Camerata’s Deconstructed Carmen At The Albert Hall

Confidentials 2 May 2014

Martynas Levickis sure plays a mean accordion

But it is after the interval that astonishment lies. You’ve shaken off the bum-numbing effects of sitting on the Hall’s wooden benches, the disappointment of the drinks selection and you’re suddenly aware of the imposing array of percussion instruments set out below the stage.

No room up there for the marimba, chimes, vibraphone, timpani, castanets tom-toms, clave, hi-hat cymbals and more demanded by the score. What a dream showcase for the often under-employed Camerata percussion section. Watching the four percussionists, Janet Fulton, Edward Cervenka, Mark Concar and Harry Percy, rise to the occasion is as mesmerising as the setting.

Well-known melodies from Carmen and, for good measure other Bizet favourites such as L’Arlesienne, are given a radical twist, primarily by the spiky strident percussive effects. From a teasingly deconstructed Toreadors onwards, a Frenchman’s take on Spain turns into a near-Shostakovichian, certainly Russian musical jigsaw. Fun, fun, fun teetering on insane.

The final section features a pastiche of numerous themes, notably when massed marimbas are matched against low strings to emphasise the tragic ending to Carmen’s story.

Throughout, despite the intrusion of the percussion, the Camerata strings, marshalled by leader Giovanni Guzzo, contribute their own weight to a remarkable performance – the first, apparently of several by the chamber orchestra in unusual venues.

I’m unsure whether they’ll be sharing the stage again with the Albert Hall gig’s wild card, Martynas Levickis, winner of Lithuania’s Got Talent. He was billed as 'encore' and performed two solo pieces that revealed both sides of his accordion virtuosity – the first a challenging freeform display dissonance with chants in Spanish, the second a beatific chunk of Four Seasons Vivaldi.

He was only on stage for 15 fascinating minutes. What a shame a good smattering of the audience headed for the exits after piece number one. How rude on an afternoon of such bliss.