Martynas Levickis at Club Inégales (Photo Frederique Bellec Photography / Club Inégales) |
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on May 18 2017
Star rating:
The young Lithuanian accordionist joins with composer Peter Wiegold's club to create some electric music making
Cheng Yu and Christina Forshaw of Notes Inégales (Photo Frederique Bellec Photography / Club Inégales) |
Things opened with a piece from Notes Inégales, directed by Peter Wiegold. The line-up of the band was an eclectic mix of musicians, Wiegold commented that there were Korean, Chinese, classical and jazz musicians along with 'one or two of unknown provenance'. We started off with Peter Wiegold's Changgo changgo one, where the rhythmic drum provided a framework for the circling of the other instruments, the performers making space for each other so that the taegum (a bamboo flute) and pipa (similar to the lute) really came through the textures, and there was even a striking duo between pipa and saxophone. This combination of traditions and the forward motion of the music made me think of a caravanserai with its intersection of West and East. The conclusion of the piece included a remarkable group cadenza.
Martynas Levickis with Joel Bell (Photo Frederique Bellec Photography / Club Inégales) |
For the final set, Martynas Levickis joined Peter Wiegold and Notes Inégales for a set which included a further pair of Wiegold's pieces alongside more Piazzolla. First off Wiegold's Changgo changgo two, again the drum formed a fundamental over which the other instrumentalists repeated musical cells to create something exciting and involving. There was a lovely moment with the two oriental instruments in dialogue with a deep bass clarinet and according, and then time seemed to stop as individual solos appeared in suspended animation, until the music gradually disappeared from view. Next was Piazzolla's Escualo, an exciting sax-led tune over a strong rhythmic bass with more relaxed episodes with a rhapsodic feel, then we got a free recapitulation of the material when the players demonstrated their wonderful freedom of interaction.
Peter Wiegold and Notes Inégales at Club Inégales (Photo Frederique Bellec Photography / Club Inégales) |
Elsewhere on this blog:
- Spanish Renaissance: The Tallis Scholars in Iberian mood - Concert review
- Late night club? Jasmin Toccata's Late o'Clock Baroque at London Festival of Baroque Music - concert review
- Thought-provoking: Benjamin Appl and James Baillieu's Heimat - CD review
- Virtuosic Bach & stormy Telemann: Florilegium at the London Festival of Baroque Music - concert review
- Start of a new series: Complete cello music of Stephen Dodgson - CD review
- Not quite vintage: Verdi's Don Carlo at Covent Garden - opera review
- Music and movement: Gildas Quartet at Conway Hall - concert review
- Michael Finnissy premiere: Evensong at St John's College, Cambridge
- Russian Romance: Music for voice, cello and piano from Joan Rodgers, Michael Mofidian, Guy Johnston and Sholto Kynoch - concert review
- Roller-coaster ride: My interview with pianist Stewart Goodyear - interview
- Home
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