Scottish Ensemble – Toby Spence sings Jacques Brel

10 Feb 2010 in Highland, Music

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 9 February 2010

Toby Spence (photo - Mitch Jenkins).

Toby Spence (photo - Mitch Jenkins).

ONE OF the many joys of Scottish Ensemble programming is the interconnections between works, creating a rich audible tapestry of inspiration from one composer to another. This latest concert featuring works by Satie, Debussy, Kurt Schwertsik and songs by Jacques Brel was equally true to form, delivered with characteristic energy and dynamism.

Arranged with cabaret style seating, the OneTouch Theatre provided an appropriately intimate setting for this selection of work which took the audience on a journey from the familiar to the unexpected.

There can be few pieces of music more exquisitely beautiful or timeless than Satie’s Gnossiennes, short pieces for piano which meander according to their own mood and structure, untethered to time signatures or bar lines.

Setting the tone beautifully for the evening, his Gnossiene no1 opened the programme, played by piano soloist Andy Massey, who invested every nuance of the music with a concentrated stillness central to the composition. The melancholic trepidation of this work and the caress of its rhythm were conveyed with innate sensitivity.

This bittersweet quality was the perfect introduction to the music that followed, Debussy’s Suite from Childrens’ Corner, arranged by Scottish Ensemble Director and Lead Violinist Jonathan Morton in a playful exploration of innocence and youthful energy. Employing all the colour of the ensemble, the suite was delivered with humour, animation and grace. Andy Massey then returned to the stage for a spellbinding performance of Satie’s Gnossiene no 3 which concluded in rapt silence.

Kurt Schwertsik’s Adieu Satie completed the first half of the evening in a compelling arrangement for chromatic accordion. Schwertsik is a fascinating and at times challenging composer and his homage to Satie created a wonderful dialogue between the solo voice of the accordion and the entire ensemble.

The qualities of Satie’s eclectic personality described in Schwertsik’s programme note for the piece as “monastic clown”, “Dadaist”, “patron saint”, “navigator of time” emerges throughout each section. In the fourth it expands as a distant voice in an epic, cinematic sweep of strings, giving the lone voice of the composer a lasting, ever expanding range of influence within the score. Directed by Schwertsik’s composition the range of the accordion played by Ian Watson was something of a revelation.

I must admit that I was initially skeptical about Toby Spence’s operatic delivery of Jacques Brel’s songs. Seeing film footage of Brel performing his own work one is struck by his tenderness but also his rawness. Brel’s music feels akin to the darker qualities of German Cabaret and its often gritty subject matter seems at odds with being sung in a mild mannered way.

Although the audience clearly adored Spence’s even delivery, I waited throughout the performance for him to stretch himself, or rather for him to be directed by the material rather than his training. Au suivant and Amsterdam delivered, conveying the emotional density of the material successfully, while the high energy accelerando of La valse à mille temps allowed the listener to be completely and convincingly swept into the circular rhythm of Brel’s waltz of life.

Spence’s selection of songs from darkness to light provided significant scope for interpretation, but I could not help thinking a less classically constrained, more left of centre artist might have made the difference between a fine performance and one that was truly awe inspiring.

Brel’s music has inspired many artistic responses and remains a powerful reminder of the human impulse towards life and death. As the most exciting classical ensemble on the circuit, and not adverse to risk taking in programming or performance, The Scottish Ensemble could have perhaps given greater latitude to their choice of soloist, or the soloist given himself more latitude.

Having clapped and stomped their way appreciatively to an encore I am sure the local audience will be looking forward to the Scottish Ensemble’s return to Eden Court in April when they will performing works spanning 18th century Italy to 20th century Argentina.

© Georgina Coburn, 2010

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