Musica Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 26 Jul 2023
Chopin’s Piano is Musica Viva’s current Australian touring program, and tonight’s performance marks the end of the tour. It is a musical play based on Paul Kidea’s superb book of the same name. First published in 2018, the book “…traces the history of Chopin’s 24 Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them, and the traditions they came to represent.” Chopin composed the Preludes during a stint on Majorca where he domiciled with his lover George Sand and her two children while they sought respite from the Parisian winter. Pianos were rare on the island and he acquired a small one built by a local craftsman. It is this piano and its provenance that is the spine of the story: how it lay forgotten in Majorca for seventy years until it was re-discovered and acquired by the famous harpsichordist Wanda Landowska in 1913; how it eventually became plundered Nazi loot in World War II; how it was re-found, lost again, and then slipped away into the mists of time.
Kildea’s book is wonderful – it is fascinating, scholarly, and quite moving at times – but its dramatisation (by himself and Richard Pyros), and especially its realisation for the stage (directed by Pyros), is not.
The dramatisation is performed by pianist Aura Go and actor Jennifer Vuletic. Between them they play multiple characters, including George Sand, Chopin of course, Franz Liszt, Wanda Landowska, Peggy Guggenheim, and others. The characters are differentiated by different accents adopted by Go and Vuletic – some more successful than others – costuming, and of course the text. Throughout, Go performs the Preludes, but they are frequently interrupted by the action inherent in the narrative, particularly in Act 1. This reviewer ached for them to be played without distraction, but that wish was only granted well into Act 2 following the interval.
Most frustratingly, the acoustics of the Adelaide Town Hall all but destroyed any chance of enjoying Vuletic’s fine acting and Go’s sensitive playing of the Preludes themselves. Both performers were amplified, and the outcome was persistently echoey to the point that it was frequently impossible to hear their dialogue clearly. If one had not read the book, or had been forewarned by someone who had, it would have been extremely difficult to follow the narrative. This reviewer had read the book, but still found it a challenge to keep abreast of the performance.
As already mentioned, both Vuletic and Go were impressive, but this was not enough. At times the episodic text got in the way: too much happening far too quickly. Unfortunately, poorly thought out and executed production elements damaged the concert: the performance space lacked intimacy; the acoustics were punishing (with no apparent sound engineering ‘fixes’); recordings of other music that was played as a part of the unfolding story were almost inaudible; and the lighting struggled to be empathetic to the action. These conspired to drape a pall of dissatisfaction and irritation over the proceedings. If Chopin’s Piano is to see the light of day again, a lot of work needs to be done on the production side.
When it was over, Chopin was still a winner, and the audience left gently humming his timeless melodies.
Kym Clayton
When: 26 Jul
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 7 Jul 2023
Tonight’s audience for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Series 4 concert – styled Embraced – were ecstatic about the performance of Dvořák’s Symphony No.9 in E minor, From the New World. Guest conductor Elena Schwarz was brought back three times to receive and acknowledge the enthusiastic applause, cheering and whistling for both her prowess at the podium and the musicianship of the ASO.
From the New World is a crowd favourite – it was last performed by the ASO in 2019 (too soon perhaps?) – but the concert also included a world première performance of a new Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra (styled Dare to Declare) by currently Adelaide-based composer Anne Cawrse and performed by percussionist Claire Edwards who is Australia’s very own magician with a mallet. The concerto was commissioned by the ASO (with much thanks to the orchestra’s Miriam Hyde Circle), Cawrse wrote it for Edwards to perform, and Schwarz is known and respected for enthusiastically championing new music. Three remarkable women shared the stage (with the spirits of three others watching on), and as they received congratulatory flowers following their performance, the special moment was not lost on the audience. The ASO most certainly punches above its weight.
Following what is now a tradition – the performance of the musical Acknowledgement of Country Pudnanthi Padninthi (also a commission by the ASO) – the program segued into an enthusiastic and robust performance of Kodaly’s Dances of Galánta, which was last heard from the ASO in 2014. In five sections, the dances are infused with gypsy folk-music rhythms and traditional sounds dominated by the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections of the orchestra. Dean Newcombe on clarinet and Joshua Oates on oboe especially impress.
The Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra is written in three sections, with each celebrating the achievements of an influential Australian artist: poet and Aboriginal rights activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), painter Clarice Beckett, and musician Peggy Glanville-Hicks. These three women ‘dared to declare’ who they were and made indelible impacts on their art forms. There is not an insubstantial catalogue of concertos for marimba, but they do not often appear on the concert stage, let alone get repeat performances by orchestras (as do the Dvořák and the Kodaly). Cawrse’s contribution to the catalogue is an absolute joy, and knowing a little about the influences behind it, adds to the enjoyment. However, it also stands as pure music and seeing Edwards in full flight expertly work the instrument is quite something. She is animated, agile, passionate, joyful, and exudes an abundance of musicality. The styles of the three sections vary greatly, with gently rising and insistent scale passages in Oodgeroo punctuated by delicate percussion from the orchestra, through to rich melodies in Clarice with rich empathetic phrases from the horns and brass, and bold dance tunes rising emphatically from the marimba as it is struck with heavier mallets in the final Peggy section. The dance rhythms in Peggy closed the loop with the Kodaly.
Schwarz’s interpretation of the mighty From the New World symphony is nothing out of the ordinary, but her dynamic development is noteworthy. She solicits the gentlest softness in the famous second ‘largo’ movement, and the violins almost sound choral under the direction of guest concertmaster Elizabeth Layton. One almost went looking for an off-stage choir. At its conclusion, Schwarz rightly drew attention to Peter Duggan’s exquisitely nostalgic playing on the Cor Anglais, and the audience left with a familiar ear worm to enjoy for hours to come.
Kym Clayton
When: 7 Jul
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 28 Jun 2023
The second concert in the ASO’s Matinee Series is subtitled Elegance, and this surely describes the artistry of pianist Daniel de Borah. At the piano, he is elegance personified, and his performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.27 in B Flat, K.595, with the ASO under the baton of esteemed Graham Abbott in the delightfully refurbished Elder Hall is an object lesson in how it should be performed.
The concerto begins softly in the strings with more robust woodwinds. As sense of expectancy emerges as de Borah shifts on the piano bench and places his hands gently on the keyboard. Then emerges the gentlest of sounds from the piano, all perfectly articulated with crystal clear clarity. Abbott implements a sensible dynamic plan that allows the orchestra to confidently shine without ever overshadowing the piano. Abbott and de Borah rarely look at each other – just a sideways glance here and there – but the understanding between them is unmistakeable, and the result is a sublime balance between soloist and orchestra.
Like the Mozart, Haydn’s Symphony No.92 in G, the so-called Oxford, begins gently…and elegantly. The real interest in the piece comes in the third movement – the minuet and trio. Abbott chooses a moderate pace that allows the individual sections in the balanced orchestra to be clearly heard when they have something interesting to say. The horns and bassoons (just two of each) in particular sound generous and tuneful. Joshua Oates (principal oboe) is especially fine, and timpanist Andrew Penrose is precise, punctuated, and expressive throughout (and constantly checking his tuning. The Hall can be cold!). The presto final movement is bright and cheery, and guest concertmaster Elizabeth Layton in concert with Abbott ensure the strings remain light and graceful.
The ASO’s matinées are a welcome oasis in a busy week. Nothing taxing. Just classy music, played by classy musicians in a comfortable amount of time and a relaxed atmosphere.
Kym Clayton
When: 28 Jun
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 23 Jun 2023
Styled Skyward, the third concert in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s flagship Symphony Series was in every respect a soaring achievement of surprise, programming, and performance.
‘Don Juan’ Symphonic Poem, Op.20, is one of by Richard Strauss’ most enduring works. Scored for a large orchestra, its thematic material allows almost every instrument to reach skyward and have its moment in the sun. The piece parallels the life journey as depicted in Nikolaus Lenau’s epic poem Don Juans Ende of the infamous sexual libertine Dion Juan as he strives for but never finds what he would consider to be true love. His journey is characterised by great anticipation and excitement followed by crushing disappointment, to be repeated again and again. The arc of the music follows these highs and lows, and guest conductor Tarmo Peltokoski plumbs it for every dramatic effect possible. His gesturing is generous, with wide sweeping arcs of his arms, but is studied and razor sharp with intent and meaning. The orchestra plays with animation and overt excitement with the strings almost (but not quite) consuming everything in their path and the woodwinds and horns sounding as good as they ever have.
The Strauss almost saps one’s energy, but Li-Wei Qin’s performance of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1 in C Hob.VIIb:1 catches and refreshes us with his exquisite phrasing and dynamic control of the simple but luxurious melodies. Scored for a much smaller orchestra than the Strauss, the concerto can sound merely sweet and gentle. It is those things, but it also has a vigorous beating heart not too far below the surface, and Li-Wei Qin found it. He attacks the downbeat in the moderato first movement almost as strongly as the great Jacqueline du Pre does in her legendary recordings of the Dvořák cello concerto. Li-Wei Qin’s playing is quite eye-opening, and the audience brought him back for no fewer than three curtain calls when it was over. Peltokoski was less effusive in conducting the Haydn, but the communication between he and Li-Wei Qin was palpable. Indeed, Li-Wei Qin at times conducted with his bow hand!
The second half of the program is full of surprise. It begins with a performance of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver (Winter Sky). Like the Don Juan, it is a single continuous movement, and although it doesn’t illustrate a poem, it could easily do so as it traverses bleak but mysterious themes redolent with melodic fragments and layers . Then as it finishes, with barely a pause, Peltokoski immediately segues into Symphony No.7 in C, Op.105, by Sibelius.
The ASO has the distinction of having recorded all the Sibelius symphonies under conductor Arvo Volmer in 2007 in the Adelaide Town Hall, and although the personnel of the orchestra have significantly changed since then, the spirit of Sibelius looms large. Symphony No.7 is also a one movement composition, and like Ciel d’hiver it evokes primary life-forces. It has been described as being “like a great planet in orbit”, and noting that Ciel d’hiver began its life as a movement from a larger piece titled Orion, it was apt, but surprising, that Peltokoski should ‘link’ the two compositions as if they were part of the one work. Again, he extracted the very best from the brass and horns, and in many respects the evening belonged to the brass and woodwind. At only 22 years of age, he demonstrates a deep understanding of the music that might usually be expected from someone with many more years of experience. Peltokoski is a wunderkind.
This concert was something out of the proverbial hat. The large audience left riding high on emotion and with great appreciation.
Kym Clayton
When: 23 Jun
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Musica Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 8 Jun 2023
Garrick Ohlsson speaks from the stage at various times during his recitals to give the audience the benefit of his deep thinking and reading about the music he plays. What he says is not necessarily revelatory or exotic, but it is interesting and gives us a teasing glimpse into what a musician at the top of his piano game thinks about. Ohlsson is at his eloquent best at the keyboard. Anything that he really has to say about the music is said by way of his playing, and it is awe inspiring to experience.
Ohlsson is playing two programs on his current Australian tour for Musica Viva, and the program enjoyed by the Adelaide audience comprised works by Debussy, Barber, and Chopin, as well as a new work by contemporary Hobart-based composer Thomas Misson that was privately commissioned for Musica Viva to be performed by Ohlsson. He commented there was an inherent risk in agreeing in advance to première a new work by a living composer, because you couldn’t be aware of what it would be like. As a performer you are aware of the composer’s previous compositions, but couldn’t know what was next. Thankfully, Ohlsson cheekily quipped, Misson’s new work Convocations (composed this year) was “pretty good”. And indeed, it was. Many modern compositions are episodic in nature, with tenuous connections between the individual sections, and Convocations is of that ilk. At its heart is a six-note tone row and the sections explore and vary the motif. It starts almost in French impressionistic style, and soon a repeated note in the right-hand tugs us out of its meditation-inducing impact. As it progresses, we sense the piece’s connections with the other compositions Ohlsson performed before it: Debussy’s Suite bergamasque, L.75 (1905), and Barber’s mighty Piano Sonata in E-flat minor, Op.26 (1949).
The expansive stage of the Adelaide Town Hall was sober: no decorations, just the Steinway concert grand piano flanked by two suspended Musica Viva banners and the imposing Walker & Sons pipe organ providing the backdrop. The austerity of the setting was however apt – it focussed all attention on Ohlsson and the music. The four-section Suite bergamasque fares best when played with simplicity and clarity without indulging in overstressed displays of technical prowess and wallowing in Debussy’s poetic melodies. Ohlsson did just that, and his thoughtful and refined approach included personal interpretive touches such as more rubato in the iconic Clair de lune section than one might otherwise be accustomed.
The feeling of reverie induced by the Debussy was soon dashed by the fire of Samuel Barber’s Piano Sonata in E-flat minor. It is a masterpiece of the twentieth century and was met with immediate critical acclaim when it premièred in 1949. It is still greatly admired although, sadly, it is infrequently included in recital programs. Technically it is punishing, and demands virtuosity of the first order. Often, a pianist signals this through intense body language at the keyboard, but not Ohlsson, who appears seemingly at ease. He scarcely shifts in his seat, and his shoulders barely move from the same vertical plane. He has incredible forearm strength but can also execute the most delicate filigree and pianissimo passages with ease. Ohlsson’s performance is accentuated by clarity, and this is especially evident in the final fugue movement, in which he exposed and laid bare the individual voices and the relationships between the variations. The ease with which he tossed off the final cadenza made the audience draw breath.
Ohlsson is unquestionably one of the world’s best living interpreters of Chopin, arguably the best. His performance of the Variations brillantes, Op.12 (1833), was poetic and refined. There were no surprises, except what is difficult was made to appear simple. Ohlsson then played the slow third movement of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No.1 in C minor, Op.4 (1828) and remarked to the audience that it was the most impressive movement from the sonata which was a “student effort” of Chopin, but that he was still a “very good student”. The concert concluded with a masterful display of Chopin’s Scherzo No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.31 (1837). It is one of Chopin’s most recognisable works, and as Ohlsson was racing to its triumphant conclusion the audience was readying itself for an explosive display of appreciation at what was truly a masterful display of pianism by one of the world’s best.
Kym Clayton
When: 8 Jun
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed