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Ensewmble 360 Quintets, Priory Church, January 31
Rapturous, heartfelt applause from an overjoyed audience, bowled over with admiration, said it all. Ensemble 360's third concert at Priory Church was another stunner.
In a scintillating programme of three quintets, Mozart was first to thrill. Mozart, himself, considered this piece - the first quintet written for this combination of oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano - the best music he'd written, and it's still generally considered never to have been equalled in excellence by any composer.
From the first notes (as always) the audience was astounded by the awe-inspiring expertise, the sheer musicality of players who sit atop a ladder that reaches right up to Cloud Nine. According to clarinettist Matthew Hunt, Mozart had 'unparalleled ears' which enabled him to get the absolute best from each instrument. These 'unparalleled ears', far from making Amadeus lop-sided, allowed each player to express a seemingly effortless, captivating flow of sensitivity, beauty, warmth and depth; suddenly there we all were, luxuriating in the bubbles of a hot spring, surrounded by beautiful, snow-cappped mountains, sipping at champagne. Deliciously, the round mellow tones of Naomi Atherton's horn, Matt Hunt's clarinet, Adrian Wilson's oboe, Peter Whelan's bassoon and Tim Horton's rippling piano wrapped us round, taking turns to enthral. The perfect interactions and unified sensitivity of these players are, in themselves, a joy to behold
as their bodies and spirits dance with the music, taking us right along with them.
The next quintet, written early in Beethoven's career as a homage to Mozart brought further thrills. All the much loved Beethoven trademark ingredients were there - grand proclamations, snappy runs and phrases, echoes and repetitions, plus the wonders of Tim Horton's crystal crisp piano playing (Beethoven played this part himself, after all), while the slow movement achieved more of that mellow warmth of the Mozart.
Schubert's Trout Quintet was our last course, after our brilliant wind players had been exchanged for string players of equally impressive calibre. (With her relaxed style, Laurene Durantel may look as though she's leaning on a lamp-post at the corner of the street, but the sounds she elicits from that double bass are divine.) The Trout, somewhat overdone at times, perhaps, can sometimes seem less special, but this serving tonight was heart-leapingly fresh and shiny. Far from hackneyed, the variations were full of thrills and excitement, and the last (Waiting for God theme) movement remained distinctly vibrant.
Doncaster's next concert treat is on March 21st while on June 6th the final programme will include Broken Consort, a piece specially commissioned from composer Huw Watkins for all eleven players of Ensemble 360 and premiered last year.
As ever, you can count on Ensemble 360 to make every note sparkle with magic.
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Weather for Doncaster
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
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Sunny spells
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