City Recital Hall, Sydney
February 26, 2018

While fairy tales were the theme of Musica Viva’s first tour of 2018, featuring German clarinettist Sabine Meyer (who was last here in 2011 with the Modigliani Quartet in 2011) and the Alliage Quintett, it could have easily been the circus. From the brightly scurrying Overture of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide – arranged for the Alliage’s baritone, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones and piano by Itai Sobol – to Milhaud’s bubbling Scaramouche, the program had a vibrant party atmosphere. This was a program of bite-sized orchestral miniatures and favourites, arranged especially for the combination and delivered with energetic panache.

The Candide Overture was despatched with dextrous vigour from the Alliage, the wonderfully dark-hued soprano sax of Daniel Gauthier (who founded the group) gilding the upper edge of the ensemble’s sound. While in this instrumental combination the lines of the overture were slightly muddied by the thick sonority of the four saxophones, the musicians’ bouncing energy was infectious.

Sabine Meyer and the Alliage Quintett. Photo © Ira Weinrauch

The ensemble’s timbre seemed better suited to the magical haze that opened Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Sebastian Pottmeier’s baritone sax...