Thursday January 6, 2011

Exotic Travels Conducted by Jeanne Lamon
Orchestra London: Cathedral Series January 2011

by Brian Hay

There seemed to be a noticeable difference in the sound tonight.

Whether there really was or not the way the orchestra was laid out was different. The group playing the Second Violin parts sat opposite the Musicians playing the First Violins. This placed them in front of the Cellos and Bass Players with the Viola and Wind Players between them and the group they'd normally play alongside of. It seemed to spread the sound of the violins out and lighten it a bit. The difference was evident most of the time but especially noticeable when only the violins or the violins and the cellos were active. It served the music on this particular program well.

Conductor Jeanne Lamon led the orchestra through an airy reading of Georg Frideric Handel's 'Overture and Entry of the Queen of Sheba'. The lightness of the violins emoted images of the Queen gliding to the fore rather than announcing her presence emphatically as is often the case with recorded versions of the piece.

Before playing the 'Volker-Ouverture' by Georg Philipp Telemann Jeanne Lamon took a few moments to explain the character of the piece. She also had the orchestra demonstrate the musical jokes in it and suggested that, while listening, it might me a good idea to drop some of the political correctness we practice these days. It was good that she did this.

(For me) the bass line (demonstrated as a solo bit) for the Turks conjured images of a group of warlike dolts dragging their knuckles along the ground. Some of the other images conjured by the music were equally flattering. The Swiss seemed like an elegant but dull bunch waiting for the drunk Russians to dance. The Turks were redeemed somewhat though. The airy character of the violins brought their hands at least as high as their knees while they marched. The orchestra and Jeanne Lamon seemed to be having a lot of fun with this piece. Their playing maintained the elegance inherent in the music even while they conjured up Telemann's less than flattering jokes about people from Nations other than his own. Telemann probably intended it in good fun and hopefully Turkish, Russian and Swiss people took it that way. If not it should probably be remembered that they undoubtedly came up with equally flattering notions about Germans.

The reading the orchestra gave to Jean-Philippe Rameau's 'Suite from Les Indes Galantes' captured the playful and sexy nature nature of that music beautifully. The opening bars of the 'Overture' made it clear this would be a piece to smile with. The 'Minuets' made a statement as to why those movements were so popular. That piece contained some of the loveliest passages of music played throughout the entire evening. The 'Rigaudons' were truly inspiring. The 'Musette' had a feel that was positively dreamy. The 'Gavottes' and the 'Rondeau' created an atmosphere of dance. The 'Danse des Sauvages' (Dance of the Savages) conjured imagery of (at least in the World according to Rameau), Tribal Dances. When Jeanne Lamon put her violin down to play the percussion for 'Tambourins' she and the orchestra closed a rendition of music that was rich in character and subtlety. Her affection for Rameau's music is obvious. Several years ago, with Tafelmusik she made an exquisite recording of Suites from 'Dardanus' and 'Le Temple de la Gloire'. The musical characteristics in that recording were all obvious in the performance she led here.

After leading the first three quarters of the show on the Violin Jeanne Lamon put her instrument down and led a reading of 'Four Entr'actes from Thamos, King of Egypt' by Wolfgang Mozart. It was written when he was about seventeen and revised a few times afterward but is mostly obscure now. According to Jeanne Lamon that's probably because the play it was written for sucked. The music didn't though. The opening movement contained what were probably the heaviest musical passages in the program. They also hinted toward the opening passages of 'The Magic Flute' (which according to Jeffrey Wall isn't a coincidence). The placement given to the violins seemed to place more emphasis on the parts written for the trumpets. That they were immediately behind only one section of the violins created subtle differences in the sonic character of the presentation. The andante that formed the second movement demonstrated that Mozart at any age had the ability to surprise and astound. Even now, about ten hours after the actual performance, the single thing stands out the most is a wonderful melodic line that seemed to come from nowhere even while fitting the music like a beautifully tailored glove. A passage similar to it was used in the 'Allegro' that followed. The'Allegro vivace assai' that closed the piece provided a rousing finish to a program that was rich in subtlety and humour. Jeanne Lamon's conducting was a model of restraint with emphasis placed on precision and subtlety. The smile that lit her face whenever she could be seen while leading or speaking showed how much she enjoyed what she was doing.

Her pleasure was contagious.

This review covers the performance that took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Ontario on Wednesday January 5, 2011. It's written with the intent of conveying impressions of what it was like to be at the performance.

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