Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 18 Mar 2016
Maestro Nicholas Carter walked briskly across the stage of the majestic Adelaide Town Hall, assumed the podium, and gave a sprightly bow to the audience in acknowledgment of the warm applause. With almost no warning he turned speedily to the assembled forces of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and unleashed the passion of Richard Strauss’ tone poem Don Juan. The almost chaotic start took the audience by surprise and the exciting roller coaster that was the opening concert of the 2016 Master Series was underway.
With sweeping gestures Carter gave the orchestra ‘its head’ and the result was impressive. The woodwinds and brass, especially the horns, were as good as they have ever been. Concertmaster Nastsuko Yoshimoto elicited plangent tones from the violin as she gave voice to the fervid Don Juan as he plied his romantic skills.
Carter arranged the orchestra in a non-traditional manner, with basses and first violins on his left, celli in front, and violi and second violins to his right. The positioning of the celli gave a sensuous and warm heart to Don Juan and to the entire concert.
Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G was performed with great élan by Croatian born pianist and composer Dejan Lazić. Dressed in smart jess jeans with a discernible shiny belt and a rather hip shirt, Lazić looked more like he was dressed for a night out on the town in Zagreb than he was for a serious recital, but looks are (almost) always deceiving. He was there to pump as much life into the roller coaster ride as he could, and that is exactly what he achieved. Lazić’s performance was superlative: he imbued the allegramente first movement with the requisite airy and ‘bluesy’ Gershin feel, and the adagio assai second movement with gentle romance. He gave free reign to his virtuosic brilliance in the dazzling presto final movement, and on occasion his right hand would leave the keyboard at the end of a well-articulated phrase and conduct both his left hand and the orchestra itself! Lazić and carter combined beautifully, and the thunderous applause at the end was immediate, sustained and well deserved.
The roller-coaster ride continued with Beethoven’s iconic fifth symphony (da da da dum!), and Carter’s reading was passionate and brisk. It is difficult to imagine that a conductor could find something new to say about something as well know and as often played as the fifth, but Carter managed it. His tempi were fast and reminiscent of those used by Sir Roger Norrington in his influential recordings in the late 1980s with the London Classical Players.
Carter however kept ‘a lid on it’ and worked the dynamics to fit. The allegro con brio first movement put our senses on edge, but they were calmed with a less unorthodox reading of the andante con moto second movement. Some small license with the dynamics and rhythm in the scherzo allegro third movement created the impression that Carter was perhaps preparing us for a final assault in the tempestuous allegro final movement, which is exactly what happened. The roller coaster was wrenched into overdrive and the ride was exhilarating. From the stalls in the majestic Town Hall auditorium – the acoustics of which were soundly tested by this concert – once could discern the beads of perspiration on the brows of the string players. Their labour was indeed a labour of love and it was emphatically applauded by an exhilarated audience.
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra demonstrated that it is indeed a world class orchestra and it is indeed fortunate to have Nicholas Carter at its head.
Kym Clayton
When: 18 Mar
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
