Concert review: Owls, Claire Chase (flute)

Making its 92NY debut, the ensemble Owls brought tremendous beauty and energy to New York. Owls is a string quartet – but not in the usual sense, as it comprises one violin, one viola and two cellos; and, given its ‘no Arensky rule’ (according to cellist Paul Wiancko’s introduction), everything it plays is either an arrangement or a commission written especially for the group.

The programme opened with Wiancko’s When the Night, a melancholy and meditative work that was performed with real depth of sound and emotional richness. Barber’s Adagio for Strings followed and was simply gut wrenching: performed with less vibrato but more rubato than I’m used to, the purity of the lines came across beautifully. The work seemed perhaps even more of a personal lamentation than when heard in its orchestral garb and hit close to home.

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s Rəqs provided maximal contrast with its rhythmic and dance-like Middle Eastern feel. For Terry Riley’s The Holy Liftoff, Owls was joined by flautist Claire Chase to wonderful effect. In the piece, the musicians take through-composed material from Riley alongside improvisations based on visual art and ‘mash them together in any way they like’, according to Chase. The composer Samuel Clay Birmaher helped to orchestrate and realise the rendition that we heard on this occasion. The passion and commitment of Owls here, as throughout the evening, certainly proved captivating.

LEAH HOLLINGSWORTH