Music review: Hebrides Ensemble

Published on Thursday 20 August 2009 19:11

HEBRIDES ENSEMBLE/CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN

QUEEN'S HALL

WHAT on earth possessed Schoenberg and his Second Viennese School cronies to transcribe many of one another's works – and those of Mahler and Debussy – for super-distilled presentation at their exclusive Society for Private Musical Performances in the 1920s?

The answer is probably as much a matter of practical performance as self-discovery and genuine curiosity. But let's just be glad they did. For they were the focus of yesterday's concert by the Hebrides Ensemble, easily the most imaginative musical programme to come out of this International Festival so far, with blistering performances to boot.

The juxtaposition of musical styles was ingenious – taking us from Benno Sachs' crystalline fermentation of Debussy's Prelude l'aprs midi d'un faune (a timely segue from the previous night's full orchestral performance), through a radically pared-down adagio from Berg's Chamber Concerto to Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No 1 (arr. Webern), by way of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and not forgetting Schoenberg's camped-up medley of Strauss waltzes, Rosen aus dem Sden. Oh yes, Schoenberg had a sense of humour.

Christopher Maltman joined the players for the Mahler songs, brilliantly adapting his rich vocal range to match the hypersensitive colours of Schoenberg's elemental transcription. Few concerts come more stimulating than this.