The first Balmain Sinfonia concert for 2015 at the Macquarie Theatre presented a charming and varied programme of works by native French composers or works which received their premieres in France by composers established there. The interesting diversity of programmed music avoided cliché and over-performed works.
With a focus on the nineteenth century, we heard a mixture of contrasting works from Bizet, Berlioz and Franck. The chance to discover theatrical and concert music from these three greats was received very well by the orchestra’s loyal followers.
This concert also included guest mezzo soprano Ellen Malone, who impressed with her interpretation and audience interaction. Her first-half offering of Berlioz’ song cycle ‘Les nuits d’été’ Op 7 was animated and expressive. Each of the six songs were satisfying and beautifully structured vocal events, sympathetically accompanied by the Balmain Sinfonia.
Such was the animated delivery and careful presentation of Gautier’s poetry in these songs it would have been useful and enjoyable to have access to the texts. Unfortunately these were not in the otherwise informative programme or made available elsewhere.
After interval Ellen Malone’s interpretation of French opera added heightened drama to the previous finesse of the Berlioz songs. Drawing on her opera training, the programme was enlivened by her performance of the ‘Habanera’ and ‘Seguidilla’ from Bizet’s Carmen.
Malone breathed flirtatious life into these arias. Her engaging stage personality introduced us to a delicious Carmen during these well-known moments. The Prelude to this opera preceded the arias. Its vibrant character was yet another crowd-pleaser and a decent revival of this beloved piece of music.
The concert also opened with theatre music. Bizet’s first orchestral suite from his incidental music to the play ‘L’arlesienne’ was performed with its contrasts well delineated. There was some admirable string section playing in this suite and Bizet’s nineteenth century debut of the saxophone as an orchestral instrument was revisited with style here.
The lesser known and substantial Symphony in D minor by César Franck followed, concluding the concert with admirable intensity, despite its surfacing very late in the programme. Fine development of motives across the orchestra and within the structure of this work’s three sprawling movements was well evidenced.
There were a decent number of exciting full orchestral climaxes in this symphony to please the audience, even though a work of this size did make this concert’s second half quite lengthy and demanding for the listener. Apart from some moments where there was slight lack of cohesion during tempo fluctuations, the work’s complex narrative flowed quite well.
The Balmain Sinfonia’s brass choir sounded well throughout this Franck symphony. Motivic exchange or development between all orchestral sections or individual instruments was clearly directed and effective. Franck’s second-movement use of the rare symphonic cor anglais, as with Bizet’s pioneering use of the saxophone’s timbre, was well represented at this hearing. The atmosphere of its inclusion was one of elegance and poise. This instrument was excellently balanced against the orchestra and its part eloquently played.
The Balmain Sinfonia’s presentation of the final movement of this symphony which concluded this concert was a celebration of the ingenuity of music heard in France during the nineteenth century. The orchestra played it with good momentum and sense of drama as the orchestra worked its way through the dense but inspiring composition.
VIVE LA FRANCE was performed for one well-attended and enthusiastically received concert on March 29 at the Macquarie Theatre. The orchestra’s next concert is on 31 May. It features works for bassoon and orchestra by Elgar and Vivaldi.
For more about Vive la France!- Balmain Sinfonia, visit http://balmainsinfonia.com