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| Sunday, 24 February 2002 |
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An enchanting evening by Anoushka de Silva
Well.... ok there was a crowded room - almost a full house I believe, and some of them were strangers. This being the February 18 all of us were foregathered at the Lionel Wendt Theatre for the much publicised concert by the Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra. The evening started on an unusual note with a pre-concert talk by the guest conductor for the evening Lalanath de Silva. Several of those present were deeply appreciative that someone had finally realised not every music lover who attends these concerts has had a formal musical education and already knows everything there is to know. De. Silva assisted by Ron Beek gave a brief introduction to each piece and drew the audiences' attention to the musical motifs in each movement. Gayathrie Peiris too explained the background of each of the pieces she would perform. The first piece of the evening Hayden's Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major, Op 84 for oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and orchestra was simply delightful. The Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra displayed their indubitable talent and professionalism not to mention more than a touch of virtuosity among the soloists. The Sinfonia is highly romantic and like all such pieces is in frequent danger of descending to shocking levels of maudlin cloying sentimentality. However this highly experienced group of musicians exhibiting a wonderful deftness and lightness of touch, achieved a delicacy that allowed the rather gorgeous theme to breathe and did much to enforce the audiences appreciation of Hayden's genius. The undoubted darling of the audience was Gayathrie Peiris who held us all in thrall to the beautiful purity of her voice. The Cavatine from the second act of Mozart's le nozze de Figaro, "Porgi a more qualache ristoro' held just the right amount of tragic melodrama of a woman facing the indiscretions of her beloved husband, though the long floating notes at the end of certain lines could perhaps have been sustained a little longer. The Arietta also from Act 2 "voi che sapete" was exquisitely sung with all the gauche wonder of youthful emotions spiced by perverse naughtiness. The Habanera "lamour est un oiseau rebelle" from the first Act of Bizet's Carmen had two minuscule hitches (breathwise) - utterly negligible when the tone and phrasing were so accurate. Even without the pre-performance note the audience would have been left in no doubt that the gypsy's lamour was as far from a tame little house sparrow as could be. The vociferous demand for an encore was met by a rendition of Omio babbino caro from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi again sung with appealing sentiment and clever attention to phrasing. Opera is a fairly unknown quantity to most local audiences (Opera that is as opposed to Gilbert and Sullivan et al) unless exposed to it while abroad because frankly Opera is not easy to digest if one is attempting to gain an appreciation of music via CD. Sentiment during the interval ranged from "Watching her expression while she was singing made all the difference to the music" to "my, she is so nice and slim for an opera singer no?" (Charlotte Church, Barbara Bonney, and Emma Kirkby etc. may all take grave exception). Nevertheless, thank you Ms. Peiris for a thoroughly enjoyable experience and for incidentally dispelling the seemingly commonly held notion that "Opera" consists of ten-ton valkyries with 42 Double-D cup measurements (or, and Luciano Pavarotti, of course) standing around a stage caterwauling at each other in incomprehensible language and sometimes resorting to music. Schubert's Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major was looked on with disfavour by those "in the know" as being a frightfully common and uninspiring selection. It was not much help that excerpts from three of the movements had been heard in everything from commercials for floor tiles to soap operas and equally edifying cinematic offerings! Despite the vilification, the performance of the piece was beautifully restrained highlighting the striking simplicity of the music that is so often denigrated, all subtle inflections with no exaggeration whatsoever. It was perhaps Schubert as the composer intended it - the essence of the music without the accretions. The third movement was especially gracefully executed. Our own "little maestro" perhaps had something to do with the success of the piece as he maintained a flexibility of tempo, while allowing for both rhythmic dynamism and lyrical reflection without losing grip of the structural logic of each movement. A note of warning however for future performers - the music underground has revealed that they are tired of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach etc. as concert fare, a change of perhaps Dyorak, Mahler, Telemann, contemporary composers and suchlike will be much appreciated. Kudos to the Mount Lavinia Hotel for excellent organisation, and exquisitely courteous staff. Good effort all round, satisfying and all that, but enchanted?.... perhaps some other evening. |
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