After their collaborative season at Wigmore Hall, string orchestra 12 Ensemble are going from strength to strength. What this string ensemble might lack in a telling name, they make up for with energy and attentive drive.
12 Ensemble performs at London’s Wigmore Hall. Photo: Kenny Morrison/Wigmore Hall
Melankolia from Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra) was a bold opener for its July 8th livestreamed concert. The warble of the shorelark is heard on tape (and slightly lowered in tone) and is mirrored with the sensual playing of the ensemble with a harp in the auditorium, as brass and woodwind on the balcony gradually meld into the score. Subtle and touching, the allure of this creation continues to get worthy praise.
Stravinsky’s tenure in the United States resulted in many pieces made and performed. His Concerto in D from 1946, saw the influence of jazz and popular music after he moved to Los Angeles. This may not be his most noteworthy nor excitable composition, though it has an elegance in its sway as well as the punch of Stravinsky’s violent past. It makes you wonder just how much irony is going on here. The suggestion of a closing bar in the lower strings is nearly discordant in the second movement, Arioso: Andantion. The Rondo is filled with tension, Shostakovich-like in dread and its unwillingness to settle.
Isabella Gellis. Photo: Ella Pavlides
British-Canadian composer Isabella Gellis was commissioned to write a new work. This world premiere is rather bizarrely inspired by moss. Many Fruited Dog Tooth is a wonderful name for a piece—Gellis was taken with the poetry of this type of moss (its Latin name being Cynodontium polycarpon). Moss can easily expand and this newly written work has contemporary practices for strings, along with a melodic root too (no puns). Gleaming bowing, laced with bubbling dynamics are how I would define this piece, which paired well with the Rautavaara.
I need little persuading to hear Olivier Messiaen. In what might be the standout of the night, 12 Ensemble played their hearts out to a fine extract from an early work. Prière du Christ montant vers son Père from L’Ascension wraps up the work’s four movements, which premiered 90 years ago. This is an easy stand alone, as was proven at this concert. The players drenched in the harmonies that only Messiaen could conjure, the intensity never waned. There was an apparent wobble at the plateau towards the end, though proceedings regained focus.
12 Ensemble performs at London’s Wigmore Hall. Photo: Kenny Morrison/Wigmore Hall
Russian conductor and violinist Rudolf Barshai arranged Ravel’s String Quartet in F, turning it into the Petite symphonie à cordes. I can tend to be a little sniffy about Ravel, but at his best he is a magician, as is the case here. I won’t go as far to say I was wowed by all of it. Barshai’s expansion of the piece for larger ensembles is fairly safe. Its innovations lie in flirty turns between bow play and plucking. Not so much a French sound, as a quest for pretty airs. The feverish nature of the finale is most fascinating, a compelling build up with a satisfying send off, all thanks to the vigour of this fine ensemble.
For more about 12 Ensemble, visit www.the12ensemble.com
