The opening concert in any new music festival with aspirations to become an annual event needs to immediately create an impression and, hopefully, carry with it the portent of great things to come. By launching with a programme entitled ‘Genius’ the Southwark International Music Festival, brainchild of violinist Alda Dizdari during lockdown last year, sought to do just that by finding synchronicity of purpose with the three works played by the Mellos Ensemble.
Each of the composers featured – Bach, Elgar and Enescu –
wrote their pieces at a time in their lives when they had not yet achieved the
fame that would eventually make their reputations. Another thread of
performance connects these composers: Enescu, himself a fabulous violinist,
recorded Bach’s double concerto with Yehudi Menuhin. It was also with Enescu
that Menuhin prepared Elgar’s violin concerto for the famous recording of the
work, conducted by the composer.
The flexibility of the Mellos Ensemble’s constitution – a core
of members is supplemented to accommodate the performance of larger-scale works
– was shown to good advantage throughout the concert. Alda Dizdari provided
discrete yet assured direction in her role as ensemble leader. In Bach’s
Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043, she played the first solo violin
part, whilst Maria Gîlicel played the second solo part.
The opening Vivace movement was well articulated with a
sense of ensemble proportion, whilst the solo parts were distinct and
characterful. In the middle movement, Largo ma non tanto, an apt tempo was
taken without ever becoming ponderous. This allowed for a sense of reflection,
which enabled the sinuous interplay of the reversed solo lines to fully
register. Maria Gîlicel’s mellower tone contrasted well against the brighter
timbre of Alda Dizdari’s playing, which benefitted the concerto as a whole. The
closing Allegro movement’s lively intricacies were enjoyed by the ensemble and
soloists alike, revealing much of interest in Bach’s inventive writing.
Edward Elgar’s youthful and slender Serenade for Strings in
E Minor, Op.20, followed. The Serenade for Strings was written in 1892. A
compact work consisting of three relatively brief movements, it was a revision
and reworking of earlier material.
The opening Allegro piacevole, literally a ‘pleasing’
Allegro, was played with a buoyant tempo and warmth of tone, so much so that
the impression of an English idyll came readily to mind. This was continued by
the middle movement Larghetto, in which foreshadowings of Nimrod from the ‘Enigma’
Variations were readily detectable. A most sensitive blending of timbres was
expertly handled, and nowhere more so than the movement’s closing diminuendo
passages. This fully captured the romance in Elgar’s heart-on-sleeve writing. The
final Allegretto movement captured the feeling of a pastorale, as the ensemble
conveying a sense of unified contentment in their generous yet unforced
articulation of this brief yet tender moment of Elgarian repose.
The evening concluded with a performance of George Enescu’s
mighty String Octet in C Major, Op.7. Sometimes performed with a conductor,
given its intricacy, it says a great deal that the Mellos Ensemble tackled it
without one. The Octet’s four connected movements work together to form a
large-scale sonata form across its entire structure. Something of the effort
that Enescu grappled with is evident in any performance, as motifs and ideas
recur between the movements. The Mellos Ensemble did not shy away from its
challenges in their performance.
The first movement, Très modéré, was begun just a touch of
hesitancy, but progressed to find a requisite driving rhythm. Individual lines
were clearly articulated, and interest was maintained across Enescu’s wide
canvas through variety of tone, timbre and articulation. If at times the
violins occasionally were prominent, the violas and cellos also had their
passages of importance; these duly registered without taking away from the
whole. The monumentally fugal second movement was greatly enlivened by the
incisive attack afforded it in this performance. There was also elegance in its
playing and discretion in playing individual lines, which contribute threads
towards the completion of a tapestry. The third movement, Lentement, which takes
the form of a meditative and even nostalgic nocturne, held the attention
through playing that was confident and shaded at times with great depth of
feeling. The Octet’s closing movement, a rhythmic waltz, was high-spirited.
That the entire Mellos Ensemble clearly had this music comfortably under their
fingers, as it were, aided their fully committed realisation of Enescu’s
youthful vision for this work, which he claimed was the one with which he
attained his own compositional voice. Playing of this calibre left me wondering
anew why Enescu’s Octet is not better known, even today.
The concert was met with an enthusastic reception by the in-person audience at Sands Films Music Room, and I assume, the audience watching at home via the livestream. Over the past two years, it has been a necessity to often enjoy music-making online, often with variable sound quality. There were no such issues here though, thankfully. Hybrid audience concerts could well be a format of choice going forward, since it opens up events to a truly global audience.
Three further concerts are scheduled within the Southwark
International Music Festival during the next week – details and booking online
at https://southwarkmusic.org.uk/festival/.
Having enjoyed watching this concert via an online livestream from Sands Films Music
Room, it is good to see that one other concert in this years’ series is also
being livestreamed, which you can watch free of charge. I urge you to
investigate and support if you can – it is only through support that ventures
like this will establish themselves, backed by funding and professional organisation,
so the musicians and performances can receive the recognition they truly deserve.
A credit to all involved; more please!
