Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Concordia College. 19 Mar 2017
Unable to be seen in the wings, somebody not from Price Waterhouse Coopers handed a bunch of envelopes to MC Mark Oates, and AWO at the Oscars was off and running!
With perfect diction and a clear, mellifluous voice, Oates announced over the course of the evening that the nominations were, Pinocchio, An American in Paris, Out of Africa, Wizard of Oz, Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben Hur, Dr No, Goldfinger, Live and Let Die, Skyfall, The Spy Who Loved Me, Jaws and ET.
Piece by piece, maestro Timothy Frahn kept a firm rein and put the Adelaide Wind Orchestra through its paces. Phrasing and articulation was tight, aural balance was pleasing, and almost without exception the large ensemble pitched well; the exception being the use of the xylophone in Skyfall. The arrangements were pleasing and evoked the character and atmosphere of their respective films. George Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Miklós Rózs’s Parade of the Charioteers from Ben Hur were particularly fine orchestrations and allowed the talented AWO to truly show its colors.
A highlight of the concert was Oates singing the theme song from the 2012 James bond film Skyfall. Oates is a classically trained singer who is as comfortable with grand opera as he is with jazz. Originally made famous by British singer Adele, who was recently performing in Adelaide, Skyfall is dark and moody and with a gentle vibrato and resonant intonation, Oates soared its heights and plumbed its depths. Earlier in the concert he sang Somewhere over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz and beautifully handled the song’s tender moments.
Of course it wouldn’t be the Oscars without a glitch, and at the end of the first half of the concert, Oates did try to move straight into the second half without an interval, but the AWO wouldn’t have any of that!
And so, the winner was?
The Adelaide Wind Orchestra of course!
Having lost a few of their more experienced members, the AWO is a slightly different outfit this year, but they are still all class!
Kym Clayton
When: 19 Mar
Where: Concordia College
Bookings: Closed
