Conducted by Leonard
Weiss
Holy Covenant
Anglican Church, Cook 27 August
Gunning Shire Hall, Gunning NSW 28 August
Review by Len Power 27 August
Having performed Hubert Parry’s ‘English Suite’ earlier this
year, it was good to see that Musica Da Camera had scheduled another work by Parry
in their latest concert. ‘Lady Radnor’s
Suite’ was commissioned by Helen, Countess of Radnor, and, surprisingly, she
also conducted the first performance of it in 1894. Patterned on the early classical orchestral
suite of dance movements, the work is melodic and is strongly and delightfully reminiscent
of Victorian England. The orchestra
played it very well especially the third ‘Sarabande’ movement and the
rollicking finale.
This was followed by a nice performance of Handel’s twelfth Concerto
Grosso in B minor and then the highlight of the concert – ‘Serenade For Strings’
by Sweden’s Dag Wiren Apparently his
only international success, this 1937 work is bright, lyrical and with
unexpected moments that make this work fascinating to listen to. The opening movement, with its contrasting
rhythms, was beautifully played by the orchestra and the second movement with
its extensive string plucking was nimbly handled. The last movement, with its familiar theme
used in Britain’s 1960s ‘Monitor’ television program, was a well-played finale
to the work.
Australian composer, Graeme Koehne, is best known for his
orchestral and ballet scores. In three
movements, his 1983 ‘String Quartet’ is an interesting and melodic work with
dark tensions underneath. The orchestra
played this work with real depth and feeling.
The final Elegy was especially movingly played.
The final work presented – Janacek’s ‘Suite For Strings’ –
was composed in 1877. While there are
hints of Beethoven and Dvorak here and there, overall the work is distinctly
that of Janacek and an excellent one to end a concert. The orchestra was especially impressive playing
the second Adagio movement.
As always, Leonard Weiss conducted the orchestra with strong
clarity of purpose, obtaining fine results from this enthusiastic and very able
group of local music makers. Musica Da
Camera are always notable for the variety in their choice of works played. This was another fine concert from this Canberra
orchestra.
There will be a second performance of this concert on Sunday
28 August at 2.00pm in the Gunning Shire Hall.
Len Power’s reviews
can also be heard on Artsound FM 92.7’s ‘Artcetera’ program on Saturdays from
9am.
