Mozart and Magic

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 3 Oct 2014

The most recent instalment in the Adelaide Symphony’s Gala Series, Mozart and Magic, lived up to its name - and magical it was.  The evening belonged to the woodwinds, which featured prominently throughout the program.

In ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, Mark Gaydon demonstrated that he is one of Australia’s eminent bassoonists, and he ‘nailed’ the iconic bouncy passage which we all associate with the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia in which Mickey Mouse plays the apprentice.  From my box seat in the auditorium I could clearly see a sea of heads bobbing in time.

Michael Collin’s performance of the exquisite ‘Concerto for Clarinet in A’ by Mozart was just sublime.  What an absolute joy to have this famed artist once again delighting audiences in Adelaide.  Collins is supremely comfortable across the full spectrum of the clarinet repertoire, from new works to classical mainstays such as the Mozart.  He captured its lyricism, lightness and deeply expressed delicate emotion.  The adagio movement is often associated with a moment in the 1984 film Amadeus directed by Miloš Forman when Salieri describes the entry of the clarinet in the following way:  “Extraordinary! On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God.” Flowery language maybe, but it is a special moment, and Collins made the piece his. The audience applauded Collins at the end of the first movement – something quite unusual for an Adelaide audience – but they were stunned into an almost devout silence by the end of the second.  However, nothing was going to stop an explosion of appreciated applause at the conclusion of the final third movement, and it was nearly deafening.

American guest conductor Michael Stern was in his element with Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’ suite, and for me this was the highlight of the evening’s programme.  We do not hear enough of Copland’s music in our concert halls.  Copland forged a distinctly ‘American style’ of serious concert music and made much of it as accessible as possible through the use of deliberate and slowly changing harmony and melodies that are evocative of the legendary at wild west.  The music was in Stern’s blood and he was entirely successful in getting the ASO to play it as if the orchestra were resident in Stern’s native Kansas. At the conclusion, Stern left the podium an almost spent force but he returned to finish the program with a vigorous and stylish performance of Stravinsky’s popular ‘The Firebird’ suite.  

This programme had something for everyone.

Kym Clayton

When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed

Andrew Strong

The Commitments Australian Tour. The Governor Hindmarsh. 3 Oct 2014

I can’t say I’ve ever really been a follower of cover bands, and can probably count the number of times I’ve seen one on one hand. I can appreciate what it is that they do, and admit that it is nice to sometimes hear a cover version of a loved track, but on the whole, cover bands are not my thing.

Unless, that is, the cover band does something special with the music they’re playing, breathing new life into it and putting their own spin on proceedings. And that, I am pleased to note, is where Andrew Strong and his band of Commitments fits into the musical sphere.

Irish film ‘The Commitments’ is definitely one of my all-time favourite movies, and like so many others who were enchanted by the film about a bunch of Irish misfits who get together to play black soul music, I was quickly charmed by the sensational vocal abilities of Andrew Strong, if not by his boisterous character Deco. In the film, Deco was a bit of a tool, but thankfully that’s not a trait that Andrew Strong shares in real life, and his stage prowess outshines anything his character could have done! So needless to say, I was pretty happy when I heard that Andrew had put together a band and a tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Commitments, and am even happier that ‘Andrew Strong: The Commitments Tour’ paid a visit to our fair city!

As you may expect, the packed crowd at the Gov were of the slightly more seasoned variety, likely a mix of those old enough to remember the film and lovers of the original soul music of the ’60s and ’70s (or both!), but despite the average age, there was plenty of energy in the room! And things reached fever pitch as Andrew came out on stage, joined by a couple of horns, a guy on keys, bass, drums and guitar, and his sister Niamh on backing vocals. All suited in slick threads, they kicked things off with the classic ‘In The Midnight Hour’.

From there, it was a virtual battle between Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding tunes, playing off numbers like ‘Hard To Handle’ and ‘Land Of 1000 Dances’, mixed in with plenty of other soul standards like Joe Tex’s ‘Show Me’, vocal acrobatics on James Carr’s ‘Dark End Of The Street’, and Roy Head’s ‘Treat Her Right’, complete with a mix of change-ups to keep the crowd guessing with their participation and singing, while also showing just how tight the band can be! Andrew’s sister Niamh took centre stage for tunes like the Aretha Franklin pair ‘Chain Of Fools’ and ‘Never Loved A Man’, demonstrating that vocal talent runs in the family! The band was pretty impressive too, with some great Hammond sounds coming from the keys, super soulful sax playing and fat bass, topped off with Andrew’s guitar soloing prowess showing his multitude of musical talents.

Late in the set, Andrew introduced a new song, which ended up being the infamous ‘Mustang Sally’, much to the crowd’s delight, before proceedings closed with a killer cover of Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gimme Some Lovin’’, with a finish that never seemed to end and bringing things to an almighty climax!

The first set may have been over, but that wasn’t it for the night, with the band returning for some great versions of James Brown’s ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’, a sensational metal romp with Hendrix’s ‘Fire’, and finally ending on a high with Otis Redding’s ‘Try A Little Tenderness’.

Without a doubt, Andrew Strong still has that voice, and the music has remained ever as enjoyable all these years later. What a fantastic show, even if it was full of covers!

Luke Balzan

When: Closed
Where: The Gov
Bookings: Closed

Ash Grunwald

The Governor Hindmarsh. 27 Sep 2014

It was a perfect end to a perfect day. The temperature tipped the high end of the 20s, I’d spent most of the day outside, chilled out with friends and a few bevies, and to cap it all off, a brilliant show put on by the incredible Ash Grunwald at The Gov. Life is sweet!

The evening got off to a good start with Ian Collard, who’s building quite a name for himself in blues circles. Performing solo and playing guitar, stomp box and a mean blues harp, Ian certainly set the right mood for Ash to follow. Ian’s style sits well within the deep-south, old school blues spectrum, with a meaty sound along similar lines to the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson and John Lee Hooker, and he was certainly a very worthy opener!

As The Gov continued to fill (with a healthy proportion of people enjoying the balmy evening breezes outside), it was soon time for the main man to take the stage, and immediately he proceeded to show just how relevant old school blues can be to a modern world! One thing I love about seeing Ash Grunwald (and I’ve seen him many a time over the years), is that you never know what kind of show he’ll put on, be it with a band, with perhaps a guest or two, or completely solo. The latter was to be order of the day for this gig, with Ash joined only by his Gibson Les Paul, a bass drum, and a Marshall (plus a couple more amps!), and of course an incredible dose of warm guitar tone, literally filling the room with sound.

Pulling a rich bass end from his guitar, Ash demonstrated his mastery over his instrument, with plenty of ballsy raucousness adding to the fat tone. He played a bunch of different tunes from across his catalogue, including some newies too, and as always took plenty of ad hoc requests from the crowd. He brought out a resonator guitar, which had an even more depthy tone for a number of tunes, and really showed the crowd how raw and gutsy blues music can be. An earth-shattering bass groove underlined a version of ‘Crossroads’ played on lap steel, and favourites like ‘Raw’ (which Ash was initially apprehensive to play without a drummer, but pulled it off like a pro), ‘Skywriter’, and ‘Walking’ had the crowd going mad! Ash was joined by Ian Collard on his harp for a few numbers, including a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ (even a crappy pop song can be made cool by blues-ifying it!), and he even invited half the audience on stage (including a dude evoking the spirit of Axl Rose) to dance. To end proceedings on the main set, Ash gave in to the crowd and played ‘Dolphin Song’, much to the delight of everyone in the room. After a short break, Ash returned to the stage for an encore that continued the blues high, bringing the evening to a riotous end. Definitely a sensational gig! Ash is currently working on a new album too, so hopefully it won’t be too long between drinks, and we’ll be treated to another journey into the blues real soon.

Luke Balzan

When: Closed
Where: The Gov
Bookings: Closed

Beethoven Festival 2

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 19 Sep 2014

Wow! Double wow!  What a concert!  It demonstrated the depth of the orchestra’s ensemble, the programming was immensely enjoyable and included a surprise or two (see below!), and the conductor and soloist were spectacular.

Immediately prior to the performance pianist, Robert Levin addressed the audience from the stage and reminded us that improvisation was the norm in Beethoven’s day and that often only the first and last notes of cadenzas were notated by the composer with the expectation that the soloist would improvise the intervening bars.  Levin asked members of the audience to write down some snippets of Beethoven’s music during the interval and he would select some of them and improvise a fantasy in the style of Beethoven.  

American pianist Robert Levin performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1 with great passion and bravura. Maestro Nicholas McGegan whipped the ASO into action and Levin asserted his authority almost immediately.  The cadenza in the first movement was an object lesson in improvisation, although its energy, complexity and zeal was almost at odds with the rest of the movement.  The second movement largo was particular beautiful and the dialogue with the clarinet was as tender as two young lovers in the first flush of romance.  Levin set a cracking pace in the final rondo movement and McGegan clearly enjoyed the challenge as he patiently waited for the final note in the final cadenza to sound so that he could bring the orchestra back in to finish the concerto with a flourish.  The audience loved it.

After the interval Levin selected at random some of the snippets of Beethoven’s music that members of the audience had written down.  Predictably ‘Fur Elise’, the opening bars to Beethoven’s fifth symphony and ‘Ode to Joy’ featured, which Levin graciously didn’t reject, and he also selected the opening bars to the first Piano Sonata.  He then sat at the keyboard and proceeded to improvise for ten full minutes and the result was impressive, very impressive indeed.  Each theme was clearly evident and Levin wove them together with apparent ease.  The audience greatly appreciate Levin’s pianistic skills, and the ASO is to be congratulated for scheduling this rather special part of the program.

McGegan then led the ASO in the runaway that is Symphony No.8.  It exploded out of the blocks, and with the exception of the second movement, which is still marked allegretto scherzando, the pace and sheer volatility of the piece are relentless.  In the wrong hands it can easily turn to musical mush and it takes discipline from the conductor to ensure that the texture remains clear.  McGegan passed the test with flying colours, and he was particularly well served by the horns in the third movement.

At the start of the evening we were treated to a rousing performance of the Leonore Overture No.2.  Like Leonore No.1, which was performed last week in Beethoven Fest 1, it has an episodic structure but we can hear how it is clearly approaching Leonore No.3, which will be played next year in a Master’s Series concert.  The off-stage trumpet work of Matt Dempsey was particularly fine.

Kym Clayton

When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed