Concerto in E minor for four violins - Vivaldi
Divertimento in D, K136 - Mozart
Double Violin Concerto - Bach
Adagio - Bruckner
Holberg Suite - Grieg
The Market Place, Armagh's new theatre and arts centre, opened its doors for the first time last week. And on Friday the European Union Chamber Orchestra launched a short Irish tour with the first classical concert in the new venue.
The main theatre auditorium seats around 400, in stalls and three wooden-railed galleries, narrow enough at the sides to accommodate just a single row of seats; there's a smaller studio theatre with seating for 150, which I didn't visit.
The brightly-lit, airy public areas are essentially a large gallery space (the opening exhibition is by J.B. Vallely), with ample bars and a small bistro-style restaurant - in terms of expected creature comforts and efficient public access, Armagh's Market Place puts Belfast's Waterfront Hall to shame.
The overall visual impression is pleasing, though the acoustic, even with reflective screens behind the players (a wise precaution), is on the dry side for music. Happily, the EUCO's musical director, violinist Lavard Skou Larsen, encouraged no efforts to fill the dry space with sound. He opted instead for small-scale music-making, fine-grained in tone and generally tight in ensemble.
He was joined in the concertos by soloists from within the ranks of the orchestra, Pierre Bensaid, Ulrike Koenig and Peter Nys in Vivaldi's E minor Concerto for four violins, and Dubliner Nicola Sweeney in Bach's Double Violin Concerto.
The handling of the Bach was rather more stylish than that of the Vivaldi, and the shortness of breath in the phrasing that was common to both seems to be part of the orchestra's current style, as it was also - and most unexpectedly - to be found in the Bruckner Adagio.
The early Mozart Divertimento and Grieg's Holberg Suite have characteristics of rhythmic zest and straightforward tunefulness which are almost guaranteed to ensure a strong sense of momentum. These were the most successful items in an evening which, in a nicely understated way, actually offered much to savour.
