Adelaide Festival. Alex Frayne and Paul Grabowsky. Adelaide Town Hall. 15 Mar 2023
Adelaide Town Hall is packed. An Adelaide Festival audience has gathered to gaze through what the programmers call a “window of possibility”. This is as good a way as any to describe this brave and beautiful arts experiment: a celebrated jazz pianist improvising music at the prompt of photographic art imagery by an equally celebrated photographer; two wildly contrasting genres; two outstanding talents. Can they complement each other? The audience clearly thinks so as it rises to its feet after the 90-minute performance.
But it feels like a tough call for Grabowsky. The images are spread over three giant screens with the sleek grand piano shiny black in a blackened shoebox of stage, the pianist’s hands and his silver-haired head carefully spot-lit. He is performing respectfully attired in a dark suit. There is a smaller extra screen for his eyes across the piano so he does not have to crane to see his inspirations.
The images are static. Or are they? Opening with a serene vista of leafy open woodland, it becomes apparent very gradually that the still images are expanding ever so slightly by a subtlety of projector zooming.
Grabowsky responds to the leafy tranquillity with a twinkling of light keys, playing with the fresh forest air between the leaves. As the images grow, it is the strength of the trees’ great exposed roots that he depicts, his chords deepening and the hands pounding.
There are seven phases of Frayne imagery around which the musician must improvise.
Landscapes with piano-scapes.
Sometimes Grabowsky seems to focus on the pictorial moment and then, as the images remain in place, he retreats into the world of his own swirling creative juices whence the power of his jazz derives.
Depending, of course, upon the photographs.
There’s a girl on a tyre swing in front of grand old building. There’s the Claypan church and crosses silhouetted against a lonely Aussie vista. Grabowsky reacts with a hymnal intonations working forth to perhaps a deeper place suggestive of failed farms and faith. There are quick grabs of dunes and slow misty rural views. As the audience studies them, the Grabowsky fingers race around the keyboard, sometimes in steeples of precision, sometimes exploratory and delicate. On one occasion, he reaches into the piano’s gizzards and emits a plonk and a twang.
The music reaches its zenith on the open road. There are a number of wonderful country and outback road studies among the Frayne collection: one is of the sort of challenging scrub-lined undulating roads one encounters on Eyre Peninsular; another is of straight lines of pristine bitumen; and yet another is of a graded dirt road. They are a fabulous road trip in themselves, complete with a forlorn “Motel” sign.
Then Frayne returns home to the Heysenesque gums and streams of the hills. Superbly lit photographs also depicting drowned trees of flood, beauty as from the eye of the artist and illustrated by the imagination of the musician. It is slowly paced, cerebral and sensual...
And one is not to forget the sublime loveliness and serenity of the gulf shallows on calm summer’s day.
The Fraye hues are exquisite. The soul comes to rest on them, that sense of calm, cool, luscious leisure. Meanwhile, Grabowsky plays with and to those scenes, evoking senses of great moody depths, a dose of the inimical and the relief of sweet sandy safety - or so one interprets as he flourishes those dextrous fingers.
Perchance Grabowsky looks a little relieved as he stands to take a bow at the end of 90 minutes of intense concentration. It was always a big ask. But, he has pulled it off. A brave piece of experimental art - and another Adelaide Festival landmark.
Samela Harris
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Festival. Festival Theatre. 13 Mar 2023
The Kronos Quartet is not your usual string quartet. Yes, they comprise the customary instruments – two violins, a viola, and a cello – but their repertoire is markedly different to most other string quartets. It could be said this famous ensemble inhabit and rejoice in a different sound world, and this concert was certainly that. It comprised an iconic composition from George Crumb (Black Angels), a world première (BEAK, by Australian composers Jon Rose and Hollis Taylor), an Australian première (ilektrikés rímes by Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov), a composition by Missy Mazzoli (Enthusiasm Strategies) and one by Krzysztof Penderecki (Quartetto per archi), and a bracket of heartfelt and provocative songs performed in Farsi and Kurdish by Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat.
Kronos concerts are as much to be seen as they are to be heard. Dressed in relaxed dark hued clothing, David Harrington, violin, John Sherba, violin, Hank Dutt, viola, and Paul Wiancko, cello, walk on to the dimly lit Festival Theatre stage where their instruments are suspended on overhead lanyards and their music stands and other paraphernalia is spread widely across the stage. No standard configuration here. They are greeted enthusiastically by the very large and diverse audience, who are clearly Kronos enthusiasts.
They remove their instruments from the lanyards and start with Black Angels. Its mood is ominous and dark, and it speaks about the physical and emotional horrors of war. The strings for a time are replaced by crystal glasses over which their bows are run to create almost otherworldly sounds. Gongs are sounded, and the lighting changes expressively to announce different sonic approaches. It is theatrical.
Harrington later speaks to the audience and states this is only the second time in 49.8 years that Kronos have started a concert with Black Angels. As visceral and unsettling as the piece is, the devotees in the audience deeply appreciate this. He also comments that Vrebalov’s ilektrikés rimes (which translates as Electric Rhymes) is a response to Black Angels: as Black Angels is to Vietnam, Electric Rhymes is to former war-torn Yugoslavia.
Seemingly, the die is cast: this program is not a happy one. It is deeply contemplative, and it speaks almost harshly about the human condition. Vahdat’s songs are political, and speak about the suppression of people in her beloved homeland Iran, particularly women.
But there is some respite, and BEAK is a musical conversation with the birdsong of a warbling pied butcherbird. A large screen behind the quartet projects images of a lone bird in the depths of night under moonlight warbling out to the world. It is humorous. It is refreshing.
Mazzoli’s Enthusiasm Strategies was composed for the Kronos Quartet as part of their Fifty for the Future initiative. Mazzoli has said that music is a “…strategy for mustering enthusiasm and joy” and Enthusiasm Strategies does just that: it enlivens and excites.
Kronos’s performance of Penderecki’s Quartetto per archi is as interesting visually as it is aurally. They stand with their backs to the audience and read the score on a large screen as it scrolls past. The notation almost looks like hieroglyphics at some points, and we as audience enjoy following the score perversely checking whether it all makes sense!
Mahsa Vahdat is a beautiful singer. She has a purity of tone that is perfectly supported by the playing from the ensemble. Indeed, the arrangements by Iranian American contemporary composer Sahba Aminikia are superbly crafted for a string quartet and soprano. The songs retain a full sense of their ethnic roots but the music crosses seamlessly into the western tradition.
Yes, the songs were political, as was the music of Crumb and Vrebalov, but shouldn’t festivals provoke?
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Festival. Adelaide Town Hall. 6 Mar 2023
Presented in association with Musica Viva, this one-off concert performed by French pianist Cédric Tiberghien as part of the Adelaide Festival was an absolute joy. Not only was Tiberghien’s program immensely enjoyable, it was also intellectually stimulating. Pleasingly, he spoke to the audience in an accessible way about the music and what it means to him as a musician. His well-chosen remarks provided a framework with which we could approach the concert.
Early in his remarks, Tiberghien commented that the program he had selected could be thought of as an introduction to the art of musical variation, which is the technique of varying melody, rhythm, harmony, and the like to create a stimulating composition. His program featured three excellent examples: JS Bach’s Chaconne in D minor from the Partita for solo violin No.2 in D minor BWV1004, arranged by Brahms for the left hand alone on piano; Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A, K331; and Beethoven’s Eroica Variations, Op.35. There was also a ‘performance’ of Cage’s controversial piece 4’33” but more on that later!
The Chaconne is an iconic and mighty piece. It is the most well-known section from all of Bach’s compositions for solo violin, and has been arranged for other instruments many times and is a virtuosic favourite. It comprises a simple theme of four bars, which is then varied not less than sixty four times. It’s monumental in its conception! Tiberghien remarked that the piece is essentially played by the left hand of a violinist, and Brahms’ transcription for left hand therefore has a purity and faithfulness about it. In May last year Jayson Gillham gave a recital in the Elder Hall and included the Chaconne. This reviewer commented at the time that Gillham was “…animated at the keyboard as he arched his back and dealt with the physicality and virtuosity of the piece. It ended on a long sustained D, that gradually became an eery silence before the audience erupted into exuberant applause.” There was the same reaction to Tiberghien’s performance of the Brahms transcription tonight, and at times he resembled Glenn Gould as he silently mouthed words at the keyboard. Even though just for one hand, it is still physically demanding and requires the performer to give their all as they render up everything the piece has to give, whilst retaining the visceral sense of melody and rhythm. Tiberghien achieved all that.
Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A, K331, is best known for its final ‘rondo alla turca’ or ‘Turkish March’ movement, but Tiberghien included it in the program because the first movement is a theme and a set of six variations which occupy well over half the duration of the entire sonata. The audience spontaneously showed its appreciation by resoundingly applauding Tiberghien at the end of the first movement.
Throughout, he produced exquisite bell-like tones in the upper register of the Steinway, and allowed Mozart’s exquisite melodies to shine through. He took the rondo movement at a very brisk pace and imposed his own style and interpretation, and the rolling arpeggiated chords in the right hand were executed with flamboyant, almost arrogant tosses of the wrist. The audience were rightfully whipped up to a crescendo themselves. It was jaw-droppingly transfixing!
Curiously Tiberghien then ‘performed’ Cage’s 4’33”, which has the performer sitting at the keyboard doing absolutely nothing for four minutes and thirty three seconds (or thereabouts). Cage, an experimental composer, judiciously used silence as an emotive feature of music and felt that any auditory experience may constitute music, even silence. In essence, 4’33” comprises the sounds of the immediate environment that the listener hears while it is performed. It is an interesting experience to be seated in an auditorium with hundreds of other concert goers listening to nothing but your own heartbeat, your breathing, an occasional cough, the creak of a chair, or the gentle hum of air circulating around you. Then time was up, the audience applauded (!) and Tiberghien commented that just as we were listening to him, he was also listening to us. He added that listening itself is an art, and noted that when one listens carefully to a theme and a set of variations it is akin to glimpsing inside the mind of the composer as they go about their craft.
Tiberghien finished the concert with Beethoven’s so-called Eroica Variations, Op.35. The theme was later used by Beethoven in the finale of his celebrated Symphony No.3 “Eroica” in E flat major, Op.55, but it had also been used in several other compositions as well. Tiberghien displayed elegant legato with judicious and minimal pedalling. The final variations had him bodily lifting himself from the piano bench as he dealt with the robustness of the piece, before settling into a joyous and playful performance of the final andante con moto variation.
Tiberghien gave an object lesson in listening with one’s ears and one’s intellect. It was a delight. Virtuosity in body and in mind.
Kym Clayton
When: 6 Mar
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Arts Centre at St Peters Girls’ School. 4 Mar 2023
With over ninety minutes of high octane music from the movies performed by the Adelaide Wind Orchestra – one of Australia’s best wind orchestras – what a toe-tapping fantastic concert it was, and the large and near capacity audience lapped it up!
The sight of the AWO in performance is impressive. It’s a big outfit, and they fill many stages almost to overflowing. Tonight that was an issue for Conductor David Polain who strode to the front, took up his position with baton in hand, and then turned around and looked behind him to check how close he was to falling off the stage. He was close, very close, and his dry smile to the audience caused ripple of laughter!
Movie theme music is mostly written for a full orchestra, featuring the usual diversity of instruments with the strings forming the heart of the musical forces – not just predominantly wind instruments. A feature of AWO concerts is the quality of the musical arrangements they use, and tonight was no exception.
The program included themes and songs from Batman, Gladiator, Taxi Driver, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Incredibles, The Mission, Aladdin, as well as pieces from lesser well known films including Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and The Terminal, and the TV series Chernobyl.
The trombones, euphoniums and tuba were fabulous in the bracing theme from Batman, and the orchestra spliced music from Prince’s studio album Batman into the middle of it, as a nod to the fact that Danny Elfman refused and offer to collaborate with Prince to compose the music for the film! A fun fact, and a clever arrangement to blend Elfman and Prince together.
While all excellent, some of the arrangements really do miss the impact of strings. For example, some sections of the anthem from Gladiator yearned for strings to soften the sound while maintain the imperiousness of the sound of the brass. Sometimes, the additional clarinet parts just aren’t quite enough. With excellent work from the percussionists, the arrangement was reminiscent of Mars from Holst’s The Planets Suite.
Katie Marshall’s clarinet solo in Viktor’s Tale from The Terminal was nicely articulated and lively, and Daniel Burgess’ alto sax solo in Taxi Driver was gloriously languid and oozed sleaziness. Paul Komninos’ cool work on double bass kept the pulse alive.
The scores from the Lord of the Rings films are epic and might be considered modern day versions of Wagnerian operatic scores. The music is expansive, and the musical ideas take considerable time to develop and emerge, and this can present issues for orchestras (and conductors) as they strive to maintain coherence and persistence, and there were a few timing issues this evening. But Howard Shore’s genius is undeniable, and his music swept the audience up!
The opening theme to Star Wars is one of the most recognisable tunes ever written, and tonight it began with an emphatic and dramatic flourish from the trumpets. It’s a challenging piece to ‘keep together’, and Polain kept on top of it as he marshalled his troops to deal with the trick syncopated rhythms and contrapuntal melodies.
After the interval eleven musicians took to the stage and without ceremony performed a haunting rendition of the closing song in the HBO TV series Chernobyl composed by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. The song is evocatively titled Vichnaya Pamyat (Eternal memory). How fitting this should be played to serve as a stark reminder to us all of the current horrors facing Ukraine.
The Incredits, from The Incredibles, was arranged by David Polain himself, and it was fun and lively, and again the trumpets were excellent as was the drum kit.
The highlight of the evening however was the excerpt from the Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. MC Ben Bersten mischievously suggested that Polain was likely the only person in Adelaide who knew the film and had a recording of it! The arrangement (by composer/arranger Darrol Barry) was a standout of the program, with a careful balance between woodwinds and brass, excellent focus on oboe (beautifully played by Jo Bridgman), and varied rhythms and textures that kept one’s interest constantly aroused. It was just plain fun!
Jo Bridgman featured beautifully in Gabriel’s Oboe, from The Mission. The arrangement is by American award-winning composer, conductor and arranger Robert Longfield, and it was edited by AWO trumpeter Jason Geddie. To this reviewer’s ear, the edited arrangement favoured the clarinets and lower brass and resulted in an aural quality that bordered on heaviness that occasionally did not suite the lightness inherent in Morricone’s original.
The program finished with an extended medley from Aladdin, which thrilled the audience! Polain was at the top of his game and produced a tight and hugely entertaining performance from his charges!
AWO – you’ve done it again! What a first rate concert, replete with entertaining and inimitable patter from MC Ben Bersten (who, it seems, is a recent fan of the artificial intelligence text generator ChatGPT!)
Kym Clayton
When: 4 to 5 Mar
Where: Arts Centre at St Peters Girls’ School
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Grainger Studio. 3 Feb 2023
Tranquillity is the first in the ASO’s two event Sanctuary Series, designed to present serene music in the most relaxing and informal setting possible.
The expansive Grainger Studio, the Hindley Street home of ASO, is transformed into a sanctuary from the troubles of the outside world. Standard seating is available if you want, or you can opt for a yoga-mat on the carpeted auditorium floor very close to the orchestra. The mats are very popular with both young and not-so-young. You don’t need to be a yoga aficionado of course – just use the mat as a day bed, lay back, close your eyes, and let the music wash over you. The room is darkened, and the only lights are music stand lamps and a few flickering (electric) candles.
The music of course is carefully curated to evoke calm and peace. Tranquillity features the music of Arvo Part, Philip Glass, Glyn Lehmann, and Valentin Silvestrov. All pieces are fine examples of modern minimalist composition, and they are all ripe with soothing melody and hypnotic interest.
Pärt’s Sequentia is sparsely written partially in the form of a canon, and the moments of silence in it are as important as the notes themselves. Strings are played without vibrato, and it has the effect of cleansing your musical palette ready for what follows.
Glass’s The Hours Suite is an arrangement of music from Stephen Daldry’s 2002 film The Hours adapted from Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which is based on aspects of the life of author Virginia Woolf. The film stars Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep. The Suite is essentially a three movement piano concerto scored for piano, strings, harp and celeste. Under David Sharp’s baton, the orchestra was too robust in the opening movement – perhaps too full-bodied especially at the moments when new musical ideas entered. Pianist Michael Ierace captured the fragile beauty of the composition throughout, particularly in the second movement with redolent accompaniment on the cellos, violas, and basses.
Pärt’s Summa began its life as an a capella vocal composition but was later recast for string orchestra. Its harmonies are absorbing and the repetition of a simple motif within it has a satisfying meditative effect. The audience was spellbound and ghostly quiet. Not even a cough.
For this reviewer, the highlight of the concert was Glyn Lehmann’s The Wisdom of Trees, which receives its world première performance in this series. Lehmann is a South Australian and is well known for his vocal compositions, especially those written for youth choirs, and sound designs for theatre productions. The Wisdom of Trees, like the Pärt compositions featured in today’s concert, is built on pristine melodic lines that are often first introduced by a single instrument. Again, Michael Ierace’s pianistic skills shaped the composition form the start, and Cameron Hill’s solo violin sections were ‘goose bump’ material. The Wisdom of Trees appears to be straight forward: introduction of thematic material, development, re-statement, and variation. But that would be selling it short, in the same way that to say Glass’s The Hours is merely repetitive. It is transporting and deserves to be heard again on the mainstage.
The concert concluded with Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s Silent Music for Strings. It has been said that this composition awakens memories, and, in their silence, the audience may well have thought about the shocking events that are unfolding in Silvestrov’s homeland. It is hard to reconcile those ongoing events with the beauty of Silent Music for Strings, and at its conclusion it was appropriate that the orchestra should silently leave the auditorium and then the audience without applause. Just contemplation.
The second in the Sanctuary Series will be performed in December and is entitled Eternal Beauty. It will feature music by Pärt, Sibelius, Satie, and Delius. If you work in the city, don’t delay in booking a yoga-mat seat (they sell quickly!) and be prepared to let the trouble of the working week be gently washed away in a calmed sea of serenity!
Kym Clayton
When: Concluded
Where: Grainger Studio
Bookings: Closed