(4 / 5)

A new ensemble to discover. Some familiar faces along the way. New work and experimental master abound. Helen Grime and her Seven Pierrot Miniatures took fitting poetry not used in the later Schoenberg as the bedrock for this. Pierrot being the clown icon of the Commedia dell’arte character from Italian culture is the foundation for half the programme. Grime’s music here is fluffy, strange, almost evocative. A premiere from Piers Hellawell…Woodsmoke. This would be Robert Plane on clarinet, best know to Welsh (and BBC Proms) audiences as leader of the instrument for BBC NOW and Tim Horton on piano. A harsh work, still very much in a rigid form, though alert and heightened with fine furies from both players.

It would be Brahms to cleanse the pallet, that of his Trio for Clarinet, Cello & Piano in A minor. Unlike his other pieces, Brahms has an effortless idea after idea in this trio. The melodies flow and are at ease with the three players. Whilst Plane lead in many ways, cellist Gemma Rosefield also found alluring offerings, the writing for her instrument she seemed to truly savour. Those of you who know me might scoff at Brahms, yet when he does it right (in such instances like a piece like this) there can be magic and an accessible scope.

Lastly for what I was here for: Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. Soprano Claire Booth has recorded this with the Ensemble to glowing reviews, so expectations were high. This is Schoenberg before the tight Twelve-tone technique he would be most famous for. What this is however is a bizarre, vivid, uncompromised set of songs with a singer who talks, as opposed to singing proper. This ‘sprechgezane’ changes little over it’s more than twenty movements, only altering in temperament, volume and enunciation. For the early years of the 20th Century, its bonkers and a thrill to those willing to respect it. The ensemble play with expressive density and allure, Booth savouring this peculiar piece with sharp set of performative skills throughout. A plus one not akin to this as much asked me during: “Why is everything in German so intense??” That cannot be denied.