Cygnus Arioso Strings chill out with Winter Gala at Holmes a Court Gallery

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Cygnus Arioso Strings chill out with Winter Gala at Holmes a Court Gallery

A stirring among strings led in Cygnus Arioso’s Winter Gala at Homes a Court Gallery on Sunday, marking four years since the ensemble emerged in the vanguard from COVID lockdown.

Aaron Copland’s Quiet City was first, a combo of mellow cor anglais (Jonathan Ryan) and pulsating trumpet (Fletcher Cox) bolstering the string ensemble; Cox musing then breaking to the heights.

Copland’s folkloric qualities came to the ***** in cor anglais, as did his fanfare brilliance in trumpet, driving drama in ensemble play.

Cor cooled the mood and trumpet echoed, this time muted, as cor signed off in solemn formality.

Cygnus Arioso founder-director and violinist Akiko Miyazawa described the repertoire as, “My treasure box, all my favourite music”, from collaborations over recent years, many with fellow WA Symphony Orchestra musicians.

Stately strings set the scene for Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No.7 in G major, taking the action from the US to old-world Europe.

Isaac Davis’ solo entry, shadowed by violins, was lyrically lilting, breaking to virtuoso display and back to dance; sustaining delicate touch throughout.

Low strings joined with aplomb, the four cellos and two basses well matched with seven violins and three violas.

Davis’ second entry restated clarity and deftly judged tone, again chaperoned by violins, until a dazzling cadenza changed the soundscape, plunging to double-stopping depths then rising to harmonics and racing between registers with balletic grace.

Stately strings restored order to close the first movement, returning in sombre tones for the second, violins again accompanying cello as winter chill stilled the air.

Doleful, soulful phrases sang out, falling to a sigh then flowing back over listless violin strains as timeless trills decorated then dispelled the moment.

Full-voiced ensemble playing broached the finale, a rondo for cello with violin dance partners. Light fantastic steps in the solo summoned heftier tutti ******* then returned to the dance with vigorous string-crossing measures. Another sonorous cadenza tested range and technique before the ensemble closed out in hearty refrain.

Wolf’s Italian Serenade opened in furtive, scurrying strings to launch a series of vignettes, each episode delineated by tonality and tempo. Will’o-the-Whisp figures came and went like strangers in the night, by turns dramatic and whimsical.

Offbeat pizzicato rang the changes as violins spun away in a perpetuum mobile. Drama darkened then dispersed in a flurry of good feeling, with a featherlight dismount.

Closing the half, Schoenberg’s Notturno for Strings and Harp spoke in violas and cellos of gathering gloom — though in a nice way. Plangent harp (William Nichols) and sweeping solo violin (William Huxtable) affirmed the romantic aspiration of the intro, as violin soared sweetly above and harp bubbled beneath.

Returning to mellow viola-cello, the soloists sang out the night in ease and comfort.

Camera IconFletcher Cox plays Lachlan Skipworth’s trumpet concerto, Altiora Peto, with Cygnus Arioso on Sunday. Credit: Supplied

After the break, Miyazawa joined double bass player Oakley Paul in Bottesini’s Grand Duo Concertante; upbeat violin and viola settling over pizzicato cello and bass to lead in Paul then Miyazawa.

Violin shimmered through the range to ***** up with mellifluous bass, Miyazawa repeating the gymnastic feat then settling to duet in call and response.

Leaning in lyrically, Miyazawa gave a rich rendition of the theme, echoed by bass in a conversation of style and timbre, occasionally breaking out in virtuoso fireworks but returning time and again to lyricism; each soloist by turns frenzied then serene.

As a display of tone and technique it would be hard to beat, cranking the ensemble into life then settling back to reflect in bass over gentle pizzicato.

Miyazawa echoed the motif, cheekily plucking a bass string to ignite another chapter, giving glimpses of her inner gypsy as the climax ripped the air.

Adagietto, from Mahler’s Symphony No.5, calmed the farm. Timeless transitions in violin, viola and harp caressed the air, settling on lower strings and harp arpeggios to invoke mystery and majesty.

Measured harp served as a metronome for surging, swirling strings; their sudden energy evoking urgency then resolving to ethereal bliss.

Harp flagged more generous harmony, reaching deeper into Mahler’s kaleidoscopic palette to trigger heroic solemnity, and quietus in the close.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconAshlyn Tymms sings Mahler with Cygnus Arioso on Sunday. Credit: Supplied

The scene set, mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms graced the stage for more Mahler: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I am lost to the world), from the Ruckert-Lieder suite.

Pausing to find the mood as mournful cor and barely-there harp summoned Mahler magic over restrained strings, Tymms enthralled the audience in an instant; crystalline colour emanating love and despair in equal parts to freeze time.

Between phrases, cor/oboe and harp intoned empathy and reflection for Tymms to resume, exquisitely, achingly beautiful; proof that even in the coldest room there’s scope for more goosebumps when art evokes emotion and artist embodies music.

Finally, Altiora Peto (I Seek the Heights), a trumpet concerto by Miyazawa’s composer husband Lachlan Skipworth, commissioned by Cygnus Arioso’s principal patrons Tony and Gwenyth Lennon, brought Cox back centre-stage.

Bright and breezy in the solo’s direct entry, Cox immediately caught the rebellious air of Skipworth’s disruptive rhythm, and its playful character.

Suddenly stilled in strings, Cox embraced an Adagio interlude, mesmeric in its meandering, rising again to reprise the opening bravado with a hint of extra gravitas.

The temper of the Tranquillo second stanza was set by cello (Davis) and met in meditation by Cox on flugelhorn, with pastoral hues in strings inviting mature reflection.

Like a folktale, music is embellished in the retelling, here with warmth and familiarity by Cygnus Arioso, who first played it, and by Cox, one of its earliest exponents.

Back to trumpet for the challenging Allegro finale, Cox effortlessly embraced tight corners and testing intervals all while maintaining a sense of fun, even amid devilish triple-******* figures to match anything in the Arban Method, keeping composure down to the final high-C flourish.

Cygnus Arioso next join soprano Rachelle Durkin and pianist Mark Coughlan at Government House on August 4.

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