A new season brings fresh opportunities, but the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group sticks to what its audiences expect, namely cutting edge 20th century music performed at the highest level. It’s a challenging remit, which offers few concessions to the listener’s aural comfort or comprehension.
That said, last weekend’s opening concert – conducted by BCMG’s artist-in-association Oliver Knussen with admirable precision and economy – was a generally rewarding and at times uplifting experience. The two major works in particular, Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra and Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto, were very impressive.
Although Schoenberg originally wrote his gargantuan essay in ‘total chromaticism’ for huge forces, its performance here, in Felix Greissle’s 1922 version for just 12 players, worked almost as well. True, we missed the oomph of Schoenberg’s vast orchestral palette, but gained much by hearing its inner workings so clearly exposed.
Many people respect Schoenberg’s groundbreaking work without liking it, but Ligeti’s little masterpiece is quite different. In fact there is nothing not to like: its hypnotically compelling colours and textures have an almost visceral effect, and its focus on outcomes, rather than strategies, is most appealing.
It received a wonderfully sympathetic reading by Knussen and his players, full of painterly attention to colour and balance, and always alive to the score’s subtle nuances.
On a different level Helen Grime’s ‘Luna’ offered fragments of florid chattering and quiet reflection, while Niccolo Castiglioni’s ‘Tropi’ indulged in sound effects.
However, Alexander Goehr’s early Suite, Op 11, once considered a work of major importance for its uncompromising atonality, just sounded dated.
