Soloists And Strings Sing, But Not When Bach Hits The Brakes

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday July 25, 2006

Reviewed by Harriet Cunningham

AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA

City Recital Hall, July 21

EXPECTATIONS are high when the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra performs an all-Brandenburg program, and in the first of 10 performances of four of the famous concertos, Paul Dyer's band of soloists did not disappoint.

Bach's sixth Brandenburg concerto in B flat major is dominated by low-voiced strings - viola, cello, violone and viola da gamba - and their undemonstrative tones required concentrated listening. Viola players Monique O'Dea and Shelley Jamison relished their uncharacteristically virtuosic tumble of notes, but their gruff scrabblings only served to emphasise the unwieldy nature of the viola, and the adagio ma non tanto was, contrary to Bach's indication, slow to the point of stasis.

The Concerto No. 5 was more enlightening. Ben Dollman took the solo part alongside flautist Melissa Farrow, with Dyer on harpsichord. Dollman's unforced tone shone like a brilliant beam of light, matching Farrow's pure sounds, both almost entirely unsullied by vibrato. As for Dyer, he rattled off the epic cadenza at thrilling high speed and with fistfuls of extraneous notes.

The comfortingly busy first movement of the Brandenburg No. 3 had a consistency in phrasing and attack across the great arch of the movement, and in the slow movement (which in Bach's original score consists of nothing more than two chords) Dyer interpolated a keyboard prelude.

Like Concerto No. 6, Concerto No. 1 offered a range of unusual sonorities which demanded close listening and a tempering of expectations. Modern orchestral instruments have been developed to hold their pitch and maximise their volume. By comparison, the piccolo violin is interesting but pale, and the valveless hunting horn is somewhat blunt. Nevertheless, horn soloists Darryl Poulsen and Doree Dixon made a magnificent sound, and Lucinda Moon mastered the tiny violin convincingly.

This concert wil be repeated tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at 7pm and on Saturday at 2pm.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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