Review

Fire and flamboyance with passion!

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

On March 22, at 7.30 p.m. the 2012 season premiere concert of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo saw the Society return to its most comfortable habitat, the music of the late baroque and early classical eras. A full, engrossed and highly disciplined (no clapping between movements and phones going off) Lionel Wendt Theatre witnessed some incandescent playing by the orchestra, by far the most progressive and satisfying there is in Sri Lanka today.

If we at 'Montage' have on previous occasions, come across as excessively concerned and critical of musical and extra musical details by the CMSC, it is only because they are a well-funded professionally led organisation, top to bottom, and thereby open to serious critical scrutiny requiring much higher standards and accountability than other well-meaning but amateur/hobbyist led groups of similar ilk, it is only fare. But this concert, it would be disingenuous to find much to complain about.

Classical genius

The concert opened with W.A. Mozart's overture to the opera, 'Apollo et Hyacinthus' or the 'Metamorphosis of Hyacinth.' A short but intense utterance by the undisputed classical genius. And true to form, the tightly knit orchestra of the CMSC driven hard by its fiery artistic director and concertmaster, Lakshman Joseph de Saram, roared out of the start gate amounting to some truly exhilarating playing. The elite 26 musicians sounded much more powerful and alive than is usually the norm in Sri Lanka.

The Latin school-opera that Mozart wrote when he was just over 11 belongs to a tradition that is unaccustomed to us because most of its products are trivial and anyway few of them have survived. 'Apollo et Hyacinthus' was designed for performance in the intervals of a five-act tragedy and features one aria for each character, and three ensembles. It is also possibly the least recorded of the master's operas.

The relentless pace set by the overture continued with more high-spirited Mozart, his unusual symphony number 23 in D major K 181. What is distinct about this work is that he wrote it as a single continuous movement comprising of three distinct tempi: Allegro spiritoso, Andantino grazioso and Presto assai. Here too, the playing was first rate, the excitement and naiveté of the teenage Mozart brought to the fore. The first movement was full of energy and spirit with well-judged swells of sound and disciplined ensemble work. The 2nd movement titled Andantino grazioso had a beautiful extended solo for oboe, played by the Society's principal oboist, Hasitha Pathirana.

His cautious but appropriate rendition was the first real point of relaxation in the program. The orchestra accompanied him with a thickly veiled sound bed of murmuring strings. The 3rd movement was up and running before you could even imagine pausing for reflection. Mostly precise playing and superbly graded balances between strings, woodwinds and brass.

Georg Fredrick Handel's Concerto Grosso in G major, HWV 319 (op. 6 no. 1) was next. The formidable string section of the Society taking center stage, they chose a thoughtful interpretation avoiding extremes of tempo yet not running into monotony. Their modern instruments sounded more than agreeable and the harpsichord was mostly appropriate and unobtrusive. A slight mishap in the sequence of movements that culminated in an unprecedented false start by the esteemed concertmaster, led to a slightly humorous but generous admission of responsibility by the 'first chair,' much to the delight and admiration of the audience. The switching of last movements that led to the glitch was unfortunately not explained, a pity.

Lakshman J. de Saram

Othman H. Majid

The G major Concerto is one of a series of twelve elegant concerti grossi in which Handel explores complex fluctuating relationships among the instruments of a string orchestra. In agreement with the traditions of concerto grosso style he exploits the difference between a small concertino (group of solo instruments) and a larger ripieno (orchestral accompaniment). Throughout this cycle the concertino features two violins, a cello, and a chordal continuo instrument, and the ripieno comprises larger groups of violins and violas along with a continuo usually played by cellos, basses, and one or several chordal instruments. After the intermission, the string section returned to dazzle with Arcangelo Corelli's Concerto Grosso in D major, op. 6 no. 4. A truly inspirational performance that made you want to explore more of the works of the Italian baroque master, a higher compliment cannot be made. Ensemble was top notch with just the occasional intonation fluff. The slow movement was especially poignant in its simplicity, the faint tinkling of the harpsichord adding to the flavor. The finale was all about the flamboyance of the violin soloists, the Chamber Music Society's exclusives, Lakshman Joseph de Saram and Othman H. Majid. The sheer exuberance was breathtaking; the extreme speed of the coda left you panting, literally. Although Corelli was not the inventor of the Concerto Grosso, it was he who established the potentialities of the form, made it widespread, and wrote the first great music for it.

Through his efforts, it achieved the same pre-eminent place in the baroque period of musical history that the symphony did in the classical period. Without Corelli's successful models, it would have been unworkable for Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach to have given us their Concerto Grosso masterworks.

No rival

Ending the season premiere concert was Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony no. 44 in E minor, Hob. 1:44 "Trauer." Proving once more, that the CMSC has no rival in classical programming in the country, they naturally, saved the best for the last. Outstanding performance of sheer adrenaline in the first and last movements, with the severe minuet and trio, a study in counterpoint and the sweetly melancholic slow movement bringing some badly needed respite in-between.

It must be remarked that the amazing energy and spirit generated by the musicians on stage that night was an astonishing experience, a master class on inspired leadership and quality over quantity by professionals with unconditional passion towards their art. It was a pity that we did not notice too many players and managers of 'school orchestras' in the audience; they could have learned something, possibly. The concert attracting a packed elite audience that had at least four ambassadors and your culturally inclined tycoons, philanthropists and music lovers, was sponsored by Sri Lanka's most recognized global brand, Dilmah Tea.Bravo! To all involved that night for the magic, and for making us experience, in however a small way, the remarkable sensation of our peoples collective artistic distinction. We all left the hall that much richer.