The audience at the Tung Auditorium were treated to what can only be described as a remarkable concert with several notable firsts.
This was Domingo Hindoyan’s debut conducting Ensemble 10:10. Ensemble 10:10, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022 and became resident at the Tung Auditorium in the same year, was established by members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to showcase new music and to offer support to new composers, particularly those from the North West.
With this in mind, last night’s concert began with the world premiere of a piece by Sam Kane, winner of the Rushworth Composition Prize in 2023. The Rushworth Foundation set up the prize in 2015 to nurture new talent and to support the commissioning and performance of new music. Danu’s Rhapsody demonstrates Kane’s interest in the music, mythology, and folklore of his native Ireland. He describes it as a ‘single movement poem’ that tells the story of how a young woman wakes in the night and is drawn to walk into an enchanted forest where she meets and dances with a range of mythical creatures and faeries before failing to escape and being transformed at sunrise into Danu, the Celtic nature goddess. The atmosphere of the forest was quickly established through the use of tremolo and glissando in the strings, with the sound increasing in pace and energy through the different phases of the story, with harsh pizzicato indicating the conflict until the luscious singing strings heralding dawn in the final resolution.
When the opportunity came for Kareem Roustom to compose a violin concerto, he recalled a brief passage in the strings in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 that he felt had an Arabic feel, which is reinforced by the concerto’s 9/8 rhythm. The concerto comprises three movements: the first combines both dramatic and playful elements with a dialogue between the instruments; the second was inspired by hymns from the Christian tradition of the Syrian church with the opening use of vibraphones especially haunting; and the final, lively movement is based on the final section of Mozart’s descending scale, ending with an ultimate explosion of sound. Michael Barenboim, who played it at its premier in Berlin in March 2019 and is the work’s dedicate, demonstrated his extreme virtuosity.
For the final piece, Allan Berg’s Chamber Concerto, Barenboim was joined by the award-winning pianist, William Bracken. The combination of both soloists offered an electric version of the piece Berg dedicated to his mentor, Arnold Schoenberg, and its intricate construction demonstrates Berg’s obsession with secret references and codes. The wind ensemble accompanies the piano in the first movement, the violin in the second, and both instruments in the final movement.
The applause that greeted all three pieces indicates that new music in its many forms is very much appreciated in Liverpool.
Sam Kane Danu’s Rhapsody
Kareem Roustom Violin concerto No. 1
Berg Chamber Concerto
Domingo Hindoyan – Conductor
Michael Barenboim – Violin
William Bracken – Piano
Reviewer: Johanna Roberts
Reviewed: 22nd January 2024
North West End UK Rating:
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