Monsieur Calmel conducts his small group of 17 string-players in pleasing
performances of three very popular works. There’s no doubting the ensemble’s
unanimity and commitment, or that Calmel puts great store in expressive
phrasing and emotional input. The recording is good too – space and
focus in just combination. Yet, this size of string orchestra always
seems a halfway house between string quartet and symphony orchestra;
with it comes limitations of colour. What is appropriate for Baroque
or Classical works condenses Romantic music’s expressive dimensions.
Dvorak’s five-movement piece comes off best. Tempos are well
chosen and there’s a pleasing blend of sonorities; playing is nimble
and alert. A resigned sadness informs the ‘Larghetto’ fourth movement,
malleably phrased here, engagingly emotive. Elgar’s oeuvre is less happy,
the musicians’ affection for Dvorak replaced by something more objective;
Elgar’s whimsy is lost crossing the channel.
A bigger sound is required for Tchaikovsky’s great work, one
of this writer’s ‘special’ pieces – greater depth of response, more
pathos and weight of sound. This is an able performance, yet something
more revealing of Tchaikovsky’s soul, one displaying more fondness and
feeling is mandatory. The overly distended opening suggests Calmel appreciates
this, but wringing out every drop of emotion and tone from his band,
and retarding the tempo, sets up the wrong sort of tension. More players
giving less sound would create the emotional fragility that is intrinsic
to this music.
Colin Anderson
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Orchestre Bernard Calmel
