Image: ©️ c/o Chamber Orchestra
The c/o Chamber Orchestra, formed in 2018, is made up of 30 young musicians from over a dozen different countries. The ensemble performs without a conductor and is, according to their webpage, “dedicated to that collaborative process which is the essence of chamber music.” This recording, their first, certainly indicates the collaboration is an exceptional one.
The program opens with a sparkling reading of Ibert’s “Divertissement.” The playing, technically assured and immaculately polished, has a captivating joy de vivre that perfectly suits this work. Ibert’s score embraces an almost bewildering range of styles and moods, all fully captured by these talented players in a thrillingly virtuosic and entertaining performance. The Nocturne (track 3) is especially striking, the forlorn and foreboding atmosphere conjured here revealing an emotional profundity only hinted at in the recording by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Dutoit (Decca). While some may miss the weight and tonal splendor of Jarvi’s account with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Chandos), the c/o performance makes the Jarvi seem a bit brusque, overly focused on virtuoso execution at the expense of the music’s madcap playfulness.
Émile Bernard, a composer unfamiliar to me, was born in Marseille in 1843. He studied organ and piano at the Paris Conservatoire and served as organist at the Notre Dame des Champs from 1885 until his retirement in 1895. His small oeuvre includes several works for soloist and orchestra, as well as the Divertissement played here, only its third recording. Scored for a double wind quintet, the piece is a compressed symphony, three movements instead of four because the traditional slow movement and finale are combined. Its tuneful first movement is sweetly and conservatively harmonized, followed by exuberant and carefree Allegro vivace. The final movement’s Andante has a winning lyricism, the final Allegro witty and carefree. This is not music that has (or strives for) the complexity and emotional depth of similar works by Mozart, Dvořák and Strauss. But it is assiduously unremittingly delightful, especially as performed here.
Related Classical Music Reviews
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- Review: Martinů – Violin Concertos – Frank Peter Zimmermann, Bamberger Symph, Jakub Hruša
- Review: Nielsen, Ibert, Arnold – Flute Concertos – Clara Andrada
Bartok’s Divertimento introduces a more severe and anxious tone to the program. Commissioned by Paul Sacher for his Basel Chamber Orchestra, any new performance competes with several excellent recordings, including two featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra strings under Solti (Decca) and Boulez (DG). There is a sharpness of articulation in the Solti recording that remains unmatched, but this new reading is vividly characterized, with a wider tonal palette and more biting articulation than what is heard from the Amsterdam Sinfonietta in their 2018 recording (Channel). The build-up to the central climax of the slow movement (track 11, 3’20”) is particularly masterful, arguably the most profoundly emotional moment of the entire album. The c/o reading has a flexibility and emotional truth that prove more compelling than Camerata Nordica’s more romantically conceived reading (also on BIS).
The program ends with Michael Ippolito’s newly composed Divertimento, a highly enjoyable and immediately accessible work with a particularly beautiful “Aria burlesca” (track 14). Whether there is a distinct composer’s voices present is difficult to say, especially in a work that perhaps purposefully embraces the influences of other composers. But the music is certainly impressive enough to make one want to hear more from this composer.
BIS production is excellent, with thoughtful and informative notes by Michael Ippolito. Most of the repertoire was recorded in 2018 at Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin-Dahlem, where many of the finest recordings of Berlin and Karajan were produced. The Bartók was recorded two years later and is similarly excellent, a near perfect balance of clarity and room ambiance. This new ensemble is one to watch, and I eagerly look forward to their next album.
“Divertissement!”
Ibert – Divertissement
Bernard – Divertissement
Bartók – Divertimento
Ippolito – Divertimento
c/o chamber orchestra
BIS Records, Hybrid SACD BIS-2499
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