Offering a vibrant swathe of well-known pieces alongside the world premiere of a new work from Australian composer Graeme Koehne, chamber orchestra Omega Ensemble led another accomplished showcase with their ‘Elevator Music’ concert at Melbourne Recital Centre.
The evening was, in all respects, a packed affair, from the roof-raising dynamism of the ensemble down to the stage itself, with every position of the chamber orchestra’s 19-piece parameter here occupied by a player. Chamber concerts often constitute as few as four key players, so to observe so many music stands laid out before the lights went down gave ample clue as to the scale of what was in store.
The programme of selected works was exceedingly accomplished, with each piece complementing many of the textures and colours explored across the evening’s tight 80-minute duration. The first piece was deceptively obvious, being the well-known 'Allegro' of Mozart’s 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik', which is so often deployed in film and TV as lazy shorthand for sophistication that one rarely sees it programmed in live concerts.
Observing such an impossibly famous piece of music in real time made for a thoroughly charming experience, with keen textural fidelity drawn here from the deeper registers of the violas and double basses. Their lively, caramel-hued bounce and verve rather stole the show, given that one only ever hears the violins-heavy opening 20 seconds of this piece in television adverts for luxury cruises and rubbish perfume.
Image © Eloise Coomber
The second piece drove a bravado shift in colour and mood, with Anna Clyne’s stormy ‘Stride’ exercising a vivacious pivot from the sparkly frivolity of the Mozart 'Allegro'. The heightened sense of brooding, groaning drama drawn in the opening movement informed a devilish contrast to what had been performed just minutes prior.
If a little jarring in its rather sudden shift in temperature, this strong new atmosphere was superbly balanced by the exquisite precision and cleanliness of the ensemble’s performance.
The highlight work of the evening was the world premiere performance of ‘Dances On The Edge Of Time’, a new commission by Omega for solo clarinettists David Rowden and Michael Collins MBE. A lively, adventurous work which sat perfectly at the heart of the programme’s sonic fabric of glossy surfaces, it was structured throughout by the frolicsome chattering of the piano’s midrange.
Special mention here, as with every Omega concert, to pianist Vatche Jambazian for driving such a vibrant, dazzling current of energy throughout a piece otherwise commandeered by the glamorous twin solo presence of Rowden and Collins.
Image © Eloise Coomber
The work’s second movement, with its dreamy subtitle ‘Love like you’ve never been hurt’, was the most romantic segment of the work, and perhaps the evening as a whole. The ambling serenade of the two clarinets, passing between one another a buoyant melodic line, soared atop the lush bedding of sawing cellos and shimmering violins. It was utterly fabulous, colossal in its simple devastating beauty.
More is to be said of ‘Elevator Music’, but a concert of such range, shade and emotional dexterity cannot be fairly contracted into a single review. It is best seen and heard to be enjoyed and savoured properly.
