Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Concordia College Chapel. 3 Jul 2015
Artistic Director and Conductor Peter Handsworth is a programming virtuoso, and his design of the AWO’s latest concert – entitled ‘Jazz @ The Chapel’ – was pure genius. It got us toe tapping with Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, relaxed us with Morton Gould’s über laid back Pavanne, revved us up again with Gershwin’s Prelude No. 2 before blasting us into the stratosphere with a dizzying world première performance by the internationally acclaimed clarinetist Andy Firth in his own composition Australia Fair Variations, and that was all before the interval!
The second half treated us to more of Firth’s ridiculously prodigious talents on the clarinet with a stunning performance Artie Shaw’s Concerto for Clarinet, an arrangement of Duke Ellington’s iconic It Don’t Mean A Thing and a full shift into modern jazz with Thad Jones’ Greetings and Salutations.
We experienced jazz with a symphonic treatment through to the modern jazz trio. A full traversal of jazz influences, and all in less than ninety minutes, which was probably a good thing. Could we have stood more excitement?
Handsworth’s treatment of Gershwin was a little heavy handed, and the icy temperature in the Chapel on a cold winter’s evening appeared to cause the ensemble to overplay at times and lose decisiveness in phrasing.
The Australia Fair Variations were great fun to listen to, and the composition was almost an object lesson in how to use ornamentation and alterations to rhythm and meter to create interesting and exciting variations of a well-known tune. Firth’s technique was dazzling and the highlight of the composition was the contrasting middle section that became an homage to the Anzacs before exploding into an unbridled celebration of freedom and joie de vivre!
This was a concert of ‘serious music’ but it was ever so fitting that the large audience should break into spontaneous applause in between variations, which Firth graciously acknowledged. It was also fitting that at the end of the concert Firth should acknowledge the excellent musicianship of the drummer in Greetings and Salutations. (The programme doesn’t list the names of the members of the orchestra and so regrettably I cannot mention him by name!)
And if all that wasn’t enough, Handsworth joined Firth in another of Firth’s compositions entitled Itchywawa or some such name! It had humour and pazzaz. It was a final virtuosic dispay and the audience left wanting more.
Well done Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Another superlative concert.
Kym Clayton
When: 3 Jul
Where: Concordia College Chapel
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Festival Theatre. 27 Jun 2015
A world-class live performance of Strauss’ Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder) has been on my bucket list for a long time, and every opportunity to hear them has been thwarted until last weekend when it was my very real pleasure to hear internationally acclaimed soprano Christine Brewer deliver her ninety-eighth performance of what is surely one of the pinnacle compositions of the twentieth century.
The Four last Songs take no prisoner. It takes a mature and robust voice to handle them, yet one that can also rise gracefully like a floating feather on a gentle zephyr. They demand a voice that can soar above a full-strength orchestra that has all but given itself over to glorious melodic lines that transport the player and listener alike. Christine Brewer was at one with all of that, although guest maestro Christoph Koenig was a little too generous on the forte side of the ledger, especially during the first two songs. In the third and fourth songs, and especially in Im Abendrot, Brewer’s expansive and mellifluous voice seemed to rise effortlessly out of nothing and fill the Festival theatre with transcendent melancholy and almost self-forgetfulness. The audience was transported.
And as if Vier letzte Lieder wasn’t enough to make one almost infinitely content, Mahler’s mighty Symphony No.1 ‘Titan’ followed in what was a tour de force performance. Koenig’s reading of Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni at the start of the evening was pedestrian, but his Mahler was anything but. Koenig’s pace was moderate. The programme notes indicated he would bring it home in around fifty-three minutes, which he did. Any slower and the contrasting savage mood shifts in the second movement would have been labored and awkward, and any faster and the evocative funereal third movement would have fallen in on itself as it was swamped by the attack of the final movement.
I love Mahler above all other symphonists, and I have far too many recordings of all his symphonies. I love to compare different interpretations, and I found much to appreciate in Koenig’s reading: clarity, appropriate tempo, passion, and thoughtful emphasis on principal instruments at key times. And how refreshing for the double basses to be acknowledged first in the bows!
Bravo.
Kym Clayton
When: 27 Jun
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Concordia College Chapel. 8 May 2015
The Adelaide Wind Orchestra (AWO) is a gem, and its repertoire is as imaginative as it is technically demanding. Tonight’s concert featured composers who are known for bending the musical rules to breaking point but not to the extent of sacrificing melody and interest.
Charles Ives’ Country Band March is at times raucous and strident and has all the hallmarks of a rollicking street band struggling with complex tonalities. It was perhaps played too loudly for the acoustic of the performance space, but it ultimately rewards with the soothing tranquility of an oboe line that was played beautifully.
Copeland’s El Salon Mexico is, apparently, influenced by the idiom of Mexican folk song but it retains the distinctive sound of Copeland and what we often think of as ‘American’ music. It features the customary harmonisation found in much folk music tradition as well as pitch sliding and call-and-response motives. The saxophone was especially pleasing. Percy Grainger was also famous for his documentation of folk songs, and Hill Song II has an Irish drone quality to it that demands utmost concentration and imagination from the ensemble to give it flight. The AWO gave the piece a sense of freshness.
H Owen Reed’s La Fiesta Mexicana is quite a remarkable and innovative composition. It takes the call-and-response device to a new level by featuring a smaller off-stage ensemble to respond to the ‘calls’ from rest of the orchestra on the main stage. The contrabassoon and bass-clarinet lines were superb, and the chimes and horn sections were bold, arresting and heroic.
Hindemith is an acquired taste and I’m afraid it often passes me by. (As a musically impressionable teenager I was bruised by a booming performance of his Sonata for Trombone and Piano.) However, his Geschwindmarsch provided the AWO with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how the sound of diverse wind instruments can fit hand in glove when played by accomplished players and under the direction of a conductor (Peter Handsworth) who lives and breathes wind instruments.
The evening rounded out with an Australian première of Alan Hovhaness’ Symphony No. 4 which included harp and impressive display of extensive percussion (including vibraphone).
AWO concerts are a revelation: violins and other string instruments are not necessary to produce a full symphonic ‘feel’; its fun to see and hear an ensemble tune up to the tuba; a whole new repertoire becomes accessible; and it is enormously comforting to see an ensemble comprising almost entirely of talented musicians who are on the right side of thirty!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Concordia College Chapel
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Master Series 3. Adelaide Town Hall. 1 May 2015
We human beings like structure in our lives, including our music, but we also like to strike out and throw the rules way. First and Last, the third concert in the Master Series by our own world class Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, served up a satisfying sandwich of rule breaking and invention wrapped between two slices of comforting orderliness.
The rule breaking and invention was provided by contemporary Scottish composer James MacMillan’s remarkable Viola Concerto. Co-commissioned by the ASO, this was the Australian premiere of what is a remarkable composition. It’s not a concerto in the traditional sense. Yes it does have three movements, but that’s about where its connection with the ‘traditional form’ ends. There is no clear use of the usual theme/ development/ variation/ recapitulation approaches that we have all grown fond of – the very things that allows us to ‘understand’ a piece of music. What we have instead is “pure music” – three separate pieces that are inward looking and self-sufficient. The programme notes ask the audience to ponder how successfully MacMillan has added to the concerto genre and also to the viola repertoire. My response is that I don’t particularly care about the first question, but the viola canon has been well served, and at the hands of viola genius, Lawrence Power the result was spectacular.
Each movement of the ‘concerto’ is its own universe. The first has at times a bluesy de-tuned Gershwin feel to it. The second is often mournful and has long languid melody lines that evolve into a fluidity and energy that is reminiscent of John Adams single movement violin ‘concerto’ The Dharma at Big Sur. The third features an exciting musical duel between the soloist and the orchestra’s principal violas and cellos, almost with a ‘dueling banjos’ dramatic feel to it! The concerto abruptly ends, but the audience was on its feet in an instant. MacMillan and guest conductor Mark Wigglesworth were brought back for no less than four bows. All richly deserved.
MacMillan provided an imposing presence on stage. He is a tall man and holds his instrument with strength and authority. He is active on stage, and takes in all that is around him, frequently eyeballing the conductor and members of the orchestra. The lines of communication are palpable. His technique is undeniable, even dazzling, and the viola takes on a whole new dimension for us.
Great programming ASO. Well commissioned!
The first piece of bread for the evening was Haydn’s first symphony. I’ve never heard it before and it comes in at around 11 minutes. By comparison to the viola concerto that followed it, and Dvorak’s New World symphony that finished the evening, it is almost insignificant, but it had its charm. Interestingly the first movement at times gives unusual prominence to the violas by separating them from the usual bass accompaniment. A clever piece of programming by the ASO to lead us into the viola concerto!
The MacMillan was not everyone’s cup of tea, but the Dvorak certainly was. It is uber melodic and the Goin’ Home melody in the Largo movement is universally known and well loved. To my ear Wigglesworth took the adagio first movement a little more slowly than is usual, and it worked a treat. It gave opportunity for precise phrasing and for the interesting rhythmic structures to come to the fore. Peter Duggan’s cor anglais solo was superb and it was quite fitting that Wigglesworth should offer up his gorgeous congratulatory flowers (from Tynte florist) to Duggan at the conclusion of the concert.
There is remarkable depth to the ASO, and it was again a joy to see and hear talented artists unleash the music rather than just play the notes. Hugh Kluger is a relatively recent addition to the bass section and with his comparative youth he played the Dvorak with sassiness and attitude. Invigorating to watch, as it is to watch them all.
Wonderful concert. I’m still humming the Dvorak, though for the life of me I can’t recall a melody from the MacMillan, but the sense of excitement persists!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Master Series Two. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 17 Apr 2015
French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie and guest conductor Maestro Yan Pascal Tortelier demonstrated a rare sympatico to produce a richly textured and thrilling performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Dressed in very smart and distinctive formal wear, Lortie assumed the stage with great anticipation and from the moment he leaned into the decisive opening chords, it was clear that his reading was going to be special; and it was. Lortie carefully applied considerable forearm weight when it was needed in the first and second movements rather than striking the keys to produce a percussive effect. The beginnings of his phrases were beautifully controlled and exquisitely in time with the orchestra. He and Tortelier frequently looked at and into each other. Their communication was intense and meaningful. Although Lortie was enthusiastically applauded by the audience at the end, much credit was also due to Tortelier.
If we were ever hesitant to extol Tortelier’s talent, his reading of Sibelius’ Symphony No.1 in E minor put all doubts to the sword. The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra has an affinity for Sibelius, having recorded all his symphonies in 2010 and presented a Sibelius festival back in 2007, both under Arvo Volmer. Tortelier capitalised on the deep understanding the ASO has for Sibelius but he also made it sound fresh. He allowed the rich melodies to soar – sometimes almost with overwhelming force – but did not allow them individually to assume more importance than they should. They each had their moment in the Finnish sun, but there was no room for rapaciousness! The composition is grand in its conception and each section of the orchestra gets a work-out, but none more so than the strings. It was a pure delight to watch the principals at work, and guest concertmaster Elizabeth Layton and associate Cameron Hill combined in another superb partnership to ensure the intense and almost unbridled emotion was abundantly evident, but kept in check. Not even a broken string on Ewen Bramble’s cello could put a dent in the proceedings; congratulations to Sarah Denbigh for swapping cellos with him and for somehow managing the remainder of the performance with a hurt-but-not-out instrument!
The programme began with a spirited performance of the Overture to Beatrice et Benedict by Berlioz, and the evening gently faded to a satisfying conclusion with the thought provoking and almost anti-climactical final bars of the Sibelius.
Well done ASO. A great concert.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed