Shattering concert

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 6

Shattering concert

By

C. FOSTER BROWNE

Les Percussions de Stras-] bourg, Jean Paul Batigne,] Gabriel Bouchet, Olivier De Jours, Jean Paul FinkbeinerJ Claude Ricou, and Georges] Van Gucht, gave shattering evidence of their skill and] precision in the Town Hall] last evening. Many people] will remember.their astonish-] ing recital here in 1971. Someone at the Town Halil (followed the usual horrid cus-i jtom of turning out the lights! so that we could not read thel programme notes. However,] lon this occasion, it did not' 'matter because most of thei written programme was not played anyway. The stage was set with an extraordinary collection of' instruments, recognisable and not. Smail drums, big drums,, tiny drums all over the place, as though the others had had litters, xylophones and their, metal counterparts, every conceivable instrument which can be aggressed upon withlout fear of reprisal, instruIments to be shaken or rubbed.

| Chinese gongs, tubular bells, I (cymbals for big bangs and' ■|cymbals for gentler treat-; | ment, triangles large and' ( small, and so many others of] .various shapes, sizes, and 1 I symmetrical oddities hardly. ; left room for the six men to; move around. But they manIjaged, and charmed and de-' (lighted their not over-large; audience with their seemingly] .faultless playing and rhyth-i itnic exactitude. II Unless you heard them it] ■lis not possible to do justice] 11 to the effects they produced! si in such bewildering combin a-1 jtions and permutations. The : I players had to move quickly] dabout the stage in order to] : come, within attacking distance of required instruments.; i;Whenever one man had a] ' moment or a hand free he. I would give conducting aid to: ,!the others. It all showed; ,:amazing expertise in playing] l and in controlling the bewild-: ■jering assortment. ' A delightful set of eight i Inventions by Miroslav Ka- ■ belac were piquant, noisy, at--j tractive, and repellant (sorne- , times), and gave examples of

I the seemingly endless effects which can be created if you have the means to do so and will practise until nothing is I left to chance and your precision has been brought as! .near to perfection as no I matter. ' The next item was “Marae” i I by' Francois-Bernard Mache.; (The programme stated that; ihe acknowledges the influ-1 : ence of Varese Messiaen, anjl ■ Xanakis in his work. They 'should sue him. i The last work, “Hierophonie V,” by the Japanese I composer Yosnihsa Taira, is a powerful and vigorous piece lin which the performers give (loud shouts as in a karate 'contest. Sometimes it seemed as though the object of the] exercise was to drive a large] .drum right through the floor] lof the stage, and I was prepared to lay a dollar on the :■ little man on the left, but it 'all fascinatingly worked out well, and nobody was hurt. Listening to it all was quite an experience, and one that I ■ am glad came at the begin-: ■ ning rather than at the end ’ of the festival.