Festival du Comminges, 01/08/2018
Stravinsky : Eight Miniatures
Bizet : Extracts from Carmen
Poulenc : Sextet
Françaix : L'heure du berger
Ensemble Ouranos
Mathilde Caldérini, flute
Amaury Viduvier, clarinet
Nicolas Ramez, French horn
Philibert Perrine, oboe
Rafaël Augster, bassoon
Guillaume Bellom, piano
This is the first of five concerts I've picked from this year's Festival du Comminges, and from the programmes, you're likely to think that it's a festival wholly dedicated to late 19th and early 20th Century French music. No, that's just my taste in music coming through; on the other hand, this year's programming does feature French music in general, from early polyphony to the present day. Tonight's concert also highlighted a musical formation that came to particular prominence in France around the turn of the last century, the wind quintet. It existed well before that, of course, but with the rise of the French schools of wind playing, during the latter part of the 19th Century, it became much more prominent, and there is quite a rich repertory of works and arrangements for this very specific group of flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn and bassoon.
The first half of the programme featured arrangements, but neglected to inform us who the arrangers were, regrettably. The Eight Miniatures are a version of the "Eight Miniatures for Fifteen Instruments", that were Stravinsky's own orchestration of his little suite of "easy" pieces, Les cinq doigts, of 1921. Stravinsky always sounds good on winds, and the arrangement here maintained his intensely characteristic sound. If the very first movement was a little blurred, the others were like so many amuse-bouches, by turns spicy or sweet, crisp, small bites full of flavour but never out-staying their welcome. The quintet may have been founded by its clarinettist, but what immediately stood out was the steadiness of Ramez's horn - always a tricky instrument - and the quality of Perrine's oboe playing. This is not to downplay the contributions of any of the others, but these two did stand out, and remained particularly noticeable right through the evening.
The six numbers from Carmen were, according to Augster's presentation, arranged by an oboist, and it rather showed; he had given himself a prominent role, though on the cor anglais, rather than the oboe. However, the numbers kept the distinct colour of Bizet's orchestra, with sometimes very little variation from the complete score, notably in the Act 3 entr'acte, where the absence of strings was barely noticeable. These well-known items were delivered with zest, and without affectation, and despite the favouritism shown the oboist, allowed each player to shine in turn.
The two works of the second half were originals, written for wind quintet and piano. Here, unfortunately, the acoustics of the church played against the combination, and while the winds came through as clearly as they had earlier, the piano was barely audible. There were only a couple of moments in the Poulenc, notably in the languid central section of the first movement, where there was any chance to assess Guillaume Bellom's contribution to the evening, and this despite what is really quite a busy piano part. I have little doubt as to his competence, but I hesitate to pass any other kind of judgement on his playing, simply because I could not hear him clearly. However, both the Poulenc and the Françaix pieces, in all their quirky variety, were nevertheless well delivered, particularly the delightfully off-pitch wheezing of Françaix's "Les vieux beaux". An interesting programme, slightly hindered by the acoustic, but on the whole very agreeable.
[Next : 6th August]
Bizet : Extracts from Carmen
Poulenc : Sextet
Françaix : L'heure du berger
Ensemble Ouranos
Mathilde Caldérini, flute
Amaury Viduvier, clarinet
Nicolas Ramez, French horn
Philibert Perrine, oboe
Rafaël Augster, bassoon
Guillaume Bellom, piano
This is the first of five concerts I've picked from this year's Festival du Comminges, and from the programmes, you're likely to think that it's a festival wholly dedicated to late 19th and early 20th Century French music. No, that's just my taste in music coming through; on the other hand, this year's programming does feature French music in general, from early polyphony to the present day. Tonight's concert also highlighted a musical formation that came to particular prominence in France around the turn of the last century, the wind quintet. It existed well before that, of course, but with the rise of the French schools of wind playing, during the latter part of the 19th Century, it became much more prominent, and there is quite a rich repertory of works and arrangements for this very specific group of flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn and bassoon.
The first half of the programme featured arrangements, but neglected to inform us who the arrangers were, regrettably. The Eight Miniatures are a version of the "Eight Miniatures for Fifteen Instruments", that were Stravinsky's own orchestration of his little suite of "easy" pieces, Les cinq doigts, of 1921. Stravinsky always sounds good on winds, and the arrangement here maintained his intensely characteristic sound. If the very first movement was a little blurred, the others were like so many amuse-bouches, by turns spicy or sweet, crisp, small bites full of flavour but never out-staying their welcome. The quintet may have been founded by its clarinettist, but what immediately stood out was the steadiness of Ramez's horn - always a tricky instrument - and the quality of Perrine's oboe playing. This is not to downplay the contributions of any of the others, but these two did stand out, and remained particularly noticeable right through the evening.
The six numbers from Carmen were, according to Augster's presentation, arranged by an oboist, and it rather showed; he had given himself a prominent role, though on the cor anglais, rather than the oboe. However, the numbers kept the distinct colour of Bizet's orchestra, with sometimes very little variation from the complete score, notably in the Act 3 entr'acte, where the absence of strings was barely noticeable. These well-known items were delivered with zest, and without affectation, and despite the favouritism shown the oboist, allowed each player to shine in turn.
The two works of the second half were originals, written for wind quintet and piano. Here, unfortunately, the acoustics of the church played against the combination, and while the winds came through as clearly as they had earlier, the piano was barely audible. There were only a couple of moments in the Poulenc, notably in the languid central section of the first movement, where there was any chance to assess Guillaume Bellom's contribution to the evening, and this despite what is really quite a busy piano part. I have little doubt as to his competence, but I hesitate to pass any other kind of judgement on his playing, simply because I could not hear him clearly. However, both the Poulenc and the Françaix pieces, in all their quirky variety, were nevertheless well delivered, particularly the delightfully off-pitch wheezing of Françaix's "Les vieux beaux". An interesting programme, slightly hindered by the acoustic, but on the whole very agreeable.
[Next : 6th August]