BY JOSEPH ASQUITH
Summer Winds
Omega Ensemble
Sally Walker (flute), Celia Craig (oboe), Ben Hoadley (bassoon), David Rowden (clarinet), Michael Dixon (French horn)
Utzon Room, 25 February
On Sunday, fresh southerly winds brought cool relief from the summer heat to the city of Sydney. Uncannily, so too did the wind instrumentalists of the Omega Ensemble offer respite to an audience in the intimate and scenic setting of the Uzton Room in Sydney’s Opera House. A program comprising works by Debussy, Beethoven, Taffanel, Ravel, and Arnold certainly supplied a charismatic afternoon of chamber music for keen concertgoers of Sydney.
Flautist Sally Walker ignited the concert with Debussy’s ethereal work Syrinx for solo flute. Walker started this piece behind the audience and gracefully ambled through to front as she played from memory, all of which enhanced the beguiling amorphous tempo and lilting chromatic melody for which Syrinx is known.
Beethoven’s Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon ensued, performed by clarinettist David Rowden and bassoonist Ben Hoadley. Watching the sustained dialogue between the two instrumentalists, which were impeccably in time with one another, was as impressive as it was charming. The two movements, Allegro sostenuto and Aria con variazioni: Andante con moto – Allegro assai, explored an ebb and flow of convivial lyricism, contemplative melodies and bursts of virtuosic energy.
Paul Taffanel’s Wind Quintet in G Minor is a work containing three movements – Allegro con moto, Andante, and Vivace – was the subsequent piece in the program. From the composer better known for his instructional works, Wind Quintet in G Minor is bold and impressive in its virtuosity, dynamic range, and emotional depth. Indeed, the Omega Ensemble performed this ample work with deliberation, precision, and tightness.
After a short interval, Ravel’s emblematic orchestral piece Le Tombeau de Couperin was performed in arrangement for wind quintet by Hans Abrahamsen. Despite being accustomed to hearing this piece performed with a full-scale orchestra, this rendition was just as vibrant in the idiom of wind quintet, with a lush pallet of tone colours, a satisfying dynamic range and a texture which did justice to all the intricate details composed by Ravel.
To finish the program was Malcom Arnold’s Three Shanities for Wind Quintet, Op. 4, work which uses popular sailor folk song themes as melodic motifs. It was divided into three movements; Allegro con brio, Allegretto semplice, and Allegro Vivace; and was adventurous, amusing, and impressive in equal measure. This performance by Arnold was perfectly suited to the panoramic view of Sydney Harbour, which served as the backdrop of this most-indulgent concert.
The Omega Ensemble, with its illustrious cast of some of Australia’s finest musicians, demonstrated the versatility, virtuosity, enthusiasm, and sincere geniality it has to the audience, which was programmed especially well for the Utzon Room. They are a very much admired and dedicated chamber ensemble, and I look forward to the array of exciting works subsequently planned for this year.
Image supplied. Credit: Keith Saunders
