Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 21 Sep 2024
Some symphonies are as enjoyable when heard on a recording as they are when listened to in the concert hall. Elgar’s mighty Symphony No.2 in E flat, Op. 63, is not one of them, at least in the opinion of this reviewer. It begs to be seen as well as heard. By any measure it is ‘big’, and the best listening experience is to hear it live and see it’s awesome might unfold before your very eyes. It can be an all-consuming experience, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s performance of it this evening under the expert and nurturing direction of British conductor Mark Wigglesworth bordered on the sublime.
Elgar’s Symphony No.2 was the main piece in Reflection, the sixth concert in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2024 Symphony Series, and it was an astonishing success. The program also included Mozart’s ever-sunny Concerto for Clarinet in A, K. 622, with Dean Newcomb, the orchestra’s very own principal clarinettist, as soloist. K622 is almost a party piece for Newcomb – he’s performed it elsewhere, always to critical acclaim – and tonight’s performance was as good as any you will ever hear. Unlike the Elgar, the Mozart holds up well on recordings and is always enjoyable to listen to. It is quintessential Mozart, brimming with diverse lush melodies that are developed in surprising and interesting ways. Newcomb made it his own and dealt easily (seemingly!) with the technical difficulty inherent in the piece. He used that difficulty to bring the piece to life as if one was hearing it for the first time. Ambrose Bierce, an American writer, journalist and poet of the Civil War period, opined in his satirical book The Devil’s Dictionary that “…there are two instruments worse than a clarinet – two clarinets”, but tonight nothing could be further than the truth! (Newcomb and other clarinettists continued that excellence into the Elgar.)
In the right hands, the clarinet is sublime, and Newcomb produced the most gorgeous tones in the Mozart. The cadenza in the first movement allowed Newcomb to show his artistry in the lower register, and in the second movement his breath control in the softest sections was almost otherworldly. At the conclusion of the concerto, the large audience erupted immediately into deserved and sustained applause, with shouts of bravo and wolf whistles. One might suggest the audience is parochial, but Newcomb stands tall on the international stage and the audience knows it, as did Wigglesworth whose pleasure at the performance was clearly written across his broad smile. Newcomb took a risk and performed an encore of blistering difficulty that again showed his technical command and his innate feel and musicality for both ‘classical’ and modern repertoire.
A number of familiar faces were absent from the orchestra tonight, and those who played in their stead continued the high standard. Noticeably, associate principal percussionist Sami Butler slipped across the stage and stood in for absent principal timpanist Andrew Penrose. The Elgar demands much from the timpani and Butler was at the top of his game. He clearly looked like he was enjoying the challenge, and during the bows at the end of the symphony, Wigglesworth called on Butler to stand first and accept both his and the audience’s accolade.
A general member of the audience cannot know what the conductor’s instructions are to the orchestra, but it would be a safe bet that in the opening of the symphony Wigglesworth insisted on almost unbridled enthusiasm from the strings. This reviewer was astonished at the physicality of the principal strings: to a person they arched their backs from the outset and threw every emotion at the piece. The symphony is written on a grand scale, with recurrent melodic material including quotations, seemingly, from other Elgar masterworks, and a dynamic schema that is almost exhausting for the audience and musicians alike. There is wave after wave of elongated crescendi that are almost wearying (in a nice way!) to take in, which eventually subside into calmness before the passionate roller coaster begins again. Tension. Abatement. Repeat. Majestic relentlessness and insistence. Pure joy. After each movement, there were audible sighs from the audience – sighs of contentment and of emotional release. With the final bars dissolving away into the night, the audience was stunned, but silence soon gave way to enthusiastic and heartfelt applause.
Reflection indeed. The program put on display the best of humanity, something we sorely need more of in these trouble times.
Kym Clayton
When: 21 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Cantata Band. Bethlehem Lutheran Church. 6 Sep 2024
The three hundredth anniversary of the first performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245) provides an ideal opportunity to rejoice in Bach’s music, and this all-Bach program by the Adelaide Cantata Band made for a most worthy celebration.
The Adelaide Cantata Band comprises an ensemble of top class soloists and instrumentalists, together with a choir drawn from the Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Pilgrim Uniting Church choirs under the direction of organist Andrew Georg. The Band opened with a motet, Bach’s Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden (Praise the Lord, all Nations, BWV 230) in which the excellent choir was supported by a gentle string accompaniment. There is some doubt as to the authenticity of this work and it has been suggested that it was written by another composer, but it is a magical piece.
The St John Passion was the first passion Bach had written in his role as cantor in Leipzig, which he had taken up in the previous year. The Band performed an exemplary selection of arias and a chorus from the St John Passion, beginning with the aria for alto, Von den Stricken meiner Sünden (From the ropes of my sins), wonderfully performed by Emma Woehle. Tenor Kim Worley was then outstanding in the aria Ach, mein Sinn (Alas, my conscience), as was bass James Scott in the aria Mein teurer Heiland, laß dich fragen (My precious Saviour, let me ask).
The musicians of the Adelaide Cantata Band all use historically informed instruments. For the aria Zerfließe, mein Herze (Dissolve, my heart), Bach required the use of an oboe da caccia (hunting oboe) instead of the conventional baroque oboe. The oboe da caccia is larger than the baroque oboe and has a curved body and a brass bell similar to that of a trumpet. It has a richer, warmer sound approaching that of a bassoon but a little lighter, and in the expert hands of oboist Jane Downer, it added depth and colour to the music.
Additionally for this aria, Brendan O’Donnell used a voice flute, which is a recorder tuned to a pitch between alto and tenor, in place of the more usual transverse flute or traverso. Its warmer tone combined with Suzanne Pederson’s glorious soprano voice and Downer’s oboe da caccia to create a mellifluous blend of sound. This aria provided one of the most magical moments of the evening.
The final excerpt from the St John Passion was the chorus Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine (Rest well, you blessed limbs) one of the most evocative pieces in the oratorio, and the choir and ensemble gave an exquisite performance.
The program concluded with a performance of the cantata Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Only upon You, Lord Jesus Christ, BWV 33) for four-part choir, oboes, strings and continuo, which was first performed on 3 September 1724, almost exactly 300 years ago.
The aria for alto, Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritte (How fearfully my steps wander) is the longest and perhaps the most enchanting element of this cantata, and it proceeds at a walking pace with a syncopated rhythm that suggests unsteadiness. First violinist Holly Piccoli’s muted violin combined beautifully with Emma Woehle’s alto voice and the organ continuo of Andrew Georg in a delicious intertwining of melodic lines, accompanied by string pizzicati that established the rhythm.
In the duet for tenor and bass, Gott, der du die Liebe heißt (God, you who are called love) Kim Worley and James Scott’s voices melded nicely, and the chorale, Ehr sei Gott in dem höchsten Thron (Honour be to God on the highest throne), provided an uplifting finale to conclude a memorable concert. The soloists, choir and instrumentalists of the Adelaide Cantata Band performed superbly.
Chris Reid
When: 6 Sep
Where: Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Bookings: Closed
Elder Hall, University of Adelaide. 25 Aug 2024
Selby & Friends begin their current national tour in Adelaide with an all-Beethoven program of chamber masterworks for violin, piano and cello entitled Triple Treat. Joining Kathryn Selby AM are violinist Susie Park and cellist Timo-Veikko Valve.
The “headline” piece is Carl Reineke’s arrangement of Beethoven’s Concerto in C for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op.56 – usually referred to as the Triple Concerto – and what a fabulous arrangement it is. Arrangements (read ‘reductions’) of concerti are common and the piano often plays the part of the orchestra, but when the concerto also includes the piano as a featured instrument, then the musical equation becomes somewhat more challenging and complicated. Reineke’s arrangement steers a well-crafted path between foregrounding all three instruments and using them to broaden the sound palette to emulate the orchestra. Of course, none of this amounts to much if the trio of players do not sufficiently draw out the distinction between soloist and ensemble. Happily, Selby, Park, and Valve achieve precisely that, and more: their individual and collective performances are refreshing and first rate.
The Triple Concerto is intensely melody driven, and the audience greets its opening bars with smiles as if a welcome friend has come to visit. The beautifully delicate conversation between the piano and cello at the beginning of the second movement, which soon includes a wistful violin, is a highlight of the performance.
The scene for the Triple was set by two Beethoven piano trios from different stages of his compositional life. The Piano Trio in B-flat, Op.11, was written when Beethoven was in his late-twenties – in his so-called ‘early period’, which is typified by Viennese classical elegance, clarity, restraint, and balance, and sometimes by the use of tunes that were familiar to the public. Selby, who often speaks directly to the audience in her concerts about the program being performed, referred to such tunes as ‘street songs”. Indeed, the third movement of the B-flat trio includes ample references to the aria Preia ch’io I’impegno that can be traced back to the opera L'amour Marinaro by Joseph Weigl (who was a friend of Beethoven). Selby, Park, and Valve begin the work with precise, elegant and punctuated phrasing. Selby produces astonishing bell-like tones from the Steinway in the adagio second movement, and Park and Valve capitalise on the jaunty rhythms in the third.
The Piano Trio in E-flat, Op.70, is an altogether different beast. Deriving from Beethoven’s middle period, the Op.70 is harmonically much more sophisticated and this is plainly evident in the very opening of the first movement. The strong almost drone-like phrases in the second movement sees Valve command the piece with Selby and Park providing authoritative lyricism, which continues into the third movement with Selby producing gorgeous filigree phrases in the right hand. In the finale, Park produces stunningly even and vibrant sounds across the full tonal range and across all dynamics. It’s a masterclass in articulation, control and expressivity.
The concert is indeed a triple treat and will be repeated in other centres across the country in the coming week. Highly recommended.
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Aug 2024
Where: Elder Hall
Bookings: Closed
Touring info: selbyandfriends.com.au
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Grainger Studio. 2 Aug 2024
Symmetry is the second concert in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2024 Sanctuary Series, and it was perfectly named. There was indeed symmetry in the program, which included the first movement (Voices of Silence) from Pēteris Vasks’ Symphony No.1, Huang Ruo’s A Dust in Time, Gavin Bryars’ In Nomine (after Purcell), and then Valentin Silvestrov’s Hymn–2001 at the end.
Sanctuary Series concerts are performed in the ASO’s rehearsal venue The Grainger Studio, and two types of seating are on offer: conventional tiered seats, and … yoga mats! For this concert the ASO is reduced to its string sections (and in reduced numbers). The music on offer is deliberately meditative and soothing, the auditorium lights are almost fully dimmed, and formality is intentionally stripped away (even though some in the audience have come directly from work and are in office attire and suits). Applause is expressly forbidden, and the orchestra takes no bows or acknowledgement. It is all about you and both your emotional and physiological response to the music. Physiological because as you allow yourself to deeply relax and concentrate on nothing but the music, you can almost feel your metabolism slowing down, and for many in the audience, gently induced moments of “…innocent sleep that soothes away all our worries …that relieves the weary laborer and heals hurt minds” take over (with apologies to Shakespeare).
It truly is a wonderful way to listen to (some) music.
Voices of Silence begins with most delicately, almost inaudibly, as cello and violin strings are gently rubbed. The sound builds as if one is gradually becoming attuned to the murmurings of a distant crowd of people that is gradually getting closer. The melodic material is minimalistic in content but maximal in its impact: sustained notes around which dance transitory motifs that are evocative of sorrow, loss and solitude. Simplicity continues with A Dust in Time: two-note phrases, one played after the other, rising, falling, one long, the other short. How long before one becomes captive to the sound and loses track of time? Hypnotic. When it almost seems too much the music starts pulsating, cruelly bringing one back to the present as it becomes more evenly measured as it announces its ending. In Nomine (after Purcell) also uses two note figures. Symmetry. It is unfussed, contemplative and almost unemotional, but it has the opposite effect. As the music plays, one starts to observe the audience, especially the figures lying on the floor on yoga mats. They slowly come to the front of one’s mind and one notices the shapes of their silhouettes, the way they are dressed, partners holding hands, then releasing. All in the name of what? Individuals all responding to musical stimulus in their own way. Hymn–2001 then brings us all back to the present. The melody is more obvious. It is dreamy and languid, but life and hope rises out of it as a solo violin gently demands to be noticed. And we do notice it, and the concert is then over.
Gentle and private bliss.
Kym Clayton
When: 2 Aug
Where: Grainger Studios
Bookings: Closed
Muisca Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 31 Jul 2024
The ultimate distinction in any human endeavour, arguably, is to become part of the furniture. In the world of choral singing, it is hard to imagine the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge not being there. Indeed, King’s College Choir was established in 1441 by King Henry VI to provide daily singing, and it has continued to do so at the highest level of proficiency since then. Part of furniture? Most certainly, and what exquisite and precious furniture.
The choir consists of 17 boy and 14 adult male choristers. They are all students at King’s College at Cambridge University or an associated school. With almost military precision they file on stage with crossed arms supporting their songbooks and dressed formally: grey trousers, white shirts, bow ties (for the adults) and straight ties for the boys, and black undergraduate gowns. They are joined by their two organists. They all look immaculate. They form three tiered ranks and are then joined by Director of Music, Daniel Hyde dressed similarly. He looks dignified, in total control, and benevolent. One senses the choristers have a deep respect and admiration for him, and they should. He is an internationally regarded musician in his own right, and was once a member of the choir himself. He’s grown up through the ranks. He understands the choir’s history and traditions, and his musical and choral knowledge is second to none.
As is often the case with Musica Viva tours, there are two programs on offer, and the programs prepared by Hyde vary according to the availability or not of a grand pipe organ at the venue. The Adelaide Town Hall is blessed with a magnificent pipe organ built by J.W. Walker and Sons located in Brandon, Essex, which is a mere 50 kilometres or so from Cambridge, and so the program performed here included pieces that significantly feature the organ.
The program included choral works by G.F. Handel, G. Gabrielli, M. Lauridsen, E. Bainton, D. Barbeler, and M. Duruflé. There were also two substantial organ solos by O. Messiaen.
The evening began with a crowd pleaser – Handel’s anthem Zadok the Priest. The organ set a brisk pace throughout the ninety second introduction before reaching the crescendo that stuns the audience with the choir erupting with the iconic text. It’s stirring stuff, and the choir of 31 voices sounded more like one of twice that number. This reviewer sensed that the audience would have liked to hear more like Zadok: maybe Franck’s Panis Angelicus, an excerpt from Allegri’s Miserere, Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, or Parry’s I Was Glad. The King’s Choir has sold almost uncountable numbers of CDs with these same titles.
But it’s perfectly fine to program a concert with compositions that are less well known, and Hyde did precisely that. The second half of the program entirely comprised Duruflé’s setting of the catholic requiem mass. The excellent program notes include: ‘If you are not an organist, you probably know little about Maurice Duruflé: he wrote little, kept less, and almost all of it is church music, for organ, choir, or both.’ It is a substantial work – 45 minutes in duration – and unlike better known Requiems such as by Verdi, Mozart and Fauré, it doesn’t really inflame the passions and transport us to other places other than to a peaceful corner of one’s own mind. Perhaps not a bad thing.
Musica Viva concerts frequently include world premières of new music, and this concert was no exception. Australian composer Damian Barbeler has adapted text from Australian poet Judith Nangala Crispin’s poem On Finding Charlotte in the Anthropological Record and set it to music that is rich, varied and evocative of peaceful but mysterious Australian landscapes. The poem won the 2020 Blake Poetry Prize and focusses on Crispin’s 20-year search to uncover information about her Indigenous Australian Heritage. The text is not easy to articulate in song and it was helpful having the poem printed in full in the program, otherwise some of it would have been lost. The text includes the powerful phrase ‘Can you tell me who I am’, which, thankfully, was heard clearly and was enhanced by music that was empathetic to the confronting messaging.
The choir’s performance of Gabrielli’s O magnum mysterium (composed in 1557) , and Morten Lauridsen’s setting of the same text (composed nearly 450 years later in 1994), were fascinating contrasts. Edgar Bainton’s And I Saw a New Heaven provided a connection to the tradition of English choral music that was largely missing from the program, with the exception of the Handel. Perhaps the connection might have been better provided with English organ music rather than the two pieces by Olivier Messiaen? Regardless of the merits of programming choices, the two organists Harrison Cole and Paul Greally were magnificent in their performances of Messiaen’s Les Anges and Transports de joie, both of which are difficult to play and impressive to hear.
At the end of the the final exultant and long sustained note of Transports de joie, the almost capacity Adelaide Town Hall audience could be heard to gasp in amazed and awe-struck appreciation. It might have been better if the concert finished with a similar wow factor rather than the muted contentment of the Requiem.
Kym Clayton
When: 31 Jul
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed