Morgans Composers in Focus. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 4 June 2014
“Bohemian Rhapsodies” was the second Morgans Composers in Focus concert for the season, and was generously sponsored by wealth management firm Morgans in alliance with CIMB. Had Mozart – the main event in the program - taken financial advice he might not have led such a ‘bohemian life-style’ and died in such strapped circumstances, but he certainly needed no advice when it came to composing, and his much loved ‘Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major’ was the highlight of the programme.
The locally esteemed music pedagogue Richard Chew introduced the programme and spoke eloquently about each composition and how they related, both musically and sociologically. A highlight was the insightful conversation he struck up with Howard Shelley about the Mozart and how Shelley might approach it as both conductor and pianist.
Bedřich Smetana’s overture to his very successful opera ‘The Bartered Bride’ was, unusually, written before anything else in the opera. As such it stands alone as a concert piece but also superbly foreshadows the style of the opera itself. It is spirited and rhythmic, and Shelley allowed its energy to erupt forth without compromising balance in orchestral colour.
Antonín Dvořák’s ‘Symphony No. 6 in D major’ was composed in 1880, some twenty years after ‘The Bartered Bride’ was completed, and it was a significant milestone in the ongoing development of the Czech national style for which the foundations were laid down by Smetana. Although the symphony demonstrates influences from the German classical-romantic tradition - one can hear hints of Brahms and Beethoven - it is rich with Czech folk tunes and rhythms. The ASO’s woodwinds and horns were magnificent throughout the sweeping melodies of the adagio second movement, and the clean violin lines in the scherzo third moment superbly complemented the woodwinds and brass. Again, Shelley allowed the force of the music to fill the auditorium but ensured complete clarity.
But, the main event was the engaging Mozart piano concerto, and the audience was delighted in Shelley’s pianism and his conducting from the keyboard with the score on an iPad! The allegro first movement introduces catchy and impishly playful tunes, and the allegro assai final movement is as bubbly and upbeat a finale as you will ever get, but the true drama lies in the broody adagio second movement which is scored in the somewhat rare key of F sharp minor. Shelley drew out the pathos and controlled the richness of the modern Steinway piano so that it didn’t swamp the delicateness of the musical material.
The audience’s fingers got a true work out at this concert! There were hundreds of finger tappers secretly pretending they were on the podium putting the wonderful ASO through its paces, and they loved every minute.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
The Zephyr Quartet. Queen’s Theatre. 25 May 2014
The Zephyr Quartet have a well deserved reputation for being at the cutting edge of contemporary serious concert music (or modern classical music if you will), and their latest concert adds to that reputation. Entitled ‘Between Light’, Zephyr invited five composers to write music in response to the somewhat vague theme of ‘light and dark’. In performance they included the additional elements of place and managed light (or its absence). The end result was five disparate short compositions for a classical string quartet (about 10 minutes each) performed in five separate locations within the stark and harsh confines of the hollow and hostile Queen’s Theatre (and you had to carry your seat from one location to the next) with five distinct atmospheric and empathetic lighting designs by master lighting designer Geoff Cobham.
Did I say concert? Perhaps ‘production’ or ‘event’ is more apt.
The string quartet is an unforgiving ensemble: inaccurate playing is immediately heard, and uninteresting music has nowhere to hide, whereas excellent technique and inspired writing can almost eclipse an orchestra in full flight. Zephyr’s playing is sound, very sound (excuse the pun) but the compositions as a collection were sometimes lacking in colour, depth and texture.
Lyndon Gray is a bassist and his ‘Lighter, Fluid’ strongly favoured the mellow register of the viola and cello in what felt like a semi improvised/semi through-composed piece that didn’t fully unleash the contrasting voice of the violin.
Tony Gould’s ‘Songs in a Gentle Breeze’ had a dreamy rhythmic feel about it with harmonious and nicely structured contrasts between the outer voices of the violins and cello. Cobham’s exquisite swirling lighting design amplified the mellifluousness of the composition.
Andrea Keller’s ‘Light, Dark, Depth’ was almost an inventive study in improvising on broken chords that emulated the contrasting states of being carefree and then being bound in seriousness. This was underlined by Cobham’s design that cleverly created a wall of light that begged to be broken with the hand (and some audience members could not resist the temptation), and light that danced through a smoky haze.
Stephen Magnusson’s ‘Dirt–Hue/Value/Chroma (Bound)’ (now there’s a title!) was the most obviously jazz inflected composition of the program and at times begged for a contralto voice to accompany it. At times it almost had the ‘feel’ of the fold-song inspired quartets of Béla Bartók.
Matt Keegan is well known for being a superb saxophonist and the performance of his composition ‘The Light Within’ was perhaps the most striking part of the evening, and the multilayered lyric was almost overshadowed by the lighting design (again, pun not intended!). Zephyr faced each other in a semi-circle and played in almost complete darkness expect for small point sources of light that danced above their heads like fireflies and bright electric heaters that syncopated on and off with the music.
Zephyr can be counted on to combine art-forms and toy with our multiple senses. What next?
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Queen’s Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 23 May 2014
It has been said that as the K2 is to mountaineers, so is the ‘Rach 3’ to pianists. The K2 has claimed victims in the worst possible way, and Rachmaninov’s ‘Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor’ claimed David Helfgott if the 1996 film ‘Shine’ is to be fully believed, but brilliant Uzbek pianist Behozod Abduraimov withstood all that the Rach 3 hurled at him and he was victorious and triumphant.
The biographical notes about Abduraimov in the programme feature the word ‘début’ a lot, but it would be a mistake to think this signals he is merely a new talent. There is nothing immature or untested in Abduraimov’s armoury of technique and interpretation. This young man plays with the technical assurance and artistry of someone much older than his tender twenty-four years, and it is astonishing to think that he is at the start of his career. His potential is awesome, and some have suggested he may well be the new Vladimir Horowitz.
Guest conductor Martyn Brabbins gave Abduraimov an avuncular wink just before he started the concerto as if to say ‘you’ll be right’ and the next forty minutes were spellbinding. Abduraimov sat very close to the Steinway’s keyboard, with his head almost directly over his hands, and demonstrated considerable forearm strength as he looked down at his hands and willed them to do the near impossible that is demanded by the fearsome Rach 3. He occasionally sat back to give himself room for the complex overlapping figures and delicate arpeggios, and occasionally he turned the pages of the score but he rarely referred to it, if ever (a security blanket, perhaps?). He dazzled us with his tightly controlled but bravura execution of the vast and dramatic cadenzas. They surely exact a physical as well as a mental price, and the Steinway visibly rocked and swayed at times, but Abduraimov seemed unscathed as he fed off the pure energy of the piece and he seemed to get even stronger and more dramatic. Was he channelling Liszt? With the final crashing chord the audience erupted into spontaneous applause, cheers and even wolf-whistles as they rose to their feet and remained so for fully five minutes. It was like being at a pop concert. It was exhilarating, and after Abduraimov left the stage for the last time with his score that he held up to the audience as a salute to the composer, the audience went to the interval gob smacked.
The concert was bookended by compositions by English composers, but they didn’t exhilarate the audience as did the Rachmaninov. ‘Overture: St Francis of Assisi’ by Peter Maxwell Davies and ‘Symphony No. 1’ by William Walton are both episodic and anguished pieces and markedly contrasted with the uber romantic and melodic Rach 3. The Overture was packed with interest and Brabbins tightly controlled the ASO through challenging metres and rapidly changing orchestral colours, and the stridency of the final bars sent a tingle down the spine. Brabbins clearly has an intimate knowledge of Walton’s First and he extracted everything that it had to offer. It is immensely popular with Britons, but antipodean audiences are much less enthralled with it.
The night belonged to Rachmaninov and Abduraimov, with superb support from Brabbins and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 16 May 2014
The evening began with a studied performance of Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem ‘The Isle of the Dead’ but everyone was eagerly awaiting the main event.
Like eager thoroughbreds ready to explode from the starting gates, the Adelaide Symphony Chorus, the Young Adelaide Voices, the Marryatville High School Choir and the mighty Adelaide Symphony Orchestra patiently waited for conductor Nicholas Carter to take his position on the podium. As soon as he stepped up, and with no preliminary fussing, Carter gave one grand and sweeping upbeat and the on-stage behemoth erupted into ‘O Fortuna’ and sent Carl Orff’s iconic Carmina Burana thundering down the straight in an exhilarating and near flawless performance.
The hair on the back of my neck bristled with excitement and anticipation.
So many musicians on stage is always an awesome sight to behold and the sound they produced was awesome as well. The great skill in choral singing is to have many voices sounding as one, and that is precisely what choral directors Carl Crossin, Aldis Sils and Christie Anderson achieved. The diction was as crystal clear in the softest of whispers as it was in the loudest of louds, and the phrasing was immaculate. Carter controlled the abruptly changing dynamics and tempi beautifully, and on almost every occasion neither the orchestra nor the choir nor solo vocalist missed a beat.
Carmina Burana is a collection of 11th/12th century songs that were discovered in a Benedictine monastery in 1803, and in 1936 Orff put twenty-four of them to astonishingly percussive music. The selected texts speak of fate and fortune, the joys and fecundity of spring, the pleasure and pain of drinking and of gluttony, and lustful love. Mildly coarse and always satirical, the songs are mostly tongue-in-cheek medieval slurs against the catholic church and the papacy.
Carter had the adult choirs flanking the children’s choir on three sides as if to protect the youth from the profanities of the songs. The soloists – soprano Milica Ilic, tenor Paul McMahon and baritone Samuel Dundas were excellent. With only the one song, McMahon was the standout. He tackled the extremely challenging ‘Olim Lacus Colueram’ with great style and demonstrated that he knows how to ‘ham it up’ and convincingly tell a story. Dundas also displayed a honed ability to ‘word paint’. Ilic was at her coloratura best with beautifully rounded tones in ‘Amor Volat Undique’ and impressively the children’s choir sang her accompaniment from memory.
The orchestra was extremely tight. Steven Peterka led an accomplished percussion section, and Julia Grenfell was outstanding on flute and piccolo. The brass and horns continued to shine.
The ASO’s new Associate Guest Conductor, Nicholas Carter, demonstrated that he is a force to be reckoned with and that he has the promise of being a worthy a successor to Arvo Volmer.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Oakbank Racecourse. 25 Apr 2014
As the likes of the Big Day Out, that great old lady of Australian music festivals, look to bow out of the non-eastern states due to poor ticket sales, it’s heartening to see new blood moving in to take over. In contrast to Big Day Out’s profit woes, Groovin the Moo (GTM) comfortably sold out its inaugural Adelaide showing and it’s not hard to see why.
Rather than trying to justify huge tickets prices by shipping in a bloated list of increasingly underwhelming and aging international acts, the nimble GTM largely focusses on current and popular Aussie acts, with a few international bands thrown in to sweeten the deal.
Kicking off the festival’s run, and starting an hour later than other states in recognition of Anzac Day, the Adelaide show saw crowds of excited young things stream into the Oakbank Racecourse to check out the new festival and its patriotic line-up. The enticing set list provided a great mix of styles to cater for every taste.
Young Aussie rapper Allday had an early but well attended set, throwing in some new tracks as well as those currently receiving lots of airplay. Looking decidedly reminiscent of Jay (of Jay and Silent Bob fame), Allday kept the audience happy with a mix of pumping and chilled out tunes. The vocal early birds were keen to get started, and he took full advantage of the crowd energy.
Illy was a highly anticipated act of the afternoon, and he didn’t disappoint. Up there with Hilltop Hoods and 360 as one of Australia’s most successful and best loved hip hop artists, the appreciative audience swelled over the front of both main stages and lapped up the jam-packed 40 minute set.
With hit after hit to choose from, Illy included ‘Cigarettes’, ‘Happiness’ and his cover of Silverchair’s ‘Tomorrow’, originally divined for Triple Js ‘Live at the Wireless’. So often, sample-heavy artists struggle to translate their music to a live stage successfully due to the difficulty of matching levels between live and recorded vocals. Inevitably, the result is a disappointing comparison to album quality, but not this guy. Illy killed it, and it seemed that all were there to see it.
Melbourne singer-songwriter Vance Joy’s gentle folk pop was a gorgeous take five for those not keen for a Parkway Drive onslaught. His cruisey tunes slowed the pace and included a cover of The Master's Apprentice’s ‘Because I Love You’. He saved the best for last, and the audience positively came alive with the opening strains of the triple platinum 'Riptide'. Everyone was singing along.
Brisbane boys Violent Soho rocked the Moolin Rouge stage with their 90s-esque guitar rock. Though drawing from the likes of Nirvana and the Pixies as inspiration, they have a sound of their own. The vocals of frontman and guitarist James Tidswell are as unique and unexpected live as on record, and the boys work non-stop on stage. Their solid performance earned them high praise from Karnivool later in the day.
Architecture in Helsinki opened their set with hit ‘That Beep’ to rapturous applause. The eclectic five-piece from New South Wales are known for putting on a great show, and tonight was no exception. They kept the crowd bouncing with brilliant indie pop tunes, colourful outfits and crazy synchronised and solo dance moves.
The latter two were a good thing, because unfortunately the mix left those up the back struggling to hear the vocals of Cameron Bird and Kellie Sutherland.
Despite this, they were still a highlight of the festival.
Under the cover of darkness, heavy rockers Karnivool were in fine form, drawing the crowd in with their heavy and emotional prog rock. Their riffs reverberated over the race course and the most impressive light and video show of the day helped generate the frenetic and charged atmosphere.
Dizzy Rascal was one of only a handful of international acts on the bill, and kicked out his dirty bass beats in trademark style. Unaffected by the spitting rain, the crowd were happy to stay out in the open to dance along to Rascal as well as Aussie electronic duo The Presets, who wrapped up the festival.
The good news is that if ticket sales are anything to go by, Groovin the Moo will be back to Adelaide next year. Though it only sold out in the week before the show, word of mouth will very likely result in quicker sales next time round.
Boasting loads of toilet facilities, a generous range of food trucks, tight organisation, convenient layout and a great line up of Aussie & international artists, it has a lot to offer.
The orientation of the two main stages at the bottom of a gentle slope meant there was great all round visibility, with clear sight lines even from the fringes. Perhaps the only improvement would be the addition of elevated video screens to enable everyone to get a close up view of the onstage antics.
The location is genius. As much as a music festival within the city limits sounds great, being regional ensures lots of space for stages, people and parking, limited impact on the general public, and a much more pleasant experience all round.
A small criticism would be the sound quality on the main ‘V’ and ‘Triple J’ stages. The mixes dipped in quality and volume consistency between acts, however this was probably only noticeable for those watching from a distance rather than front of stage in the crowd.
If you missed out this year, don’t dillydally next year – snap up your chance to get your groove on in the moo!
Nicole Russo
When: Closed
Where: Oakbank Racecourse, Oakbank
Bookings: Closed in SA. Still touring the ACT, NSW, VIC, QLD and WA
Photography by Stephen Trutwin - STRUT Photography
