Blazing Trails. There could be no better title for a concert heralding the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra’s latest innovative and diverse music program as many trailblazers making a difference were highlighted tonight. MCO artistic director and violinist Sophie Rowell welcomed the Melbourne Recital Centre audience with high praise for the women in music who have influenced the path of gender inequity and have made an impact: composers Florence Price, Natalie Williams and award winning percussionist Claire Edwardes. Rowell herself is significantly forging high quality leadership and advanced musical paths with MCO, and her welcome made special mention of MCO’s new CEO Adele Schonhardt, who is taking this chamber orchestra forward.
With over 300 compositions to her credit, it was Florence Price’s concertos and symphonies that brought her recognition as the first prolific Afro-American female composer. Five Folksongs in Counterpoint showed her beautiful richly toned writing for strings, with sophisticated and humble settings of familiar spirituals and hymn tunes marrying her historic musical roots with European classical traditions. Although the No 1 – Calvary was omitted, it is a contrasting and worthy piece that shows Price’s more complex, contrapuntal writing, with more dissonance than the folk-song settings of 2-5. Tonight, 4 of the 5 pieces were performed, arranged by Peter Stanley Martin from their original quartet voicing, (numbers 2-5) with No. 2 Clementine showing a pleasantly warm tonal and lyrical folk-song setting. No. 3 was also a familiar melody, a forward moving lullaby Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, mellow and flowing, without adventuring far from its popular “old” song form. No. 4, an Allegro setting of several folk songs, brought a blend of the fun and flavours of a country hoedown to rhythmic barn dance fiddle tunes. Nourishing, harmonious and well-balanced strings completed this set with No. 5, Swing Low Sweet Chariot.
Australian composer Natalie Williams showed us all a new musical pathway with her work Steeling Fire for percussion and strings. The Port Kembla steelworks factory became a source of inspiration for the composer to produce a three-movement substantial work for Claire Edwardes, featuring her as a concerto soloist using an array of metal tuned and un-tuned percussion. Edwardes’ energy shone as she walked to the front of the stage in a shimmering silvery gold outfit, which drew our attention to her physical ownership of the concert vibes, hanging cymbals and the extra metal sound sources – brake drums, hooks, spring coils and her favourite “waterphone”, a suspended type of guiro, round and flat with shifting water inside.
The opening movement Dust and Fire was mesmerising, colourful and energetic and we were absorbed in the flow of colour, texture, driving syncopated pulses, repeated syncopated rhythms and driving upper strings. Occasionally the fortissimos of the full string ensemble overshadowed the vibraphone and softer mallet work from the soloist, but some audience members couldn’t contain their appreciation and applause followed this first movement. Reverie opened with free improvisatory vibes that wove their golden metallic glow between sustained string bass drones and upper string closely toned melodies. Increasing free rhythms and dynamics did tend to overshadow the soloist’s waterphone effect. A busier, livelier third movement, Mechanica, produced strong teamwork, adding a rhythmic groove through building blocks of richly coloured chords, and we enjoyed the inspiring vision of a female percussionist whose love for performance and colour is communicated so enthusiastically through sound and movement.
Vivaldi’s Concerto in C RV443 opened the second half of the program, its original solo part for flautino or recorder working beautifully for Edwardes on a contemporary vibraphone. Melodic lines were now nicely more prominent and more penetrating over a softer string tutti accompaniment, and we could admire the close up vision of Edwardes’ 4-mallett playing and advanced technical skills. Rowell led a sensitive and highly sympathetic MCO whose exemplary string playing is so appealing and admirable. Replacing a Baroque wind instrument with vibraphone added a whole new beauty and freshness, with long melodic lines beginning and ending with smoothness and flow, each note rounded and resonant, final notes of phrases lingering and echoing. With a sustain pedal on the instrument, woodwind players would be envious! How easy the long pure legato notes of an Andante could be executed!
In this beautifully curated MCO program, Mahler’s arrangement of Beethoven’s relatively short four-movement Quartet No 11 in F minor Op 95 was a fine choice. On behalf of the musicians, cellist Blair Harris briefly introduced the work as being performed as a tribute to Jan Grant, a trail blazer at ANAM. We sat up to dramatic, forceful, almost edgy ensemble sections that contrasted with such warm expression and a lyrical richness from upper strings. MCO truly amplified Beethoven’s sudden dynamic and emotive changes, unified, symphonic in sound, and rich in energy and texture in a satisfying finale.
I feel the audience may have lingered longer in the hall with extended applause partly because of hoping for more music than these relatively short four short works.
We look forward to MCO’s further trail blazing concerts.
Photo credit: Lucien Fischer
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Julie McErlain reviewed “Blazing Trails”, presented by the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall on Sunday, June 2, 2024.
