Geoffrey Collins & Alice Giles. Recitals Australia. Elder Hall. 14 Sep 2015
The flute and harp – at least variants of them – are instruments that have their origins in classical antiquity and even before then. As a combination they are well represented in the repertoire with numerous compositions – often with a distinctly French ‘feel’ – written by notables such as Bizet, Debussy, Massenet, Mozart, Rampal and Ravel, and the tradition continues with contemporary composers such as Piazzola. There are of course others, and eminent musicians Geoffrey Collins (flute) and Alice Giles (harp) performed a magical programme of varied works – some better known than others – from across the repertoire in their aptly entitled concert Shadows & Light.
Collins and Giles are consummate performers with more technical skill and honed musicality than you can wave a baton at. Elder Hall proved to be a fitting venue and provided acoustic clarity that laid bare the delicate and deeply satisfying blend and purity of plucked strings and a resonating air column.
Early in the programme, the distinctly middle Eastern flavor of Henk Badings relatively recent composition (1952) Cavatina for Alto Flute and Harp contrasted sharply with JS Bach’s Sonatina in G min BWV 1030 (circa 1735) – the old and the new – and the remainder of the concert showed off both instruments to their fullest across the spectrum of styles.
Thea Musgrave’s Narcissus for solo flute with digital delay was an absolute surprise. Languid melodic lines blended with ‘sound grabs’ digitally recorded on the spot by Collins and creating a hypnotic, sensual and highly evocative effect. But the electronic trickery did not detract from Collins’ artistry and absolute control of the music.
Giles performed Carlos Salzedo’s Ballade for Solo Harp with almost carefree romanticism but great acuity at the same time. She is truly one of the world’s best harpists.
The remainder of the program explored music by Ibert (Entracte – it probably works better for flute and guitar rather than for harp), Debussy (En Bateau), Jongen (Danse lente), and Ravel (Pièce en forme de Habanera), each with their own distinct ‘feel’ and ‘light and shade’. The programme concluded with Piazzola’s Histoire du Tango comprising four short pieces that collectively explore the development and evolution of the Tango since its creation in the 1880s.
This concert was warmly appreciated, and Recitals Australia is to be congratulated on yet another fascinating event that deserved to be enjoyed by a larger audience.
Come on Adelaide! Concert opportunities such as this are not common! Get out and enjoy them!
Kym Clayton
When: 14 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 11 Sep 2015
Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, the so-called ‘Great’, is a total crowd pleaser, and the combined forces of guest conductor Gérard Korsten and the mighty Adelaide Symphony Orchestra lived up to the expectations of an enthusiastic audience.
Korsten is energetic on the podium and he made his intentions for the music very clear to the orchestra, whether it be the need for a sense of playfulness in the Andante of Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, or allowing the piano accompaniment to have prominence in Martinu’s Concerto for Oboe, or to accentuate the punchy staccato in the Schubert. The ASO did as Korsten beckoned and the result was very satisfying.
Even though the Schubert was the ‘main event’, it was clear that a large section of the audience were there to support Australian oboe virtuoso Diana Doherty in the Martinu, and the performance eclipsed the Schubert. The concerto has an interesting connection of sorts with Adelaide and with this evening’s performance. Martinu composed the concerto for fellow Czech Jiri Tancibudek who taught oboe at the Elder Conservatorium in the 1960s–1980s, and Doherty is on the Tancibudek “list” – he taught the teacher of the teacher .… of Doherty. Her skill and musicality is exceptional and she imbued the piece with wistfulness and agitation. Long extended ostinatos effortlessly rose above the orchestral accompaniment, seemingly emerging from nothing. At the conclusion Doherty acknowledged Jamie Cock at the piano – richly deserved praise.
Kym Clayton
When: 11 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
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
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Festival Theatre. 27 Jun 2015
A world-class live performance of Strauss’ Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder) has been on my bucket list for a long time, and every opportunity to hear them has been thwarted until last weekend when it was my very real pleasure to hear internationally acclaimed soprano Christine Brewer deliver her ninety-eighth performance of what is surely one of the pinnacle compositions of the twentieth century.
The Four last Songs take no prisoner. It takes a mature and robust voice to handle them, yet one that can also rise gracefully like a floating feather on a gentle zephyr. They demand a voice that can soar above a full-strength orchestra that has all but given itself over to glorious melodic lines that transport the player and listener alike. Christine Brewer was at one with all of that, although guest maestro Christoph Koenig was a little too generous on the forte side of the ledger, especially during the first two songs. In the third and fourth songs, and especially in Im Abendrot, Brewer’s expansive and mellifluous voice seemed to rise effortlessly out of nothing and fill the Festival theatre with transcendent melancholy and almost self-forgetfulness. The audience was transported.
And as if Vier letzte Lieder wasn’t enough to make one almost infinitely content, Mahler’s mighty Symphony No.1 ‘Titan’ followed in what was a tour de force performance. Koenig’s reading of Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni at the start of the evening was pedestrian, but his Mahler was anything but. Koenig’s pace was moderate. The programme notes indicated he would bring it home in around fifty-three minutes, which he did. Any slower and the contrasting savage mood shifts in the second movement would have been labored and awkward, and any faster and the evocative funereal third movement would have fallen in on itself as it was swamped by the attack of the final movement.
I love Mahler above all other symphonists, and I have far too many recordings of all his symphonies. I love to compare different interpretations, and I found much to appreciate in Koenig’s reading: clarity, appropriate tempo, passion, and thoughtful emphasis on principal instruments at key times. And how refreshing for the double basses to be acknowledged first in the bows!
Bravo.
Kym Clayton
When: 27 Jun
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Wind Orchestra. Concordia College Chapel. 8 May 2015
The Adelaide Wind Orchestra (AWO) is a gem, and its repertoire is as imaginative as it is technically demanding. Tonight’s concert featured composers who are known for bending the musical rules to breaking point but not to the extent of sacrificing melody and interest.
Charles Ives’ Country Band March is at times raucous and strident and has all the hallmarks of a rollicking street band struggling with complex tonalities. It was perhaps played too loudly for the acoustic of the performance space, but it ultimately rewards with the soothing tranquility of an oboe line that was played beautifully.
Copeland’s El Salon Mexico is, apparently, influenced by the idiom of Mexican folk song but it retains the distinctive sound of Copeland and what we often think of as ‘American’ music. It features the customary harmonisation found in much folk music tradition as well as pitch sliding and call-and-response motives. The saxophone was especially pleasing. Percy Grainger was also famous for his documentation of folk songs, and Hill Song II has an Irish drone quality to it that demands utmost concentration and imagination from the ensemble to give it flight. The AWO gave the piece a sense of freshness.
H Owen Reed’s La Fiesta Mexicana is quite a remarkable and innovative composition. It takes the call-and-response device to a new level by featuring a smaller off-stage ensemble to respond to the ‘calls’ from rest of the orchestra on the main stage. The contrabassoon and bass-clarinet lines were superb, and the chimes and horn sections were bold, arresting and heroic.
Hindemith is an acquired taste and I’m afraid it often passes me by. (As a musically impressionable teenager I was bruised by a booming performance of his Sonata for Trombone and Piano.) However, his Geschwindmarsch provided the AWO with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how the sound of diverse wind instruments can fit hand in glove when played by accomplished players and under the direction of a conductor (Peter Handsworth) who lives and breathes wind instruments.
The evening rounded out with an Australian première of Alan Hovhaness’ Symphony No. 4 which included harp and impressive display of extensive percussion (including vibraphone).
AWO concerts are a revelation: violins and other string instruments are not necessary to produce a full symphonic ‘feel’; its fun to see and hear an ensemble tune up to the tuba; a whole new repertoire becomes accessible; and it is enormously comforting to see an ensemble comprising almost entirely of talented musicians who are on the right side of thirty!
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Concordia College Chapel
Bookings: Closed