The pamphlet guide to the Omega Ensemble’s new composition of works entitled Howl promises audience members “riot, rapture and release”. Ensconced within a beautiful wood-panelled studio situated in Walsh Bay, it was clear that those who sat down to see the first performance of this show were bearing witness to an intriguing and complex arrangement of music.
The show began with a rendition of a piece called Tooth and Nail, which involved a talented soloist skillfully wrangling his viola to an eerie and circular backing-track. To me, the piece was haunting and reminiscent of the feeling of chasing and being chased by something sinister. It was a piece that woke the audience up; a true skill for the musician to play this kind of music in a way that is suspenseful without being shrill.
Following the first piece, two more violinists and a cellist joined each other on stage, and the blue curtain behind them was at once lit up by a fluorescent green/pink background. This was in preparation for a piece entitled Tuggemo; my least favourite composition of all that were played. According to the guide, Tuggemo is a word that has fallen out of usage and means “a swarm of birds or flies”. It was clear the musicians were mastering their instruments, and perhaps the flurry of activity in the last portion of the piece was building into something sharper. However, when the piece ended abruptly, what was left seemed to be a confused purpose. It felt to me as if the purity that strings are capable of was being eschewed in order to replicate the impossible. However, I am not an experienced musician and the audience seemed to be okay with it, which may simply mean that something had been lost on me.
The third piece; Interference Patterns seemed much closer to its intent. When the green and pink lights fell away from the blue fabric of the curtain, it was as if the music had become orchestral and cinematic again, and the audience was taken to another place. The piece was foreboding and ominous while at other times clean and exquisite. The friend I had brought with me (who previously played as a classical violinist in her home country) said she loved it. To the question of why she liked it so much, she answered that it was ‘nostalgic; like something in the past but at the same time hasn’t been heard before’.
Interference Patterns set the tone perfectly for what was to come next; the piece the show is named after and which uncoincidentally shares a name with Allen Ginsberg’s infamous poem. The musicians playing Howl did well to capture the nightmarish intensity of the infamous work. It was sharp rather than chaotic and the strings were haunting but never sad. Particularly effective was the clarinetist, who commanded the room, and led the audience through what seemed to be a faultless performance. I felt that the music did not unravel in the same way the poem does, however technically and thematically, the notes were mastered by their respective musicians.
Following the end of the fourth piece, pianist Vatche Jambazian took to the stage to introduce himself as the musician playing Danny Elfman’s composition; Piano Quartet. He seemed to at once take command of the beautiful Steinway and Sons grand piano in the centre of the room to express himself through the music, rather than merely playing it. The animated performance provided music that was interesting, creepy and captivating.
And so, as a non-musician who loves music and knows it is for everyone, I can only review this performance from the honesty of my own lens. In this way, I think the collective attentiveness of the audience showed that they were grateful for being gifted with this experience. As an admirer of poetry, I would say that it is perhaps impossible to emulate the intensity of Ginsberg’s Howl without the words by which it expresses its sentiment. However, I am adamant in my judgement that the standalone performance here played out in the final piece; Piano Quartet. The pianist was a definitive and shining gift in the program, fully embodying its genre and showcasing inherent musicality.
3 ½ stars
To book tickets to Howl, please visit https://www.omegaensemble.com.au/howl.
Photographer: Gxbriellemxry
