REVIEW: Chamber Music NZ presents Calefax

 

Glenroy Auditorium — Friday, September 27

Review by BRENDA HARWOOD

 

Extraordinary Dutch reed ensemble Calefax showcased the incredible variety of sounds and musical styles that can be coaxed from classical wind instruments in a hugely entertaining concert on Friday.

The five-piece ensemble, comprising Oliver Boekhoorn (oboe), Raaf Hekkema (saxophone), Alban Wesley (bassoon), Bart De Kater (clarinet) and Jelte Althuis (bass clarinet) have been performing together for 35 years, forging a deep mutual understanding and sharing a mutual passion for the music.

 

Friday’s concert opened with two Early Music pieces — Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck’s Fantasia Chromatica and Fantasia & Fugue in G Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Themes and conterpoint were tossed effortlessly between the players, creating complex, woven melodies in both works, arranged for Calefax by Althuis.

The group then jumped forward more than 300 years to perform New Zealand composer Rosie Langabeer’s newly commissioned work As the Mountain Folds Itself to Sleep — a beautiful, contemplative work presented with skill and sensitivity.

The concert’s first half concluded with Franz Schubert’s Fantasie in F Minor, originally written as a piano duet and arranged for Calefax by Hekkema.

This complex piece generally translated well to the wind ensemble format, and was fascinating to listen to in such expert hands.

 

The second half began with another modern piece, Three Dances by Robert Zuidam, commissioned for Calefax in 2015, before the ensemble moved into the concert’s highlights.

The first was Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque: Prelude, Clair De Lune, and Passepied, arranged for Calefax by Boekhoorn and all truly beautiful.

The complexity of Debussy’s rippling melodies was maintained in a balanced and spellbinding performance.

After such glory, it was delightful to enjoy Calefax’s joyful, choreographed performance of George Gershwin’s An American in Paris, arranged by Hekkema.

All the swagger and jazz stylings of Gershwin’s work was there, brought brilliantly to life.

Sustained applause earned the audience a short, enjoyable encore [piece unknown], in which Calefax members played and sang together.

All in all, a intriguing, highly entertaining musical treat.