Post by zeus February 12, 2005 (3 of 3)
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Here's the follow-up review:
This was the first performance in the Australian Chamber Orchestra's (ACO) 2005 subscription series. I'm a lapsed subscriber because their programming has been dead boring of late, but last night's program was a cracker. We're very proud of the ACO, lead by violinist Richard Tognetti. If ever they're passing through your town make an effort to hear them ... I think you'll be impressed.
Anyway, the program started with Biber's "Battalia" (same as on Die Röhre, The Tube - Stuttgarter Kammerorchester) which was a lot of fun. The raspy effect on the basses is achieved by placing paper next to the vibrating strings. I'm sure there's an Italian term for this.
Next up, Angela Hewitt joined them for Bach's keyboard concertos in A major and D minor. This was obviously Hewitt's show and other than starting together it was plain the ACO just had to keep up. Hewitt played the first movements as though the piano (Steinway) was a harpsichord, that is breathlessly fast. She was obviously enjoying herself and was the consummate Bach performer as you'd expect for someone who has dedicated most of their life to this composer. Problem is the piano tended to a muddy blur, as least from where I was sitting in an otherwise very respectable seat (row K, middle). It was really only in the last movement of the D minor where it all came together. This was masterful music making nonetheless.
After interval, was Tüür's "Passion". I'm a sucker for this kind of music and loved it. The strings sounded so realistic as well :-). This was the ACO at their best. Next, Hewitt rejoined them for the Brandenburg No. 5 together with an unknown to me flautist (I'm too cheap to buy programmes). The interchange of Tognetti on violin and the flute was just divine. Hewitt's contribution was less here but it all worked beautifully. Last up was Golijov's "Last Round", an energetic piece for just strings and a fitting end to the night's entertainment. No encore. It wouldn't have hurt to get Hewitt back on stage to play eg. the complete Partita's but you pays your money etc.
So overall (for just the keyboard concertos): 4 stars for performance and 3 for sound. I fully expect the recording to "improve" on the sonics (different venue, different piano) and I'm hoping the strengths and balance of the orchestra and soloist comes together on the discs. We shall see.
As a side note, the woman on my right had the largest and noisiest watch I've ever heard. With hand placed on her cheek for most of the performance, this was right next to my ear. It just goes to highlight the disparity between sound levels in a real world performance environment and what you (or at least I) listen with at home.
BTW, for my compatriots, this program (recorded live from the Adelaide performance) can be heard on ABC-FM on Tuesday night.
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