The Scotsman, Ken Walton
Five Stars

Throughout the ages, Commedia dell’arte’s Pierrot character has been a malleable concept, all things to all people. In this ingenious programme, devised by Claire Booth and Ensemble 360 around Schoenberg’s seminal Pierrot Lunaire, the lively soprano focusses on musical responses that stretch from early 19th century Schumann to the one living composer on the record, Thea Musgrave.

“It’s a ready-made box of delights further coloured by its shifting ensemble requirements.”

Pianist Tim Horton opens with the jabbing persistence of Schumann’s miniature sketch from Carnaval. Extravagant songs by the lesser-known Joseph Marx and Poldowski (Régine Wieniawski) mark Booth’s warm entrance before the vividly characterised instrumental drama of Thea Musgrave’s 1985 Pierrot. Beyond further incidentals by Debussy, Amy Beach, Max Kowalski and Korngold lies the kaleidoscopic melodrama of Schoenberg’s Op.21.

“Booth is superbly expressive in this, infinite detailed nuances and sharpened wit parrying deliciously with Ensemble 360’s own virtuosic inventiveness.”