Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 25 Nov 2016
This, the second of three concerts showcasing the immense talents and influence of the iconic Pinchas Zukerman, was a knockout.
Zukerman directed the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and played the violin lead in George Enescu’s tuneful Ballade for Violin and Orchestra, Op 4a, which was written when the composer was only 14 years old. Zukerman bordered on imperiousness, and the naivety of the rising and falling scale passages of the composition was swept aside by his grace and authority.
Some would opine that the highlight of the evening’s program was Brahms’ Symphony No 1 in C minor, Op 68, but this reviewer was totally delighted and utterly impressed by the performance of Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C, Op 56, the so called ‘Triple Concerto’. It featured Nicholas Carter on the podium and The Zukerman Trio front stage and centre. The trio comprises Zukerman on violin, Amanda Forsyth on cello and Angela Cheng at the piano. The stage of the Adelaide Town Hall was full to overflowing and it was a magnificent sight; the music put and kept a smile on one’s face.
Forsyth was sporting a gorgeous full length gown, and wore her platinum blond hair and bright red lipstick almost regally. She sat on a slightly elevated platform between Zukerman and Cheng and commanded their attention (and ours!) as she coordinated the trio. Forsyth produced exquisite sounds from her 1699 Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello. The Triple is driven by melody, and under Carter’s finely balanced conducting the Trio expertly passed responsibility for the melody backwards and forwards amongst them never losing the momentum. Zukerman was statesman-like – no histrionics, no wasted gesture, just commanding presence and abundant musicality. Cheng was masterful at the piano, and demonstrated precisely how the piano part should be handled in a trio: dominant when needed, and always empathetic to the other instruments and to the intent of the composition.This was a superlative reading of the Triple. It doesn’t come any better.
Brahm’s first symphony is best remembered for the sweeping noble melodies in the final movement. The other three all lead up to what is almost an orgasmic rejoicing in the human spirit. The ASO was conducted by Pinchas Zukerman and he again demonstrated his intimate knowledge and understanding of the romantic repertoire. He placed the various sections of the orchestra in non-standard locations on the stage, and most noticeably the brass was stage right behind the violins, the horns were stage left behind the double basses which in turn were place behind the violas and cellos. The effect was to ‘even out’ the ‘muscle’ of the orchestra across the full width of the stage, and the impact was obvious.
Concertmaster Natsuko Yoshimoto demonstrated great expertise in some well voiced solo violin sections, and Simon Cobcroft and Imants Larsens on cello and viola respectively were well tuned into Zukerman’s interpretation. The horns and woodwinds were again a highlight and, at the end, Zukerman gave first acknowledgments to Adrian Uren (horn), Celia Craig (oboe), and Geoffrey Collins (flute), but the entire orchestra deserved our full praise, and got it.
The audience was emphatic in its deep appreciation of Pinchas Zukerman, and he was visibly moved.
A great concert!
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Nov
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
