I’m not sure about any double meanings, but there were certainly lots of double ensembles in this concert in the superb acoustic of Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) at South Melbourne Town Hall, AND two world premieres by Australian composers Gordon Kerry and Peter de Jaeger. It was a great idea to combine the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra with students from ANAM, pitting forces against each other from opposite sides of the stage, and truth be told the differences were hard to tell, and sometimes fell in the students’ favour.
Any new work from Gordon Kerry is always welcome. His music is so well crafted, thoughtfully scored and accessible, and his new Music for Double Chamber Orchestra is no exception. With no story as such, this work for two groups of five strings and five winds including brass, provided maximum amount of colour thanks to some instruments doubling, so we had a range of piccolo right down to bass clarinet, bassoon and trombone. The ten strings made a bigger sound than expected and were never in danger of being drowned by the wind and brass. The piece itself was quite rhythmic with a constant feeling of forward motion, but also lyrical and filmic in nature, and was well-prepared by conductor Michael Dahlenburg and the players.
According to Symphony Australia records, Swiss composer Frank Martin’s Polyptyque has only been performed in Australia twice – by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra on tour in 1975, and at a Hobart String Summer school in 1978. It’s just too eclectic for the major orchestras to program, so this was a rare opportunity indeed. A Polyptyque is a set of paintings or carvings of a religious nature, and in this case refers to the last days of Christ.
Violin soloist Doretta Balkizas, familiar from her appearance in the documentary Mrs Carey’s Concert gave a fearless, gutsy performance, with a truly lovely rich tone, and lots of romantic touches when required. There were reminders of Bernard Herrmann’s film music: the second movement owed something harmonically to his music for Vertigo, while the stabbing rhythms and agonized harmonies of the Image of Judgement movement were straight out of Psycho!
As well as being a superb pianist, ANAM alumni Peter de Jaeger is also a composer of promise, and his Fugue, Forest, Chorale and Toccata was certainly in an interesting form. Once again double quintets of string and wind instruments allowed for plenty of variety, but the performance, though well-prepared and conducted, needed more dynamic variation, especially in the softer moments. There were many imaginative string effects in the section of the work called Forest – lots of chatterings and rustlings, along with some nightmarish episodes. There was also some spectacular tonguing for the wind and brass, especially from trumpeter Allison Wright. Stylistically, there were moments that reminded me of Gorecki and also some rather Brittenesque fanfares, but de Jaeger seems well on the way to finding his own voice.
In some ways, the best known work on the program, Michael Tippett’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra, was the most disappointing. It’s a real standout in the chamber orchestra repertoire, with catchy rhythmic figures that change direction just when you thought you’d caught on to them, alternating with almost unbearably moving lyrical moments, but this performance needed a lighter touch and a more lilting, dancing inflection. The bass line was sometimes too heavy, clouding detail, and the intonation especially in the First Movement below par. But, come the Finale, suddenly fortune smiled and there was the spirit and character that had been lacking in the other movements. Dahlenburg handled the tricky time changes well, leaving an overall positive impression.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Double Entendre
Melbourne Chamber Orchestra/ANAM Musicians
Director: William Hennessy
Conductor: Michael Dahlenburg
South Melbourne Town Hall
www.anam.com.au
6 June
