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
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 23 Jul 2016
This concert was simply breathtaking and internationally famous Australian conductor Simone Young is a force of nature.
Young positioned the forces of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in a non-traditional arrangement with the violins spread across the breadth of stage and the brass more centralized in the back ranks. It evened the sound out and imbued it with warmth – it worked a treat, especially with Schubert’s wonderfully evocative Unfinished Symphony in B minor. It began with the softest brooding lines from the double basses and was roundly contrasted with loud stabs from the violins and celli. Young insisted upon, and gained superb articulation, from the orchestra – it’s never been better – and the pure emotion of the symphony washed over us.
But the main event came after the interval in the form of Mahler’s deeply moving Tragic Symphony No 6 in A minor. Coming in at nearly eighty minutes, the Tragic requires supreme concentration and physical endurance and the expanded orchestra that filled the Festival Theatre stage was up to the challenge. The ASO last performed the 6th in 2011 under Arvo Volmer, which was a deeply satisfying performance as I recall, but tonight’s performance was better. Young has a clear affinity for Mahler and she understood the ‘ying and yang’ of the 6th. It is a composition full of contrasts: it is tonal and then atonal at times; it has both sweeping melodies and irritating fragments that recur and vary in search of something that is almost unattainable; it is classical in form, but then breaks out into less conventional structures that are, and were, inventive; almost signifying a new musical order.
The 6th is a roller coaster and Young and the Adelaide Symphony orchestra held us by the scruff of our throats until the symphony’s very last agonizing sigh, and then all hell broke loose. Young took numerous bows to thunderous and persistent applause from a very large and appreciative audience that was on its feet. Young acknowledged in turn every section of the orchestra, as indeed she should have, for it was a superb performance.
The audience left deeply satisfied knowing it had experienced something quite rare.
Kym Clayton
When: 23 Jul
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Concordia College Chapel. 9 Jul 2016
Programming is everything, and this concert by the superb Adelaide Wind Orchestra didn’t quite cut it. It’s very encouraging when an audience goes into the interval eagerly looking forward to the second half of the concert, but in this case they were simply looking forward to a second half that was different. And that is exactly what they got, and it was fabulous.
It almost grieves me to be critical of this concert, because, as its title suggests, it was an all-Australian affair. It exclusively featured compositions by Australian composers – six of them – and all are still living except one (Percy Grainger). It was a celebration of contemporary serious concert music from the land down under, but the two opening pieces appealed more to the intellect than to the heart. Nigel Butterly’s 1968 composition Pentad is not something to open a concert with. Its difficult timing and phrasing demands the ensemble to be at the top of its game, right from the very start of the programme, which the AWO was not. In the depths of an unusually cold winter, the Concordia College Chapel takes time to warm up, and so do those who inhabit it.
Going on a Lion Hunt, by Adelaide’s very own David John Lang, does not have a strong narrative. It is minimalist in style with a central thematic motif being varied (but not as dramatically as it could have been) and shared across three mini-bands that also play as a full ensemble at times.
The first two pieces stood in stark contrast to Percy Grainger’s Colonial Song but the juxtaposition almost imbued it with comedy. The first half of the programme just didn’t hang together – it lacked a ‘gestalt’ – but then came the second half and the AWO was at its best.
Conductor Bryan Griffiths appeared to have an affinity for Natalie William’s Pendulum, which is a wonderfully optimistic composition with a rich orchestration. He ensured that every musical idea sounded fresh, and the repetitive rhythmic structure was never boring. The clarinets were superb.
And the very best was left to last.
Matthew Hindson and Paul Mac’s Requiem for a City is a fabulous composition that surely has a long and bright future, and it begs to be arranged for a full orchestra. Griffiths and the AWO handled the syncopated dance-like rhythms with grace and precision. It has a driving momentum and is at times reminiscent of the minimalist traditions of Terry Riley and Philip Glass. It finishes with a sequence that is almost a musical Morse code, and when it finally dashes itself out the audience is very quick to burst into applause.
Again, some very fine and sharp playing from the AWO, but the sequencing of the programme was a bit flat.
Kym Clayton
When: 9 Jul
Where: Concordia College
Bookings: Closed