Kremlin group sparkles in Arcady series

BAR HARBOR – The 20th season of the Arcady Music Festival continued here Sunday with an evening concert by the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.

Under the direction of founder and music director Misha Rachlevsky, the ensemble opened its program with Psalm and Fugue, Op. 40a, by Alan Hovhaness. With the opening notes of the Psalm, the sound of this group came clear: a wonderfully tuned, silky string sound that was full without blurring the inner voices. The performance of the fugue was balanced well, with the voices presented clearly and yet blending into a satisfying whole.

The mood shifted dramatically with the next piece, the Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a, of Dmitri Shostakovich (arranged by Rudolf Barshai from the composer’s Eighth String Quartet). Shostakovich dedicated the piece “in memory of victims of fascism and war,” and Rachlevsky conducted a searing rendition of it, unsparing in its intensity. In the program notes, Mr. Rachlevsky referred to the “brutal force and agony” of the second movement. The orchestra’s razor-edge control in this movement was nearly flawless. The balance in the middle movements was clear and subtle. “Who’s holding the note?,” one audience member asked. It was a good point. There was one note sounding throughout long passages, and it seemed to be coming from nowhere, as if the music itself was coming out of thin air.

Also in the program notes, Mr. Rachlevsky noted how unsettling it was to hear applause after this work. He wrote that he’d begun to deal with this by asking the audience not to applaud, but that didn’t seem right, especially when the work was the last one before intermission. So, he decided there was nothing else to do but to return immediately to music. He selected “Contrapunctus No. 1” from Bach’s “The Art of the Fugue.” He believed that, after the power of the Shostakovich, another powerful statement was needed to

“restore the inner balance.” In performance, after the quiet ending of the Shostakovich, Rachlevsky proved that there’s such a thing as supercharged quiet. The Bach began with vibratoless tone and detached notes, and gradually took on a warmer expression until it reached its majestic conclusion.

The care and finesse in this orchestra continued to impress in Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence.” Written for string sextet, this work seems to have had mixed receptions over the years, with some people calling it the composer’s least satisfying chamber score. One point usually made is that, many times, a single instrument is given a melody with the other five instrumens providing mere accompaniment; this can produce a rather thick sound, given how few instruments there are. The transcription into a larger orchestra, however, seems to clean that up. Give this transcription to the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, and every voice is heard. Give this orchestra the direction of Mr. Rachlevsky and, well, one can guess the result from again quoting his program notes: “For me, this is one of the most turbulently passionate works in all music literature!”

“Souvenir” was a rousing climax to the concert, showing the orchestra’s artistry in dynamics, precision and passion, without ever losing control. An encore of “Flight of the Bumblebee,” delicate and fun, was a tasty dessert after a fulfilling feast.