From Mendelssohn minor to Ursa Major
By A.S.H. Smyth (Sunday Times, 06 December 2009)
In celebration of several nice-round-number anniversaries and backed by the sponsorship of the German Embassy, the Chamber Music Society of Colombo, under the direction of Lakshman Joseph de Saram, brought its 2009 season to a close with an evening of musical champagne (or whatever the EUSSR makes them call the bubbly in Berlin).
After a riskily majestic ‘Andante maestoso’ preamble, Haydn’s ‘Overture’ to the seragliopera L’incontro improvviso burst loose in the ‘Presto’ (cue little faux-Oriental percussion touches) in a tangible explosion of pent-up energy. The urgent drive towards the cadences was gripping, and the repetitive sections – for such there will always be in Haydn – persistently, insistently fresh.
There was at once a fuller, darker texture to Mendelssohn’s early String Symphony No.3 in E minor (i.e. the cellos actually had a musical line, not just a series of bass notes): if you weren’t already sitting comfortably then this definitely wasn’t your chance. The ten-minute melodic and harmonic work-out had fire not just in its belly, but in its maw as well. The ‘Andante’ second movement was more gentle, a classical Classical theme more vapour trails than entrails. But the closing ‘Allegro’ turned the entrails into extrails, as fingers trilled vigorously and bows jagged across the strings. What with the tutti chordal steps and the embellished counterpoint, it seemed altogether more like a Händel overture…
This was a string-dominated programme, and, to my shame, somewhere amid the excerpts from Händel’s Hercules, I fleetingly wondered if five cellos (and two basses) was/were too many. But Händel bass-lines are where half the fun is at, and it was appropriately Herculean to see seven violinists obliged to do the work of 20 (Hercules may have done all his chores on time, but that doesn’t make him some flute-playing mummy’s boy).
The dainty concertante moments in the ‘Menuetto’ – on cello, violin, viola, flute and oboe – offered a brief variation of palette, before all hell broke loose in the hair-raising ‘Sinfonia’. With its mournful theme strained and splayed almost to breaking point and interspersed with outbursts of frantic rage (courtesy Mrs Hercules), the CMSC’s performance was a masterwork of coordination and inherent musicianship.
Nobody was going to sneak out during this interval. Always leave them wanting more, they say…
And then give them some, say I. The opening chords of the ‘Overture’ to Agrippina were so violent they actually elicited an echo from the Wendt (perhaps surprisingly, the venue really seemed to embrace the sound: it was like a proper C.18th salon gig, but with air-con!). The orchestra, wreaking the kind of emotional havoc that befits Händel’s heroine – sister of Caligula, niece (and wife) of Claudius, mother of Nero – stormed from one extreme to the other, and by the time they reached the oboist’s plaintive Orphean line, the audience was pin-drop silent, my heart was thumping and the violinists were blinking sweat out of their eyes. De Saram mopped his brow amid profound applause.
The nicknames of Haydn symphonies (the ‘Drum Roll’, most famously) are usually pretty tenuous, and often have no recorded authorial veracity, so during Haydn’s Symphony No.82 in C Major (‘L’ours’ or ‘The Bear’) I amused myself considering potential origins for the movements and thinking up headline-friendly puns (though I could bearly come up with any, which gave me paws: I didn’t want to panda to anyone, or end up making a complete urse of myself).
‘The Bear’ itself, though, was suitably boisterous. The ‘Menuet’ gave the impression that he was touring with a miserable provincial circus (the fault is Haydn’s; but did you know they train them to ‘dance’ by setting the cubs on hot coals?); the weighty bass uprisings depicted him, I hoped, sundering his chains and eating the circus master; and in the vivace ‘Finale’ – a summery peasant dance with a Slavic drone and cartoonish cameos from the village band – the horsehair flew (bear fur is illegal) – and what remained attached to the bow waged merry war against the stomach of the cat and the thunder of the cowskin.
I can recall one instance when the cellos rushed slightly, a couple of rudderless moments when the second violins and violas were left to their own, and by the ‘Finale’ the bassoon was sadly out of tune (giving our poor bear chronic indigestion). But, in vindication of the CMSC’s conductor-less policy, there was never a hint of hesitation, and the tenutos and other refined musical ephemera were symptomatic not only of the highest quality leadership – and followership, come to that – but of a rare level of discipline and cohesion.
Demonstration of brilliance in chamber music
by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE (Sunday Observer, 06 December 2009)
The ensemble of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo, in a performance exclusively sponsored by the German Embassy, presented the Bicentennial Concert 2009. This time, the warm and clear acoustic of the Lionel Wendt Theatre was the chosen venue. The concert was the Society’s second 200/250-year birth and death commemoration of the three great German-speaking composers, namely, Georg Fredrick Handel, Franz Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn.
It was nothing short of an outstanding success for all involved. The ensemble, led by its passionate artistic Director/Concertmaster, Lakshman Joseph de Saram, began the concert with a controlled bang, the first chord to G. F. Haydn’s overture to his opera ‘incontro improvviso’. The French-style Adagio-meastoso that followed set the stage perfectly. Then quite surprisingly, Haydn launched into a Presto, a wild sounding ‘Turkish’ street band with clanging cymbals and loud drums, very much in the manner of Mozart’s ‘Abduction of the Seraglio’ overture. A charming slow movement with solo violoncello followed before the briefest reprise of the Presto. The playing was mostly committed with few mishaps in intonation in all departments. The overture is scored for pairs of oboe, horns, trumpets, timpani and cymbals, with the usual compliment of strings.
The Society’s Mendelssohn offering was his third string symphony in e minor. A repeat performance from their sold out Goethe Institute ‘Tribute to the Masters’ concert earlier in the year. Joseph de Saram’s artistic direction gave Mendelssohn’s youthfully naive work a very sumptuous and sophisticated air.
Although carefully primed and admirably played, it was interesting to note how the true and less forgiving acoustic of the Lionel Wendt highlighted in the most irritating way, the discrepancies in intonation in the ensemble, discrepancies that were certainly not this apparent in the much smaller but richly reverberant hall of the Goethe Institute.
The first seven of the set of 12 symphonies were all composed in Hamburg in 1821. It is hard to imagine that Mendelssohn was only 12 years old at the time of their composition.
Handel’s incidental music to his music drama ‘Hercules’ was next on the program. The work was composed in 1744 to a libretto by the Rev. Thomas Broughton after Sophocles and Ovid, and premiered at the King’s Theatre in London in 1745. Outstanding and revelatory was the ‘Sinfonia’ to Act III. To quote from the well-written program notes, the music was ‘brooding with outrageous bursts of agitated hysterics’, Joseph de Saram’s condescending musical arrogance at times leads him to a tendency to over interpret, but in this instance, he was inspired, a most illuminating outing where Handel and the audience were the ultimate beneficiaries.
Bookending the intermission, Handel’s overture to his opera ‘Agrippina’ began the second half. Truly visceral playing, breathtaking speed and shocking pauses with slashing strings and melancholic oboe portrayed a vivid Roman empire full of bloodletting, lust and remorse. It was indeed an eye-opener on how potent and electrifying an orchestral string section can actually sound when given the green light and right direction.
The concertmaster’s playing stood out with its searing white heat intensity, it was clear that he was undeniably ‘moved and involved’, both physically and psychologically by the unfolding story line and creative process.
The likes we have not witnessed in the local eastern and western classical music world, which almost always goes to great lengths to be modest and pleasantly sedated, no matter what the musical context is. On the other hand, this performance was a blowtorch to the senses.
We can only imagine with wonder, what the total effect could have been if more of the players contributed as much effort to the score. Closing out the concert was Hayden’s great Symphony number 82 in C major, nicknamed the ‘Bear’. It is scored for flute, pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, and strings. Overall, although very dynamic, we thought the symphony’s forward momentum to be too relentless, no respite even in the more relaxed ‘middle’ movements. The charms of Beecham’s legendary Haydn recordings were obviously not on the artistic directors mind when he approached this symphony this time. The Andante was neatly played, but at a tempo that was much faster and driven than anyone is typically used to. Even faster that the most ‘authentic’ of period performances.
Strings dominated the balance throughout. It was a pity that the brass and woodwind were overly cautious. We would have preferred a brighter more present sound from them. Also, as noted in previous reviews of the ensemble, the double bass section was much more visible than audible. On the plus side, there were bold and defined rolls and strokes from the timpanist in the last movement’s roaring climaxes. A richly deserved encore was called for, and the ensemble repeated the last page of the symphony. A gimmicky but very exciting dramatic ‘pause’ between the last two chords, presumably to show off the obvious discipline and whiplash precision of the ensemble, left the audience laughing and exhilarated. An un-common standing ovation followed from the sold out auditorium.
As expected, the Chamber Music Society of Colombo, with its well defined long range plans and professional international management team and advisors, appears to be gradually formulating a pragmatic strategy, that will eventually lead to the direction that western classical and new ‘serious’ music will take, in the next stage of development in the arts of a unified Sri Lanka. The Society’s professional attitude, progressive agenda and well-buffed end product can only help in improving the overall standards.
Although the Society is primarily aimed at the upper echelon of the intelligentsia, and chamber music, both old and new, by its very nature, the guarded realm of a privileged minority, we are pleased to notice the Society taking a more egalitarian approach in its door policy and availability of tickets. And as the German ambassador stated in his opening remarks before the concert, we are all very happy at the thought that the Society is planning on sharing their art in the very near future with our brothers and sisters in the north and east. A gesture, which will be greatly appreciated in this hour of reconciliation and sensitiveness.
December 7th, 2009 | Reviews and Media