Gig review: Hebrides Ensemble

Published on Thursday 11 March 2010 18:05

HEBRIDES ENSEMBLE **** VICTORIA HALLS, HELENSBURGH

WHAT a fascinating programme this was; riveting from start to finish. The common thread in the production, which transfers to Edinburgh and Inverness at the weekend, was the Pierrot figure of commedia dell'arte. The obvious main feature was Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, but with it came other thematically-connected delights.

Among them, Helen Grime's specially-commissioned Seven Pierrot Miniatures received a flamboyant premiere. In a well-defined sound world – as exhilarating as Schoenberg's, but with its own distinctive identity – Grime applies translucent precision to this mixed ensemble with impressive sensitivity to its colours.

The composer based her succinct suite on seven of the Pierrot poems by Giraud (none of which are used by Schoenberg), capturing that sensual mix of melancholy, ecstasy and beauty with perspicacity and stylistic consistency. Will Conway's Hebrides Ensemble imbued it with an intense theatrical dimension that brought it alive.

The contrast with Sally Beamish's slightly more derivative Commedia was telling, though Beamish's own burlesque-inspired work – written 20 years ago for this ensemble – offered a resilient opening to the concert.

In more traditional terms, Conway (with accompanist Philip Moore) explored the impish side of Debussy in the French composer's post-impressionist Cello Sonata.

But the key attraction of the evening was a performance of the Schoenberg that, through the eyes of the Vienna-based actress Sylvie Rohrer, cast a deliciously human – sometimes gentle – dimension on this extraordinary work. Sure, the more obvious "sung" passages bore momentary snatches of fragility, but Rohrer's stylised theatrical presence, sense of timing and the evocative flavour of the half-spoken vocal line gave a highly-sensitised conviction to the whole presentation.

A stimulating night all round.