Recitals Australia. Elder Hall. 7 April 2014
For this performance two celebrated Australian musicians – composer/pianist Elena Kats-Chernin and pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska – gave a recital with a refreshing difference to a substantial audience at Elder Hall. Anyone looking for standard fare would have been disappointed as Kats-Chernin and Cislowska shook off the archetypal image of straight-laced concert musicians and gave a relaxed but deeply satisfying kaleidoscopic survey of Kat-Chernin’s oeuvre through the two lenses of improvisation and transcription. Both artists sat at the one piano on separate benches, occasionally swapping registers. The consummate Cislowska took the more difficult part on most occasions, and played with fire, precision and clarity, while Kats-Chernin extemporised at will but always stayed true to the composition and never injected random suspect material. Of course she would not do anything different – after all, she wrote all the material – and our appreciation was enhanced by her brief spoken, and often humorous, introductions about each of the dozen miniatures that comprised the seventy-five minute program. This was the first time that both artists had performed a concert such as this in South Australia.
Some pieces were written for string quartet, others for baroque orchestra and choir, and some for the piano, but they were all transcribed for four hands at the piano and arranged to encourage improvisation.
The program commenced with ‘Two Stolen Pieces for Richard’ that began their lives as part of a string quartet. There was an insistence in the first piece – a sense of always moving forward – which contrasted with the lightly stepping melody of the second that gradually moved into darker and more textured harmonies but gave way to a gentle end. Kats-Chernin informed us that Richard was a talented emerging musician who had lost his life in a tragic accident. Knowing this took one’s appreciation to a different level that transcended the music.
In ‘April Code’ Kats-Chernin accompanied Cislowska who played a harmonica, which gave the piece a distinctive Parisian feel. Although ‘Prelude’ was written for orchestra plus choir, nothing was lost in the arrangement and the piece took on a new existence. ‘Russian Rag’ was a fascinating clash of cultures as the rag demonstrated tango rhythms and motifs from Russian liturgical music, all spiced up with dizzying arpeggios from Cislowska and a resounding clap of hands at the final beat that was quickly echoed by the diverse audience!
‘Russian Toccata’ was only premiered last year and was originally written for two hands but for this show was performed with four, while ‘Dance of the Paper Umbrellas’ sounded as if there were even more as Kats-Chernin and Cislowska expertly tossed off an object lesson in crisp staccato.
‘Vocalise’ was a highlight for me. Kats-Chernin explained she was inspired to write it on learning that one of her sons was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The word vocalise usually conjures up images of beautifully sung music, but in this case it is about the troubling voices that a schizophrenic imagines inhabit their mind. The piece features an ever-present droning motif in the lower register of the piano over which is written several extemporised melodies that are developed almost in the style of Philip Glass until they become dense and forceful. Then quite abruptly they cheerily fade away, but the insistent droning voice remains and thwarts any real sense of peace. An affecting piece.
‘Marcato’ was a transcription of a piece for orchestra and four saxophones and it was highly successful in imitating their distinctive timbre. ‘Waltz of Things Past’ was the most conventional and lyrical piece of the program, and the popular ‘Eliza Aria’ was another transcription that successfully imitated the human voice.
The concert finished with a bang, and allowed both artists to demonstrate their pianistic flair with Cislowska shouldering most of the heavy lifting. ‘Scherzino’ was improvised to the max, and it caused me to recall a concert given by Paul Grabowsky and Clemens Leske Jnr in the 2008 Fringe Festival when they presented an intriguing concert in the Elder Hall. Leske, a distinguished Australian pianist, performed Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations in the first half and after the interval Grabowsky gave a masterful display of his improvisatory skills. He endlessly and inventively improvised the ‘aria’, which is first of the variations in the Goldberg. Leske used a standard umpteen-paged score, and Grabowsky relied on a few tattered pieces of paper that precariously balanced on the piano’s music stand! In ‘Scherzino’, Kats-Chernin and Cislowska did the same. Their score, which they showed to the audience, appeared to be scraps stuck to together but it sounded anything but. It had clear form and a driving purpose. It was toe tapping and almost edge-of-your seat stuff, and it finished abruptly leaving you wanting more.
Yes, a concert with a difference and one that Mark De Raad, President of Recitals Australia, his board and sponsors can be justly proud they entrepreneured. Brava!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Elder Hall
Bookings: Closed
Master Series Two. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 4 April 2014
During the interval I asked several acquaintances what they thought about Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto that had just been performed by American ‘cello legend’ Lynn Harrell who had been delighting audiences all week in the Adelaide International Cello Festival. “Interesting, but not entirely enjoyable” said one, and “Harrell was certainly entertaining, but I disliked the music” said another. For myself, I have owned a recording of the work for a number of years, and have not found it easy to come to grips with, and in truth I rarely listen to it. It is an unconventional concerto, and Lutosławski is an unconventional composer. However, it is another example of a musical composition that needs to be seen and heard, not just heard. Audio recordings alone cannot do this work justice.
I recall a recent experience during the Adelaide Festival when it was my very great privilege and joy to hear and see the Australian String Quartet perform George Crumb’s highly innovative ‘Black Angels’. Lutosławski’s cello concerto is the same deal but for a slightly different reason. Lynn Harrell’s performance demonstrated that some compositions demand the musician to be an actor as well, and to communicate to the audience through some of the non-musical ideas that are part of the work, such as inattentiveness, boredom, surprise, irritation, deep concentration, anger, and even bloody mindedness!
The concerto begins with the solo cello repeatedly playing Ds, for more than four minutes! The rhythm, dynamics and tempo are indistinct and variable. Some audience members took a little time to realise that the work had actually commenced – they thought Harrell was still tuning his instrument, and the look on his face was priceless. An actor would say that he had broken the ‘fourth wall’ as he paid direct attention to individual audience members, winked and wryly smiled at them, and gave a ‘thumbs up’! Eventually the trumpets abruptly interrupted the cello from its selfish monotony and demanded its attention. Harrell looked shocked, almost bemused, and his facial antics evoked even more giggles but gradually he/the cello was drawn into the world of the behemoth that was the orchestra, and the piece was by now well underway; you either resisted getting involved, or you let it sweep you away. Harrell was masterful in conveying the drama, humour and pure human emotion of the piece. If I listen to my recording again - if - then I’m certain my enjoyment will be greatly enhanced for having witnessed a cello great interpret a remarkable piece of music.
The evening began with an exciting reading of Rossini’s ever popular ‘William Tell Overture’ under the expert baton of Arvo Volmer. Noting that the piece features the cello prominently, it was in many ways a perfect curtain raiser on the Lutosławski and reminded us that the whole week has been about the cello. Volmer invited Ewan Bramble (acting principal cello) to take the first bow, and it was greatly deserved.
After interval Volmer led the orchestra in a luscious reading of Brahms ‘Symphony No. 2 in D’. It is full of beautiful themes and is a crowd favourite. Volmer is always keen to unleash the might of the orchestra but he properly observed the lighter sections and allowed various soloists to have the prominence the piece demands.
The audience was thunderous in its applause and left well satisfied – for some the Brahms restored their faith, but for others the unique experience of the Lutosławski was still at the front of their minds.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Youth Orchestra. Elder Hall. 30 Mar 2014
In the space of a week Adelaide audiences have been treated to performances of two of Dvořák’s greatest symphonic works – Symphony in G (No. 8) last week by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and now the better known Symphony in E minor (No. 9) performed by the Adelaide Youth Orchestra (AdYO).
AdYO concerts are vital affairs. The venues are packed with devoted fans and supporters, and there is a palpable air of expectation and excitement. At the final beat of the conductor’s baton it is guaranteed that the audience will erupt into heartfelt and appreciative applause with whoops of ‘Bravo!’. This concert was no exception.
Popularly known as “From the New World”, Dvořák’s ninth Symphony was composed while he resided and worked in the USA (‘the new world’) in the early 1890s. The work is often thought to be influenced by the musical traditions of native North Americans and traditional African-American spirituals, but any influence stops short of direct quotations. However, if the composition’s nickname had never been coined it is likely that no such connection would ever have been popularised. But, Dvořák is reported to have quipped that he would not have composed the way he did while in America, if he had not in fact seen America. He is also reported to have been inspired by the wide-open spaces, and the ninth symphony is indeed expansive, particularly the beautiful and languid melody (“Goin’ Home”) in the second movement. Conductor Keith Crellin coaxed a big sound from AdYO – it filled the Elder Hall – and the trombones, trumpets and wood-wind were particularly fine. The flutes introduced thematic material with clarity, and the cor anglais was almost sublime with “Goin’ Home”. Crellin exerted skilful control to ensure that abrupt changes in time signatures were mostly well handled and the piece didn’t run away with the youthful enthusiasm of the orchestra!
Saint-Saens wrote his third and last violin concerto for the Spanish composer and virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. It is perhaps not as technically difficult as the first two (and neither is it easy by any stretch!) but its melodic inventiveness, pan-European diversity of musical influences, and occasional foray into what can almost be described as impressionism, place considerable interpretative demands on the soloist. If these demands are not successfully negotiated then the entire piece runs the risk of become overly emotional and melodramatic. But young violinist Tianyou Ma took it all in his stride and played with the skill and acuity of someone much older than his tender fourteen years. It is no wonder that the eminent Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK wants to take him on as a student later this year. Who knows where his talent will take him – the world of the professional soloist is a cut-throat one – but Tianyou Ma deserves to have a long, auspicious and conspicuous career. I would have liked him to have attacked the dramatic moments of the first and third movements more than he did in order to create expectant tension (just as the great Jacqueline du Pre did at the cello entry in the first movement of Dvořák’s great cello concerto). That aside, Tianyou Ma’s lyricism in the second movement andantino was simply beautiful.
The concert began with an emphatic and well-articulated performance of Aaron Copeland’s iconic “Fanfare for the Common Man” performed by an ensemble selected from AdYO’s brass and percussion. It was the perfect curtain raiser to a very satisfying concert!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Elder Hall
Bookings: Closed
Master Series One. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 21 March 2014
There were many standouts tonight, but guest conductor Jahjah Ling stood tallest. The work of the maestro begins long before the performance, and long before the first rehearsal, and Ling has clearly done his homework on Dvořák. Ling has an affinity for Dvořák’s uber melodic and lyrical Symphony in G (No. 8), which concluded the concert. He demanded the ASO play it at close to full bore, but he balanced this with a masterful control of dynamics: the ‘louds’ were imposing and they fell away exquisitely to the softest of ‘softs’, and the occasional silences demanded by the score were rendered ever so poignant. Not afraid to extract as much emotion as possible, Ling was precise, warm and in control, and the audience was instantly thunderous in its appreciation at the final note.
The concert began with a robust performance of Richard Strauss’ symphonic poem ‘Don Juan’. It is a gutsy composition and, if one cares, it is programmatic work that gives a musical account of the lusty exploits of the sexual adventurer by the same name. Knowing this however is irrelevant to the enjoyment of the music. As with the Dvořák, Ling played the Strauss with measured intensity, and the woodwinds and principal were allowed to elegantly feature with crystal clarity when needed without being overwhelmed by body of the orchestra.
A mark of a skilful conductor is how they work with soloists in concertos, and Ling demonstrated and empathetic and almost ‘knowing’ relationship with Russian-born German violinist Alina Pogostkina as they performed Mendelssohn’s ever-popular and very difficult Violin Concerto in E minor; at only thirty years of age, and she looks younger, Alina Pogostkina already has an exceptional talent and clearly merits being entrusted with a Stradivarius. Her demonstration of ‘ricochet’ bowing in the third movement was impressive, to say nothing of her pizzicato with the left hand whilst bowing with the right during her encore. From the almost immediate entry of the solo violin in the first movement with one of the most recognisable themes in the repertoire, Pogostkina and Ling worked with each other to demonstrate that the work is much more than a solo violin with orchestral accompaniment. Ling safeguarded its moments of intimacy and utter lucidity, and they regularly ‘checked in’ with each other with knowing looks and supportive smiles.
At the final bow Pogostkina was presented with stunning red flowers from Tynte Flowers that contrasted beautifully with her stunning pale mauve gown. She looked triumphant and Ling and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra were entirely deserving of the applause.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Festival. Presented by Australian String Quartet. Adelaide Town Hall. 11 Mar 2014
On leaving the Adelaide Town Hall at the end of the Australian String Quartet’s (ASQ) concert, a matronly looking well-dressed lady remarked to her companion “And that is precisely why some music needs to be seen as well as heard”. She was spot on. I often find that live performance reveals much more than just listening to a recording. I think it is almost axiomatic that seeing a performance stimulates the brain to attune to some aspect of the sound that is otherwise missed. It is heard, but not listened to.
The second half of the program was a prime example of this. Swapping their priceless Guadagnini instruments for Yamaha electric violins/viola/cello, the ASQ played two contemporary compositions; ‘Windmill’ by local composer and music academic Stephen Whittington, and then George Crumb’s innovative and way-out ‘Black Angels’. ‘Windmill’ sounded like, well….a windmill, and it was hypnotic. The simple and sparse melody line went through subtle variations with occasional shifts in key, just as a windmill would respond to shifting wind patterns. A recording would trivialise the piece and not do it justice. In fact it would probably be incredibly unappealing, except to an academic wanting to analyse its form.
‘Black Angels’ was even more dramatic. Comprising thirteen miniatures arranged into three groups, it is almost a formal exercise in violating the ‘classical’ rules of counterpoint and using dissonance as much as possible. It is cacophonous at times and demands a physiological response as you clench your teeth and tense your muscles. The music is often uncomfortable but almost always resolves itself and gives you relief – both musical and physical. It is also visually fascinating to watch as the four musicians also bow wine glasses and gongs, and don metal thimbles and use them as a guitarist would a plectrum. They also shout words and phrases in foreign languages, and the whole thing is gimmicky, but it is quite compelling and strangely enjoyable. Again, a recording of it would be unintelligible and probably unbearable. But to see it is quite something else.
The first half of the program saw the ASQ play Boccherini’s String Quartet in G minor Op.32 No.5 and Brahms’ String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1. Interestingly their instruments were strung with ‘gut’ strings rather than the more usual metal or synthetic strings. This resulted in a less robust reading of the Brahms, which I quite enjoyed, and it allowed the delicateness of the Boccherini in particular to play out.
The ASQ’s line-up is a new one, and it is comparatively youthful. First violin Kristian Winther plays with overt emotion and joy, and is subtly balanced by the more restrained approach of Ioana Tache on second violin. They worked well together. Cellist Sharon Draper produced a clear and beautifully articulated cello line, and Stephen King provided authority and the ‘glue’ on viola, always casting an experienced and watchful eye over the violins.
A concert of contrasts. A continuum of musical ideas from the very ‘safe’ to the very avant garde.
A concert to be seen as well as heard.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed