Sara Macliver In Concert With Camerata

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Thu 21 Feb 2019

Raymond Chandler — %%'It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.'
%%


Ms Macliver brought to mind Raymond Chandler's words as she appeared with her long hair flowing over a beautiful off the shoulder scarlet dress.



And that was a pleasant complement to a wonderful evening of music.

As was the lighting. Often un-noticed, the very simple set was augmented by a misty effect and throughout the concert, subtle adjustments of lighting matched the mood of the moment.

Beginning with a Percy Grainger piece, appropriately called "Dreamery", which set the mood delightfully. Aficionados will have recognised that Grainger recycled some of his favourite themes from this work –most notably in his famous arrangement of "Danny Boy". Camerata produced a lush, rich tonality. Just beautiful.

The audience clearly appreciated once again hearing that combination of expertise and joyousness, which are the hallmarks of Camerata, led as always by Brendan Joyce.

Confession time. In many concerts, there are choices that one expects not to appreciate as much as others, and I will admit to preferring to admire much of Britten at a respectful distance. Camerata's choice of "Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge" proved me wrong in this instance. This was the young Britten strutting his stuff, giving Camerata the chance to showcase their range and palpably to have fun. The "variations" allowed the music to be at times darkly brooding, sinister and sombre, at times playful and light, at times operatic, at times close to "big band' razzmatazz. Not easy music to master – we are still talking about Britten here, but Camerata proved well able to meet the technical challenges. Highlights were a fiendishly tricky violin solo totally tamed by Brendan Joyce, violins played like ukuleles, and a brass section to die for. The audience clearly decided to ignore usual protocols, and rather like a jazz concert, the various displays of virtuosity were greeted by well deserved intermittent applause.

In a Camerata concert, we expect the unexpected.

This time, with unconcealed glee, Brendan Joyce introduced Jayden Groggen, a fluidly moving tap-dancer who leapt, somersaulted, tapped and slid his way into our hearts to the music of Leroy Anderson's "Typewriter" – to an audience probably equally divided between those familiar and unfamiliar with the sounds of a typewriter being used by a skilled operator. This was a lot of fun.

Back to Sara Macliver.

Brendan Joyce had sensitively arranged Schumann's Song Cycle (A Woman's Life and Love) for Camerata rather than a sole piano, and the marriage worked very well, as clearly did Robert Schumann's with Clara. The Song Cycle is a celebration of aspects of their loving relationship.

Suzanna Conway puts it well"Sara Macliver sang the generally lilting, emotive songs with deep feeling and beauty, her soprano offering a heartfelt commitment to text and storyline. Her interpretation was intelligent and thoughtful while the orchestra's accompaniment respectful and supportive. It was a ravishing performance by them all."

But it was in the Vivaldi that Macliver's voice soared.

What would for others have been impossible high notes to reach and sustain seemed effortless for Sara, and she managed the incredibly challenging long and complex runs, maintaining a deeply moving beauty of tone. What could have been a showy demonstration of awesome technique became so much more, augmented by Camerata's virtuoso accompaniment.



Suzanne Conway again:

"All in all, this was a first-rate concert from a terrific ensemble of highly motivated players, assisted by the engagement of one of Australia's finest Baroque singers. In classical music circles, it just doesn't get much better than this."

#music
#music -venues
#theatre
#february
!date 21/02/2019 -- 21/02/2019
%wnbrisbane