Every now and then, as a reviewer, you have to leave the beaten path and look for an interesting event somewhere out in the field and not just in the metropolitan area. I went to a concert in the H. Familie church in Boven-Lo. Those who know Leuven may know Kessel Lo, but Boven Lo? Yes, it is still Leuven territory and the church stands on top of a mountain, on the Heideberg. Not the Kesselberg. Sometimes the members of the orchestra Entente Cordiale have to search far afield for a place to live out their passion. It is an Antwerp amateur ensemble that has been going for forty years. Once founded by former members of the Jeugd en Muziekorkest van Antwerpen. They work without a permanent conductor and this time it was Stijn Paredis who was in charge. "With professionals, you sometimes get the impression that they come to do their job and are already thinking about their other hobbies during the concert. With amateurs it's the other way around: they always think about their hobby and it is their passion," says Stijn Paredis.
The string ensemble Entente Cordiale had thus settled in that perfectly ordinary 19th-century H. Familie church for a concert programme entitled "in alten Stil". The conductor welcomed the present supporters and music lovers and explained that term "in alten Stil". Many composers base themselves on the stylistic characteristics of their illustrious predecessors for one work or another, on the suites from the baroque. The string ensemble performed three such examples and also illustrated this with a real work from the baroque.
They started with Krzysztof Penderecki. Don't be alarmed if you see the name of that Polish avant-garde composer. His "Drei Stücke im alten Stil", from 1963, are indeed a stylistic break with the work for which he is best known. The 21 strings, young and old, played it perfectly and then continued with a work by Alexander Glazunov: his opus 97. Six variations on a theme. First presented quite clearly in the violins but then more varied, in pizzicato and then also towards the almost unrecognizable. All supported by the cellos and finally by a dark and low-sounding double bass. A real baroque piece could of course not be missing. How fitting to choose that well-known Largo from Bach's Concerto for two violins and strings. Two sonorous violinists soloed. Lydia Seymortier, once active in the then Philharmonie van Antwerpen and the Korean JeongSun Goo, concert master of Entente Cordiale since 2008. Wonderfully beautiful. Finally a "Capriol Suite for strings" based on Renaissance dances. A very original work by a British musicologist and music journalist who wrote his compositions under the pseudonym of Peter Warlock. That means wizard, our conductor told us. He introduced us to this very capricious piece, with much friction between melody and rhythm. And the Brit even poured some madness into the score with acrid sound effects, according to Stijn Paredis. A discovery, this playful divertimento from 1926. All six parts, from 'basse-danse' to 'pavane' to 'mattachins' (old ritual sword dances) the ensemble performed as if in an overwhelming whirlwind, from allegro moderato to allegro con brio. Impressive for an amateur ensemble that has been touring together for 40 years under changing leadership and a fixed core of strings.
An encore was inevitable. A piece from Palladio by Karl Jenkins, once again a special Brit. Once frontman of the pop group Soft Machine who later gained fame as a neo-classicist with his The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. A work that was also already on the programme of this string ensemble.
In any case, this concert was a magnificent performance by that enthusiastic group of amateur musicians, with orchestra experience and under professional direction of musicologist and conductor Stijn Paredis. Good choice, successful project. I was glad to have strayed from the beaten path and – as usually happens when you do – made unexpected discoveries.
WHAT: Concert "in alten Stil"
Krzysztof Penderencki, Drei Stücke in alten Stil, (1963); Alexander Glazunov, Theme and Variations for string orchestra, opus 97; Johann Sebastian Bach, Largo from Concerto for two violins and strings, BWV 1043; Peter Warlock, Capriol Suite for strings (1926).
WHO: String ensemble Entente Cordiale conducted by Stijn Paredis.
WHERE: Church H. Familie, Boven-Lo (Leuven)
WHEN: Sunday 19 March 2023.