Camerata Ireland brings exquisite music

Camerata Ireland brings exquisite music

by Rod Parke - SGN A&E Writer Camerata Ireland March 24 Benaroya Hall This string orchestra of 18 players from Ireland must have pulled in a new crowd for this concert. A large portion of the audience had no awareness of proper concert etiquette and insisted upon clapping after each movement of every piece, until near the end of the program, when better manners began to sink in. (During one of Renee Fleming's recitals at Benaroya, she had to beg the audience not to break her concentration by continuing to applaud between songs of a set by one composer.) New audience members are of course a good thing, but such behavior certainly breaks up the continuity of a piece. The first work could hardly have been new to anyone: the over-played "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" by Mozart. But in this case it allowed the Camerata Ireland to demonstrate how special their group was. Barry Douglas conducted a reading that had nothing different or startling but which beguiled with its attention to detail. From the softest pianissimo to the biggest tutti, every line was clearly etched and delicately phrased, giving the whole work freshness and life. The sound of the strings was a model of warmth and loveliness: silken and smooth almost to a fault, yet articulated with precision and energy. The size of the orchestra helped make what we heard open and clear. Apparently in some parts of the auditorium the basses were not heard, but from the back of the hall the sound was warm and perfectly balanced. Prokofiev's "Andante for Strings, Op. 50 bis" brought much less familiar nourishment to the program. With shades of Bartok's great "Divertimento for Strings," this work wove a somewhat melancholy spell, yet never lacked energy or interest. Barry Douglas changed hats and sat at the fully open Steinway and conducted as he played Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 14." What a joy to hear this delightful work with an orchestra the size that Mozart might himself have employed! Again, balance problems reported from other parts of the hall were nonexistent in the last row of the orchestra seats. The second half began with Stravinsky's "Concerto in D, 'Basel Concerto.'" From 1946, this work was full of the composer's famed wit and jaunty rhythms. The second movement was positively lyrical and gorgeous. As a Stravinsky fan, I especially appreciated getting to hear this unfamiliar work. The only disappointment of the evening was the last programmed work: Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings." Douglas chose a particularly legato approach that made the opening sound stuck in thick syrup. I found the over-familiar work similarly un-dynamic and a little dull. Encores were Irish tunes, with Douglas back at the piano, playing with the strings. Their feeling was of genuine sentiment, as opposed to sentimentality, and the effect was lovely. Reviewer Rod Parke can be reached at rod@sgn.org