Music Reviews : Empire Brass Quintet Plays on the Queen Mary

The Empire Brass Quintet displayed complete mastery Sunday night aboard the Queen Mary under the auspices of the Chamber Music in Historic Sites series of the Da Camera Society. Awash from start to finish in brilliant tones impeccably controlled, the audience heard a wide stylistic variety of selections that never failed to delight.

A suite from Handel’s “Water Music” was prefaced by first trumpeter Rolf Smedvig’s remark that the audience could “interrupt with applause between movements or save a thunderous ovation for the end.” Many in the audience missed the humor, but nearly all were hard-pressed to resist displaying their approbation at every opportunity.

Horn player Martin Hackleman presented his virtuosity in two Fritz Kreisler arrangements, and trombonist Scott Hartman supplied suave tone and exquisite expressivity in “Simple Song” from Bernstein’s “Mass.”

Second trumpeter Jeffrey Curnow and tubist J. Samuel Pilafian, had ample opportunities to reveal that they are the equals of their colleagues. Ensemble playing was defined in a program that included arrangements of music by Rossini, Albeniz, Turina, Bach, Gershwin and Cole Porter.

Lacking the ballyhooed zaniness of their Canadian counterparts, the Empire ensemble nevertheless provided welcome doses of tasteful humor. Their imaginative arrangements never failed to remain true to the spirit of any style from which the original works sprang.

A fitting, scintillating conclusion to the evening was the Brass’ second encore, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”