12 Ensemble at St Martin's
A superb performance of Britten from Mary Bevan and 12 Ensemble
Greenwood, Britten, Beethoven Mary Bevan (soprano); 12 Ensemble, leader Eloisa-Fleur Thon. St Marin-in-the-Fields, London, 8.8.2024
Jonny Greenwood Three Miniatures from Water
Britten Les Illuminations
Beethoven String Quartet in A-Minor, Op. 132, Molto Adagio
The 12 Ensemble is a conductorless string ensemble; although called ‘12’ Ensemble, t is flexible in size. They are an Artist-in-Residence at Wigmore Hall for 2023-25; they are clearly of high excellence, delivering superb performances of all three (very different) works.
The clear high-point of this short concert was a performance of Brittens’ Les Illuminations with soprano Mary Bevan. a piece which features on Bevan’s Signum disc Visions Illuminées. Bevan is one of the finest singers operating in (and beyond) the UK today. The performance of Britten’s masterpiece at Trafalgar Square was even more persuasive than the Signum recording, more alive, and certainly more visceral. Not just vocally: the string ’fanfares’ of the opening carried real weight (as did their ‘expansion’ in ‘Royauté'). The sense of ensemble in ‘Villes’ (Cities) was of pinpoint execution; moods changed on a sixpence. Bevan’s diction was superb throughout, even at speed. In contrast to the more outgoing movements, the crystalline sounds of ‘Phrase’ from the strings and Bevan’s remarkably floated upper register (and faultless descending glissando) were transportative to another realm. ‘Antique’ requires real suavité from both voice and solo violin (Eloisa-Fleur Thon), fully realised here.
Bevan’s technique is beyond criticism: her way with mezzo-staccato in ‘Marine’ was perfect. But the clear highlight was ‘Being Beauteous,’ a performance of the utmost sensitivity to the harmonies’ twists and turns. Bevan’s low register, too, is strong (perhaps most obviously shown in ‘Parade,’ a song that brought with it a sense of heady ecstasy in its later stages). The final song, ‘Départ,' was replete with lines spun of the finest vocal silk. A miracle of a performance.
Here is a video of Mary Bevan talking about Les illuminations:
Performing Beethoven Quartets on larger forces is hardly new: both Toscanini and Bernstein indulged (definitely indulged in the latter case!). The piece chosen here was the so-called ‘Heiliger Dankgesang,’ (Holy Song of Thanks), a quarter-hour span of the upmost beauty. One of the keys to the music’s success is its fragility that also conveys a higher spirituality; with an ensemble in the church acoustic here, the whole felt somewhat too cushioned. To compensate for this, the music should glow, a state never quite achieved.
Let's have a listen to Toscanini in 1938, performing a movement from Beethoven's Quartet Op. 135 with the NBC Orchestra:
... and here's Leonard Bernstein with the whole of Opl 131 (Vienna Philharmonic):
The concert began with Three Miniatures from Water by Jonny Greenwood (a member of Radiohead). Dating from 2018, this includes a pronounced use of drone, against which piano offered what might be described as ‘droplets’ of sound and a solo violin meanders peacefully. All credit to Eloisa-Fleur Thorn’s beautifully shaped solos and to pianist Kat Tinker’s well-placed apeggiations, but one has to wonder about the musical value of this piece. This is more ambient music than anything else, or perhaps New Age meditation music, but in present company alongside Britten and late Beethoven it felt pretty thin. The 12 Ensemble has collaborated with Greenwood previously, performing on the Oscar-nominated films Spencer and The Power of the Dog. But this was by some way the weakest piece on the menu. You can get an idea of Greenwood's piece via this Prom on YouTube.
12 Ensemble is clearly a model of excellence, and the performance of Les Illuminations with Mary Bevan will live long in the memory.
The Bevan/Signum disc is available at 5% off from Amazon at this link
