arabesques. The pulse is still febrile, but mediative, though it must be said that the brass and percussion solo/exchanges were particularly effective in the original concerto.
The final movement was charged with energy. The cadenza like iterations were beautifully played by Rowden – witty and playful, though still drawing on aspects of the ruminative palette that the clarinet can so seductively instantiate. The furiant of the finale is short breathed but effectively ends the work.
These French and French inspired works formed a pleasing musical offering, by turns exuberant piquant and meditative.
Omega Ensemble – Nielsen, What 2/3l – Sydney, 17 February, 2024
Gar Jones
