![\"Melvyn-Tan-2-small3-160x240\"](\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Melvyn-Tan-2-small3-160x240-160x240.jpeg\")
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The Australian Haydn Ensemble:<\/em><\/p>\n Skye McIntosh (Artistic Director)<\/em><\/p>\n Melvyn Tan (Fortepiano)<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 1 July 2017, City Recital Hall, Angel Place<\/em><\/p>\n The Australian Haydn Ensemble\u2019s (AHE) recent concert featured Melvyn Tan as the fortepiano soloist and took Paris as the common denominator of its program.\u00a0 Tan is a fortepiano pioneer of historically informed performances, and is noted for his recordings with Roger Norrington and the London Classical Players.<\/p>\n Tan took the solo spot in Mozart\u2019s Keyboard Concerto no. 18, K456<\/em> which he also directed from the keyboard, adopting the historical practice of playing with the orchestra in their full tutti<\/em> passages.\u00a0 The fortepiano, loaned by Sydney enthusiast Ivan Foo, had an attractive even tone which blended well with the orchestra\u2019s period instruments.\u00a0 The particularly elegant opening of this concerto received a suitably stylish performance from both Tan and the orchestra.\u00a0 In the slow movement the fortepiano\u2019s conversations with the orchestra were nicely balanced and the solo figurations executed dexterously.\u00a0 There was also some delightful solo wind playing. In the concluding movement the relaxed tempo created a comfortable sense of well-being but the rhythms were less incisive with some occasional looseness of ensemble.<\/p>\n The program began with the short Symphony Op.11 no.2<\/em> by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.\u00a0 Born in Guadeloupe on Christmas Day 1745, Saint-Georges was the son of a wealthy French plantation owner and a slave mother and is now remembered as the first notable composer (in the western tradition) of African heritage.\u00a0 The AHE launched vigorously into this symphony which displays the characteristic poise and grace of the early classical period.\u00a0 It is a pleasant and lively work but not particularly distinctive.<\/p>\n Saint-Georges also provided a link to Haydn\u2019s Symphony no 85<\/em> since, as leader of the Loge Olympique orchestra which commissioned the six Paris<\/em> symphonies, he assisted in the contract negotiations with Haydn.\u00a0 This symphony, now sub-titled\u00a0La Reine<\/em>\u00a0is said to have been a favourite of Queen Marie-Antoinette. The AHE\u2019s performance brought out the grandeur of the opening movement, distinguished by some attractive playing by the bassoons and the inner parts, especially the full, rounded tone of the four violas.\u00a0 The slow movement is a set of variations on the French folksong La gentille jeune Lisette<\/em> \u2013 which may be another reason why Marie-Antoinette liked the symphony.\u00a0 This produced some delightful phrasing and decorative playing from flautist Melissa Farrow.\u00a0 The third movement captured the L\u00e4ndler <\/em>character of the movement, with some jaunty playing from the bassoons in the trio.\u00a0 The last movement romped home in Haydn\u2019s characteristically energetic finale.\u00a0 As an encore after the symphony we had a short triple-time dance movement by Saint-Georges.<\/p>\n The AHE is an admirably versatile ensemble which fields excellent players in configurations ranging from a chamber quartet to a full chamber orchestra. For this concert, they fielded some two dozen players, augmenting their core and inevitably inviting comparison with similar Sydney-based ensembles, such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.\u00a0 Understandably, they are continuing to build the combined technical assurance and sense of ensemble which are displayed by these more mature and longer-standing ensembles.\u00a0 This was noticeable, for example, in the intonation and ensemble of the violins in some of their exposed passages.\u00a0 Nevertheless, this does not detract from the excellent, informed and thoroughly enjoyable performances which the AHE always delivers, especially in the fine acoustics of the City Recital Hall. Their next concert, Mozart\u2019s Oboe & The Hunt<\/em>, is in August and features four quartets by Mozart, Haydn and the little-known German baroque composer, Johann Gottfried Janitsch.<\/p>\n Larry Turner for SoundsLikeSydney\u00a9<\/em><\/p>\n Larry Turner is an avid attender of concerts and operas and has been reviewing performances for Sounds Like Sydney for several years.\u00a0 As a chorister for many years in both Sydney and London, he particularly enjoys music from both the great a capella period and the baroque.\u00a0 He has written programme notes for Sydney Philharmonia, the Intervarsity Choral Festival and the Sydneian Bach Choir and is currently part of a team researching the history of Sydney Philharmonia for its forthcoming centenary.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Australian Haydn Ensemble: Skye McIntosh (Artistic Director) Melvyn Tan (Fortepiano)\u00a0 1 July 2017, City Recital Hall, Angel Place The Australian Haydn…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-23409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\n