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
