Short Black Opera Company. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 3 July 2014
Billed as Australia’s first indigenous opera, ‘Pecan Summer’ is essentially about the dispossession of indigenous Australians of their land, and the stolen generation. Written by the celebrated Deborah Cheetham, a classically trained and talented indigenous singer, it also touches on other important issues including racial vilification and the 2008 national Apology to Australia's indigenous peoples. There is also a subtle reference to the recognition of indigenous servicemen.
The plot is historically based and deals with the Yorta Yorta people who lived on Cummeragunja Station, an Aboriginal reserve established in 1881 in NSW on the Murray River. But in the time honoured tradition of interfering in the affairs of indigenous Australians, management of the station was taken over by the white man and conditions greatly deteriorated. This culminated in many residents leaving the reserve in protest and the so-called ‘Cummeragunja walk-off’ took place. Cummeragunja has produced some notable individuals, including Sir Douglas Nicholls who briefly served as the Governor of South Australia from 1976-77. Deborah Cheetham is also Yorta Yorta and her own grandparents were part of the walk-off.
The main plot focuses on the walk-off and the impact it had on the lives of those involved, particularly Ella (played by Deborah Cheetham), her husband James (Tiriki Onus), and her two children Jimmy (Eddie Bryant) and Alice (Jessica Hitchcock). We witness their maltreatment by the white overseers, and their continued abuses in their dispossession, which culminates in the forced and unwarranted ‘adoption’ – theft? – of Alice by a ‘well meaning’ white Minister (Jonathon Welch) and his wife (Rosamund Illing).
These events of the late 1930s – early 1940s are sandwiched between events of modern times. After a prelude that depicts the aboriginal myth of the creation of the River Murray, which firmly announces the indigenous milieu of the opera, the opera begins in 2006 and we witness Alice as an old woman being harassed by some white youths. Then commences the extended flashback to the time of the walk-off, and the opera concludes by returning to 2008 with a large gathering listening to a live broadcast of Prime Minister Rudd’s national Apology. The gathering includes old Alice and her daughter, but they do not know of each other’s presence – they don’t really know each other at all, for the daughter was a member of the stolen generation.
This final sad moment of the plot plunges the audience into emotional silence, before the heart felt applause erupts.
‘Pecan Summer’ traverses a lot of territory, and this is perhaps its major weakness, and like the curate’s egg it has good parts and not-so-good parts. Some moments are quite sublime – such as the affecting ending – but these are contrasted with others that are somewhat less pleasing. The action does not flow smoothly, and the bending of the time sequence is not entirely self evident. This may be a result of the minimalist scenic design, insufficient dramatic content or under-developed entr’acte music bridging, which can help to more firmly announce where in time and space the action is situated.
It is a modern opera, and at times it has all the hallmarks that one associates with opera. The scene in the church where we are first introduced to the Minister and his wife is archetypal opera, and includes wonderful ensemble singing and features the superb voices of Jonathon Welch and Rosamund Illing. From that point on the opera started to truly establish itself, but many previous scenes were uneven and were marred by an enthusiastic orchestra that over-powered less mature voices. Jessica Well’s orchestration of Cheetham’s eclectic score did not always suit the tessitura of some of the singers, and frequently the beginning phrases of arias were lost. Cheetham herself was masterful, and her performance of ‘Ella’s Lullaby’ was as heart rending as it was exquisite.
In her programme notes Cheetham states “It is an epic tale. One deserving of an opera.” She is right. There are many truths that need to be exposed about the history of indigenous Australians, and they need to be repeated, for there are too many who conveniently forget. Even today we have a Prime Minister who makes clumsy statements that devalue indigenous history.
‘Pecan Summer’ is a labour of love and is worthy of further development and refinement. It has been a vehicle to give a different voice to indigenous artists, and in that it has been most successful. The large opening night audience was enthusiastic in its reception.
Kym Clayton
When: 3 to 5 Jul
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 27 June 2014
For those who like their music shaken not stirred the Adelaide Festival Theatre was the place to be over the weekend. It takes a rather special event to fill the Festival Theatre and empty seats were far and few between for the ASO’s homage to all things double-o-seven. There’s no doubt about it – the James Bond franchise continues to be a remarkable phenomenon with no sign of letting up.
To date there have been twenty-three Bond films and all but one of them (“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”) features a theme song that has been written by a songwriter/composer luminary and sung by a pop-icon of the day. The ASO together with vocalists Debora Krizak and Blake Bowden performed them all, along with some musical suites, and the bumper audience lapped it up and would have gladly traded their ‘Vesper’ cocktails for a few more encores!
There is a risk that such events remain just concerts, but with a little imagination and the right direction they can be so much more, and that is exactly what the ASO achieved. Conductor/ Presenter Guy Noble was the perfect choice to lead the event. His patter was oh-so-amusing, and his impersonation of super villain Ernst Blofeld, complete with trademark white fluffy cat, was …. gold! With tongue firmly in cheek, Noble quipped that many other notable villains have favoured such cats as pets, including dictators Bashar Al-Assad and Saddam Hussein, and Bronwyn Bishop! The programme doesn’t credit who directed/ stage-managed the show – maybe it just happened – but the humour, the superb casino-esque lighting, the choreographed movement of the vocalists on and off the stage and their interaction with audience members all added to a glitzy event that had all the hallmarks of a gala performance.
But what about the music? The thing about a symphony orchestra playing popular songs is that they first need to be arranged for full orchestra. This demands skill on behalf of the arranger and of the conductor who then needs to interpret the arrangement. All but two of the twenty-eight arrangements were credited to Coleman and Forgie, and several of them presented the soloists with challenges. Particularly in the first half of the programme, Bowden occasionally struggled to pitch correctly to the accompaniment but his well-crafted on-stage persona and strong tenor voice (almost too strong and dramatic at times) allowed him to confidently present each song. His performance of ‘From Russia with Love’ almost channelled Matt Monro. Krizak fared better with the arrangements and did particularly well with ‘Diamonds are Forever’ and especially ‘Skyfall’ (arranged by Nic Raine). Her seductive antics with a gentleman from the audience whom she brought up on stage were superb, and he was the envy of every other man in the auditorium!
Concerts such as these are wonderful eye-opening and fun opportunities for all to experience the spectacle of a symphony orchestra in full flight. Later in the season the ASO will be presenting
‘Pixar in Concert’, a multi-media show for the young and young-at-heart to enjoy. Don’t miss that one!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Masters 4. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 20 June 2014
From the perspective of an ‘ordinary’ concertgoer, one’s enjoyment of a piece of music is probably not enhanced by having an in-depth understanding of the context in which it was composed, but it can enrich the experience. The ASO’s ‘Bella Italia’ Master Series program featured three early 19th century compositions by three musical luminaries of the period: Schubert, Mendelssohn and Berlioz. Each piece was a response by the composer to some Italian influence: whether that be a particular Italian musical style, or the physical beauty of the country.
Schubert devotedly attended the opera and hungered to be a successful composer of stage works, but for the most part he never achieved that ambition. His Overture ‘in the Italian Style’ in C, D561, was largely an attempt to cash-in on the surging popularity of the lighter and altogether more jolly music of the Italians of the likes of Rossini. It stands alone as a concert item but it doesn’t go beyond being a curtain warmer for whatever is to follow next, which in the context of ‘Bella Italia’ was Mendelssohn’s much loved ‘Italian’ Symphony No 4 in A, Op90, commonly known as his Italian Symphony.
Curiously Mendelssohn was quite dissatisfied with his symphony, but it is now firmly a concert hall favourite. It is a relatively short symphony and is light and lyrical throughout. It abounds with hummable melodies that conductor, Arvo Volmer drew out in an exhilarating performance. He insisted the strings were gracefully phrased, and the woodwinds were right on the mark in the final Saltarello presto finale.
Berlioz is a master of orchestration and his ‘Harold in Italy’ calls for a large orchestra. Written at the urging of famed violinist Niccoló Paganini, ‘Harold’ is a symphony that features a principal viola. By comparison to the violin and cello, there are few frequently performed concert works for viola and orchestra (at least in Australia) and so it was a great privilege to hear famed Ukrainian born violist Maxim Rysanov perform ‘Harold’. [Going slightly off topic, his recordings on viola of Bach’s cello suites are quite sublime and he infuses them with freshness.] The viola is not as robust in its upper and lower registers as are the violin and cello, but in the hands of Rysanov the highs were brilliant and soaring, and the lows were comfortable and warming. Volmer ensured the weight of the orchestra was finely regulated to the viola allowing Rysanov to perform as if in a concerto.
The final movement of the work is a piece entitled ‘Brigand’s Orgy’, and musically it is almost orgiastic – excitement building on excitement, racing towards climax – but Volmer held it all in control and the result was exhilarating and as lush as the bright red roses that were presented to Volmer and Rysanov during the final bows.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Tim Freedman. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. 12 June 2014
The Harry Nilsson story is as paradoxical as it is sad. He had great success; but his biggest hits were covers of other writers’ songs. He was a brilliant vocalist, but never performed live. His first album was ignored by everyone - except John Lennon and Paul McCartney. He had an eight album contract with RCA Records and was paid $3 million not to make the last three.
Tim Freedman, the other famous Whitlam, “does” Nilsson for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival- and he honours a great musician in the doing. Dressed in the signature Schmilsson tweed cap and sporting mutton chop sideburns, Freedman channels Harry, Brooklyn accent and all. Seated at the Playhouse Steinway, he opens with ‘Everybody’s Talkin’’, written by Fred Neil and theme song of the hit film ‘Midnight Cowboy’. The first of his string of cover hits, it is still Nilsson’s most famous.
But more intriguing is ‘1941’, autobiographical to the point of pain –“Well in 1941 a happy father had a son/ And by 1944 the father walked right out the door”; repeated in the final verse, where the dates are now 1961 and 1964 , and the father leaving is now Nilsson himself.
Freedman narrates the Nilsson story – and the legend. How he divided time between working as a computer analyst in a bank and writing and recording demos such as ‘Cuddly Toy’ – a “nasty song wrapped in sugar” and a hit for the Monkees.
And his creative collaborations with musicians like Randy Newman, at that point a little-known, but much admired, composer. Nilsson recorded ‘Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear’ for his 1969 album ‘Harry’ and then followed in 1970 with ‘Nilsson Sings Newman’, a whole LP of Newman songs, with the same mix of wordplay, irony and satiric deadpan which characterised Nilsson’s own musical style. Freedman delivers a memorable version of ‘Living Without You’ from that collection.
Perhaps it is Freedman’s account of Nilsson’s connections with The Beatles which piques our interest in particular. Dating back to 1967 and ‘Pandemonium Shadow Show’ (featuring ‘She’s Leaving Home’ and a virtuoso pastiche of Beatle sounds with ‘You Can’t Do That’) Nilsson became the Fabs’ favourite interpreter. Nilsson met up with them when he went to the UK – about the time that John met Yoko. He and Lennon became close pals, later for a time he played (as coincidentally, did Colin Hay) with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band (and Ringo even paid to have his teeth fixed!)
But it was around 1974 when the Lennon / Nilsson antics became notorious in Los Angeles. Their Lost Weekend lasted for eighteen months and cost Nilsson his reputation and his health. Freedman uses Lennon’s raw Plastic Ono lament, ‘Isolation’ as litmus for that time. Nilsson’s huge success with ‘Nilsson Schmilsson’ is now evaporating, his refusal to perform live, and tendency to self-sabotage conspire towards his increasingly lonely decline.
Tim Freedman’s narrative is unsparing in describing how a great career is careening downwards, but the songs ever remind us what a clever musical spark Nilsson was. From the perky metronome of ‘Gotta Get Up’ to ‘The Puppy Song’, from ‘One’ (is the loneliest number) to ‘Without You’, the sheer verve and yearning of his melody and the sweetness of his vocals are here splendidly interpreted by Freedman. Nilsson has been done, with a little touch of Schmeedman in the night.
Murray Bramwell
When: Closed
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: Closed
The Benaud Trio: Elder Hall. 8 June 2014
Half the battle in any concert is to get the programming right, and the Benaud Trio gave an object lesson in just that with ‘Horizons’. It featured a very recent hip composition, some old favourites from the romantic repertoire and an encore of well-known James Bond themes that had been tweaked for a piano trio. Eclectic and utterly entertaining, for young and young at heart!
Nicholas Buc is a young Australian composer/ arranger/ conductor who already has an enviable list of credits across a range of genres, and his ‘Trailer Music’ was commissioned by the Benauds for their 2010 season. It is episodic in nature and was inspired by the two-minute musical grabs that are used to promote films. The individual sections were fused together to create an exciting whole that allowed the trio, comprising Amir Farid on piano, Lachlan Bramble on violin and Ewen Bramble on cello, to amply demonstrate their substantial technique and musicality.
Schubert’s ‘Notturno in E Flat’ is one of the most achingly beautiful pieces for trio. The Benauds captured all the tenderness it demands and played it at a sufficiently comfortable tempo to allow the tonalities to be distinct and to allow the dramatic impact of the middle section to come through, although the dotted rhythms were perhaps too accentuated on the piano.
Johannes Brahms ‘Piano Trio in C Major’ is a veritable treasure trove of lyrical themes. Brahms is a master of the art of variation and in this particular trio he serves up a richly varied musical menu for the trio. The violin and cello often play together in octaves as if to join forces to counter the force of the piano, and the Bramble brothers demonstrated a deep understanding of each other that gave their playing an ‘edge’. The syncopated rhythms of the second movement were at times under-stated but the sublime approach to the tense and nervy third movement blew this slight misgiving away. The phrasing in the finale was superb, and the whole thing came home with ecstatic but controlled exuberance.
The Benaud Trio are a joy to watch and hear. They are a relatively young ensemble, but they are already highly accomplished and well regarded. Their James Bond encore was brim with humour but was musically ever so tight. Whoever arranged it (Buc?) has produced an absolute gem, and demonstrates that the piano trio genre still has much more to say.
The Benaud Trio’s next concert in Adelaide is on December 14 and will feature the music of Astor Piazzola. That will be a test – Piazzola’s music is unforgiving in the wrong hands – but I’m sure the Benaud Trio is up for it.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Elder Hall
Bookings: Closed