Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 23 Sep 2016
The main billing was Elgar’s Cello Concerto, but Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony stole the show. Guest Conductor Michael Stern led the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in what was an engulfing performance.
Prokofiev wrote seven symphonies, and for my taste this is perhaps the best. Its strength and audacity is balanced by moments of great softness and aching tenderness. The briskness and spiky rhythms of the second movement are evocative of Prokofiev’s ballet scores, and contrast superbly with the stately regality of the first with echoes of its thematic material in the almost dissonant last movement.
Stern was at the top of his game. He plumbed the depths of the piece and produced a textured live performance that far excels many recordings. Guest Associate concert master Ike See was most engaging to watch throughout the performance. Like Stern, he ‘gets’ Prokofiev.
The concert began with a regulation performance of Debussy’s ever-popular Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, which if anything was slightly overpowered and less nuanced than it might be. Geoffrey Collins was his usual excellent self on flute.
It is a programming joy that the ASO occasionally chooses to feature its own principal musicians in concerto performances, and on this occasion Principal Cello Simon Cobcroft took the role of soloist in Elgar’s Cello Concerto and amply demonstrated that he is a world class musician. Cobcroft is a contained yet graceful musician, and his face is the window into his musical soul. The strained opening chords were matched by anxious grimaces on his brow, the forceful pizzicati in the slow second movement were punctuated by his defiant chin. The emotional third movement was written serenely in a half smile and Cobcroft worked very well with Stern in the fourth to keep up the pace.
Stern atypically addressed the audience at the conclusion of the concert to tell us something we already knew, that the ASO is class outfit!
Kym Clayton
When: 23 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Musica Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 15 Sep 2016
Music and politics are not uncommon sparring partners. To name a few, think of Beethoven striking the name of Napoleon from the dedication of his Third Symphony, or Shostakovich against Stalin, or Hitler espousing Wagner to say nothing of Wagner’s own anti-Semitism.
There are many other examples, and most recently Adelaide saw a living breathing example of politics knocking heads with music in the form of a small group of demonstrators at the main entrance to the Adelaide Town Hall to greet concertgoers arriving for a performance by the famed Jerusalem Quartet, a premier musical institution of world renown.
Brandishing placards, the demonstrators handed out pamphlets exhorting the public not to attend the concert thereby sending a “clear message to the Israeli government that its cultural ambassadors, the Jerusalem Quartet, will not be welcomed by international communities until there is a just peace in Palestine.”
Hmm…
Regardless of what one thinks about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and how to resolve it, it would seem that most if not all concertgoers politely disregarded the demonstrators, put aside politics, and went inside and enjoyed the concert, and what a concert it was: Beethoven’s youthful String Quartet No.6, Ross Edward’s carefree String Quartet No. 3 Summer Dances, and Dvorak’s mighty String Quartet No. 13.
The Jerusalem Quartet gave a text book performance of balance and harmony between the instruments. There were no surprises with their interpretations, and each composition was elegantly performed with warmth and persuasion. The authority of the cello was evident in the melancholic adagio fourth movement of the Beethoven.
Ross Edwards, who was present at the performance, introduced his own composition to the audience and commented on the “sublime acoustic” of the Adelaide Town Hall. This was especially palpable in the final Ecstatic Dance movement with the violins producing birdsong-like sounds that were reminiscent of his ‘maninya style’ in his Violin Concerto. This composition was a highlight of the evening.
Dvořák’s thirteenth string quartet is almost symphonic in character, lasting around thirty-five minutes, and the Jerusalem Quartet allowed the piece’s inbuilt energy and sundry bohemian moods to come to the fore in what was a stimulating performance.
Kym Clayton
When: 15 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 9 Sep 2016
Artists take their inspiration from diverse sources, and after the clay is fired or the paint has set or the ink is dry, it is often entirely unclear to the audience as to the connection between the final product and the inspiration. Often the connection needs to be spelled out to make it accessible.
This is certainly the case in relation to Hollow Kings by Australian contemporary composer James Ledger, who took his inspiration from certain speeches that are either spoken by or about a King from a Shakespearean play. (Hollow Kings? Memories of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hollow Crown come to mind.)
Hollow Kings comprises four musical ‘interludes’ (Ledger’s word, not mine) inspired by Macbeth, Henry VIII, Richard III, and King Lear. Ledger’s explanations in the concert programme notes are interesting, but the connections between the inspiration and the musical language is tenuous. Arguably, a piece of music should stand on its own merits as a piece of pure music, and whether it is programmatic or not is mostly only of intellectual interest.
The orchestration of Hollow Kings is divested of ornamentation and richness – it is almost sparse, and in that lies its interest, but not much.
Maestro Nicholas Carter again opted for a non-traditional layout for the orchestra, this time with the double basses to his far left, the first and second violins spread across the width of the stage, and the violas and cellos directly in front of the conductor’s podium.
This produced a wonderful aural effect for Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. The impact of the iconic opening was distributed across the stage, rather than being tightly localized. It had the effect of softening the sound, especially in those sections of the middle movements where conflict abounds. This could have been counterproductive but Carter gave the entire symphony a sense of assurance.
Russian pianist Alexei Volodin gave an impassioned but precise reading of Brahm’s romantic Piano Concerto No. 2. The horns beautifully introduced the piece and Volodin had us eating out of his hands as he nonchalantly tossed off the opening broken chords. From then it was a masterful display of technique, controlled power and phrasing, and brooding humanity.
Kym Clayton
When: 9 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
State Opera Of South Australia. Adelaide Town Hall. 2 Sep 2016
Bravo State Opera! This fabulous program of tuneful and hyper-emotional favorites from Puccini operas was one of the most joyous events on the Adelaide concert calendar this year.
Concert platform opera presentations are usually devoid of character costumes and dramatic stagings, and for some this often diminishes the ‘opera experience’, but State Opera’s Puccini Spectacular was in every way satisfying. Anyone who enjoys fine singing and rollicking good tunes but who is perhaps ‘opera shy’ should have no fear in attending an event such as this.
A highlight of the evening was the patter from compère Timothy Sexton, who is the high performing artistic director of State Opera. Fresh and still basking in the afterglow of the outstanding success that was Cloudstreet, Sexton authoritatively announced each bracket of arias with sophisticated, knowledgeable and downright humorous introductions. In full verbal flight, Sexton was a joy, but his antics were eclipsed – as they should be – by the superb singing of no less than seven of South Australia’s finest voices who were joined by the wonderful Rosario La Spina.
Sexton announced with pleasure that La Spina, who is one of Australia’s finest tenors, will be singing the role of Cavaradossi in State’s production of Tosca later this year in November. La Spina gave us taste of what to expect with a glorious and heartfelt, goose-bump raising performance of E lucevan le stelle. Each to his own, but this is my favorite tenor aria from the entire repertoire, and La Spina imbued it with exceptional humanity. His rendition of the ever popular Nessun Dorma nearly brought the Town Hall roof down.
The male singers (Bernard Hull, Rosario La Spina, Douglas McNicol and Jeremey Tatchell) were resplendent in their traditional black tailed-suits and white bowties, but the sopranos (Gisèle Blanchard, Teresa La Rocca, Joanna McWaters and Samantha Rubenhold) were jaw droppingly stunning in their full length décolletage gowns.
Blanchard effortlessly reached the high notes in Doretta’s Aria, Chi il bel sogno di Doretta, from La Rondine, and sliced through the might of the Adelaide Symphony that was at risk of inundating her. As Liu in Turandot, her performance of Signore, ascolta! was sublime.
Rubenhold left us in no doubt that she is a fine actress and does not need the trappings of scenery and props to tell a story. Her performance of O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi was sung with power but unmistakable sweetness and control. Maestro Stephen Mould managed the orchestra especially well during this aria, and ensured that Rubenhold was never eclipsed.
Teresa la Rocca has never sounded finer, and her Si, mi chiamano Mimi from La Bohème was delivered with profound simplicity, as was her Senza mamma from Suor Angelica, which was hauntingly beautiful despite its heartbreaking context.
Joanna McWaters continues to impress and her bracket from Madama Butterfly abundantly demonstrated her skill as an actress of considerable ability. Her love duet with Bernard Hull – Vogliatemi bene – was transporting. They both took us ever so briefly to a simple setting in imperial Japan and allowed us to catch a glimpse of the intimate moment when two young lovers profess their love. Their smiles filled the stage. Hull’s Donna non vidi mai from Manon Lescaut had both warmth and strength.
McNicol’s resonant baritone voice was almost overpowered by the orchestra in a fine performance of Si corre dal notaio from Gianni Schicchi, which is perhaps not one of the more spectacular Puccini arias for the baritone voice. As Sharpless in Dovunque al mondo from Madama Butterfly, he was appropriately avuncular, and Tatchell as Goro was brilliantly comical. Tatchell’s ‘coat aria’ from La Bohème was superbly sung and beautifully tongue-in-cheek with its understated humour and parody.
State Opera have a winning formula with this format. Maybe a Verdi Spectacular might be in the offing sometime in the future, or a bel canto evening of Bellini and Donizetti? Bring it on!
Kym Clayton
When: 2 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Festival Theatre. 5 Aug 2016
The fifth in the current Master Series by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, this concert was an evening of impassioned and lush melodies in the form of a Czech sandwich with a German filling. The bread comprised Smetana’s ever popular overture to his opera The Bartered Bride and Dvorak’s majestic Symphony No 7 in D minor. The ever so satisfying filling was Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D at the hands of American violinist and Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic , Noah Bendix-Bagley.
All three compositions are clear favorites with Adelaide concertgoers and have been performed by the ASO within the last five years. Guest conductor Johannes Fritzsch had the measure of the acoustics of the Town Hall and took each piece at a fair pace and with uncompromising attention to well-defined phrasing. This allowed the sudden and contrasting changes in dynamics and rhythmic structures that are features of each composition to come through clearly, and the overt romanticism of each composition never dissolved into sentimentalism.
Making his debut in Australia, Bendix-Bagley gave a masterful performance of the Brahms. He played it with strength and assurance, and Fritzsch gave him room to make articulate and authoritative statements at the beginnings and ends of every difficult technical passage. Bendix-Bagley earned spontaneous applause from the audience at the end of the first movement and took the opportunity to quickly re-tune his 1732 Cremonese violin ready for the onset of the soulful adagio second movement before moving without pause into the gypsy-infused allegro giocoso final third movement. At the final stroke of his bow, the audience burst into rapturous applause that earned an encore from Bendix-Bagley in the form of Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006, which he played at an unhurried pace that laid bare his undoubted technical mastery for all to appreciate and admire.
Dvorak’s seventh symphony is the perfect choice to follow the Brahms violin concerto, for in it there seem to be the faintest echoes of the gorgeous tunes around which the concerto is constructed. Did one sense Maestro Fritzsch occasionally insisting that the orchestra play rubato to expose these quasi quotations? Whether this be fanciful or not, the result was an immensely satisfying reading that clearly captivated individual musicians in the orchestra as well.
Kym Clayton
When: 5 Aug
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed