SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Lutosławski, Parker, Khan, Ravel, Varèse, Siem, Strauss, Brookes, Stravinsky: Rachael Lloyd (mezzo soprano) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Clement Power, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 14.5.2010 (J-PJ)

 

Lutosławski: Mini Overture

Aaron Parker: Moiré

Isa Khan: 06

Ravel: Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé

Edgar Varèse: Octandre

Sasha Siem: Queen Anne’s Lace

Strauss: Serenade in E flat

Tristan Brookes: SERRA: Pessoa

Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat (Dumbarton Oaks)


The London Philharmonic’s Young Composers and Foyle Future Firsts programmes offer a fantastic opportunities for young musicians to develop and deepen their skills and experience. Young Composers enables emerging composers to test out their ideas with LPO players and the orchestra’s composer in residence Mark-Anthony Turnage, while Foyle Future Firsts provides an apprenticeship for gifted players. This concert merged both schemes in a mixed programme of works by young composers and names from the established repertoire. But did it work? For the young instrumentalists, yes. For the young composers, sort of.

Of the works by the four Young Composers, only Aaron Parker’s Moiré stood out as exceptional. Perhaps this was because his optically-inspired miniature for chamber orchestra was scored for conventional forces and did not stray into self-conscious experimentalism. His command over the orchestral forces at his disposal was striking, and the warm undulating phrases that formed the fabric of the first movement was immediately appealing.

Isa Khan, Sasha Siem and Tristan Brookes opted for a more daring approach, which didn’t quite convince. Khan’s 06 was more an exploration of sound than a cohesive piece of music, while Sasha Siem’s Queen Anne’s Lace really said nothing. Tristan Brookes’s SERRA: Pessoa was too full of gimmicks (banged and blown bottles, bowed cardboard tubes) to be a credible exploration of Richard Serra’s sculpture.

There was much less to quibble about with the Foyle Future Firsts players. Indeed, they were barely distinguishable when sat alongside the LPO professionals (ably led by violinist Jeongmin Kim) who supported them in the larger works.

The brass quintet in Lutosławski’s Mini Overture displayed impeccable timing and assured mastery over their instruments. Fine playing, too, in Varèse’s Octandre and Strauss’s early wind Serenade. But the highlight of the concert was their involvement in Ravel’s short song cycle Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé. Fronted by a fine-voiced and expressive Rachael Lloyd, the LPO and Foyle players perfectly captured Ravel’s mixture of warmth and melancholy, with more than a touch of menace in the final song. Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks provided a final romp home, with his homage to the Brandenburg Concerto offering plenty of opportunities for tight-knit ensemble playing.

 

John-Pierre Joyce

 

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