★★★★☆ A procession of first-rate artists and ensembles with a few fascinating surprises.

A&I Hall, Bangalow
August 14, 2015

A procession of first-rate artists and ensembles. As with all of the concerts I heard at The Bangalow Music Festival, I would have been interested to listen to any one of them perform an full recital on their own.

The concert opened with the youthful Orava Quartet playing the first movement of Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No 6 in F Minor. Why just a movement? Here I definitely wanted the complete work. They are a darned good quartet. The personality of this music seems to emanate from their energetic cellist Karol Kowalik (whose brother also plays violin in the band); a welcome alternative to the usual violin-centric approach. The Oravas are an ensemble rich in communication. In this Mendelssohn it was clear – both visually and aurally – the manner in which motifs are tossed between voices. The first theme begins with savage tremolo accents, passed between the instruments. These were accurate and ferocious. They have a cone-shaped sound, in which the lowest voice is the main personality, and the upper parts take their place in the hierarchy of overtones. But then,...