Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 29 Oct 2016
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 is a crowd pleaser, and thirty year old Australian and internationally renowned pianist Jayson Gillham’s performance at the piano earned him three well deserved standing ovations from the large Festival Theatre audience. Maestro Jeffrey Tate graciously remained in the wings and allowed Gillham to enjoy the applause by himself, but Tate deserved it just as much. Between them they found a sublime balance in dynamics, phrasing and pace. Gillham’s generously sized but beautifully controlled dexterous hands were never required to coax anything more than exactly what was needed from the majestic Steinway. Gillham was especially fine in the second part of the second movement, and his sensitivity transported the audience to another place. The clarity was palpable largely due to judicious use of the pedal. Once it was over, and the exuberant applause and wolf-whistling was spent, Gillham tossed off a piece of Bach as if he was at the beginning of a recital, and not at the end of a mighty Beethoven concerto. Gillham certainly has a long and bright future in front of him, and pray we see more of him in Adelaide.
The evening began with a standard reading of Wagner’s Prelude to Act 1 of The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, which is all about the brass and stately themes. Tate ‘gets’ Wagner and he lets the music speak for itself. Absent were exaggerations in dynamics and hastened tempos in bridging sections. It all came out as it should, as if we were settling back to enjoy the entire opera: it was measured and assured, and pointed towards something full of promise.
As good as the Wagner and the Beethoven were, the main event was after the interval and came in the form of Richard Strauss’ majestic tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life). Coming in at around forty minutes - as much as the overture and the concerto combined - there is more than ample opportunity for the conductor and orchestra to create an undisciplined mashup, but Tate led the forces of the enlarged Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on a clear and conquering path towards musical nirvana. Allegedly autobiographical, Ein Heldenleben has a programme but one’s enjoyment of it is not contingent on understanding the nuances of the programme. Who really cares that the solo violin, which was exquisitely played by concertmaster Natsuko Yoshimoto supposedly represents Strauss’s own wife. It really doesn’t matter, and nor does it matter that the played-through movements lack any substantial musical unity, apart from the gorgeous leitmotifs that act as musical glue. Ein Heldenleben is not everyone’s cup of tea, but, like Wagner, Tate ‘gets’ Strauss and its myriad voices sang brightly with delicately balanced passion.
This was a lesson in balance reached from the vantage point of deep understanding.
Kym Clayton
When: 29 Oct
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
