As the title suggests, the focus of Omega Ensemble’s opening program for the 2024 season is French – Debussy’s Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano, Fauré’s Piano Quintet No. 1 and Alice Chance’s Échappsodie. Although Australian, Chance recently moved to Paris, where she is now based, and drew inspiration from Debussy’s work, her learning of the French language and wandering through the streets of Paris.
Omega Ensemble’s mission to support Australia’s most accomplished musicians and artistic collaborators has resulted in programs that have been carefully curated, often mixing standard repertoire with exciting new works, as in this case.
It felt like something of a privilege to have Omega Ensemble launch their season in the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall. We are accustomed to hearing them in the much smaller Primrose Potter Salon, where concerts have to be repeated. The move to the Hall was the ideal space to hear David Rowden play the Debussy work. Immediately, the languid opening set a mood of sensuous pleasure reminiscent of the opening of the flute solo in Afternoon of a Faun, the finest thread of ethereal sound from Rowden’s clarinet transporting us to another realm. Passages in which phrases were echoed had a particularly magical effect in this acoustic. Composed in 1909 for the Conservatoire de Paris as a competition solo to test the abilities of clarinet students, Première Rhapsodie requires a range of virtuosic qualities. Within a compass of about nine minutes, supremely expressive colour, clean articulation – all those staccato notes! – and supple dynamism were projected with technical assurance and great artistry by Rowden. At the piano, Vatche Jambazian complemented the clarinet’s dazzling display with responsive flair. I know that I was not alone in feeling that those nine minutes had simply flown by. Perhaps time had stood still.
There was a nice programmatic link with the following piece, Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 89 (1905); as Director of the Conservatoire, Fauré was responsible for Debussy’s appointment. The string quartet of Peter Clark and Natalia Harvey (violins), Neil Thompson (viola) and Paul Stender (cello) joined Vatche Jambazian for a work with another very quiet opening. As the piano softly rippled the faintest of string sounds could be heard. Although the piano tended to dominate a fraction too much at times, there were plenty of arresting moments in the string department – one of the most striking being in the first movement (Molto moderato) as the most beautifully integrated string texture came into focus in the brief passages when the piano paused. The central Adagio movement featured Clarke’s clear singing tone, even when pianissimo, plus moments of quiet warmth from viola in a tender solo passage and energetic exuberance from the cello in the fever pitch dramatic crescendos. Beginning with soft pizzicato strings, the final movement (Allegretto moderato) was notable for the bell-like quality of the instruments passing the thematic material in canon and the sonorous drama of the piano. The work raced to its conclusion, seeming to rejoice in having offered up so many musical riches.
In some respects, it seemed a pity that Alice Chance’s work could not have been heard immediately after Debussy’s, but it did deserve to be the finale piece as well as affording David Rowden a break. Échappsodie might not have been designed as a competition piece, but it certainly tests the prowess of a clarinet player. Commissioned by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, it was originally written and premiered as an orchestral work for clarinetist Oliver Shermacher in 2022. What we heard was a world premiere of a new chamber version, commissioned by Omega Ensemble, with double bassist William Hansen joining Rowden and the piano quintet.
Marked “Rubato, shy and curious”, the opening movement seemed to owe little to Debussy’s musical landscape or to shyness. There was, however, plenty of rubato – Rowden’s elastic musicality more than equal to this instruction. Introduced by a decisive piano chord, a folk-like perky tune on clarinet led to a range of interesting effects: vigorous scrubbing on the viola, high repeated violin motifs, a hint of merry-go-round, clarinet trills, cross rhythms and high clarinet notes among them. The overall effect was more Bartok or Stravinsky than Debussy and Parisian streets, but it was engaging and, of course, superbly played. The atmosphere of the second movement, “Stillness”, did live up to its name – at least at first. Again, the piano led the way in repeated notes while the strings then the clarinet entered very softly on held drone-like notes. As the clarinet became more prominent – a slow, plaintive solo line gradually increasing in intensity – all manner of musical ideas emerged, leading to a hectic climax with the clarinet seeming at its upper limits until stillness once more prevailed with the piano’s spaced notes.
There had been plenty of energy in the preceding movements, but “Charged with energy” was the marking for the third movement, and, again, we had both the energy and the opposite – muted strings were unexpected. It is true, however, that even in the quietest moments the playing did maintain the energy of focussed intention. Bouncy energy, jazzy syncopation, a yelping clarinet, and a racing accelerando led to a definitive ending for this substantial and varied 20-minute work.
Sustained applause greeted both players and the composer herself for what had been a stimulating evening of fine music.
Photo credit: Laura Manariti
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Heather Leviston reviewed “Échappsodie”, presented by Omega Ensemble at the Melbourne Recital Centre on February 13, 2024.
