Orion Ensemble Review - Shining Brightly, First of Concert Series Concludes

The hallways of Chicago’s Fine Arts Building creak and groan with age, but through every door beats a strong pulse of artistic expression. The stately Fazioli Piano Showroom sits on the eighth floor, a location reached only after a thrilling ride up a manually operated elevator. The showroom hosts a collection of original artwork, well-worn hardwoods, and comfortable seating to create the perfect setting for chamber music.

Enter the Orion Ensemble, a mainstay in the Chicago classical scene, as they kick off their seventeenth season in high fashion. The concert began with Sonatina by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinú, a duo featuring clarinet and piano. Clarinetist Kathryne Pirtle begins the piece with a playful melody that is complemented by pianist Diana Schmück. It was immediately apparent the camaraderie between the two artists, with excellent interchange throughout the frantic Poco Allegro. The Andante was more somber, but a unifying thread in the piece was its youthful nostalgia. Martinú’s folksy composition is accented by sections where screechy peals and yelps from the clarinet evoke frustration and lament, and yet the tone is overwhelmingly playful, as a child who scrapes his knee when no one is watching. He is quickly back on his feet and running recklessly as if no injury occurred.

Pirtle and Schmück were then joined on stage by Ensemble violinist Florentina Ramniceanu for Armenian Composer Alexander Artiunian’s Suite for Violin Clarinet and Piano. Ramniceanu lay right into the piece with somber strokes on a vibrato rich melody. The Scherzo of the Suite showcased the virtuosity of the trio, both individually and as an ensemble. I sat astounded at the frenetic melodic lines, tossed back and forth effortlessly between each player. The Finale was fantastic, the energy of the composition almost violent, evoking images of a lover’s quarrel, lines frothing with incoherent fury, churning into a sonic shouting match between clarinet and violin that settles finally into silence as both voices simply tire of fighting.

The relatively traditional Schubert Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano in B-Flat was a delightful treat, and a fitting juxtaposition to the more contemporary pieces played prior to the intermission. The measured cadences of the Trio were brilliantly performed by Ramniceanu, Schmück, and cellist Judy Stone. The Ensemble chose wisely with this final piece, offering both a stylistic and a sonic change.

The opening notes of the Schubert are bold and deliberate, a very stark contrast to the flighty melodies of the Martinu or the raw emotive release of the Artiunian. And yet, within a traditional framework, Schubert still manages to provide much pomp and vigor, and certainly requires the musicians to stay on their toes and play closely together. And with such a familiar piece, the Ensemble was still able to provide a personal touch, performing with more poise, balance, and subtlety than some of the more piano dominated recordings.

The Orion Ensemble’s 2009 – 2010 season marks the seventeenth of the group, and is sure to be a wonderful year. They will be performing three additional concerts with a performance of each concert at three different venues in the Chicagoland area, at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church in Geneva, the Music Institute of Chicago in Evanston, and Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University in Chicago. If you can’t get enough of their performances, they have also recently released a CD titled Twilight of the Romantics. I will be sure to check www.orionensemble.org for future performances.

The Orion Ensemble consists of Jennifer Marlas on Viola (not in first concert), Kathryne Pirtle on Clarinet, Florentina Ramniceanu on Violin, Diana Schmück on Piano, and Judy Stone on Cello. The Orion Ensemble is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council,
a State Agency. The Orion Ensemble may be reached by phone or fax at (630) 628-9591; our e-mail address is info@orionensemble.org;