Australian Chamber Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 2 Oct 2018
Ilya Gringolts is an electrifying violinist. Of course his technique is superlative – like many other top shelf violinists – as is the care with which he prepares his instrument (string selection and the like), but all this is eclipsed by his breath-taking artistry and profound musicianship; all this with no histrionics when he is in full flight. The lyrical sound that he produces has the stuff of Apollo breathed into it, and must surely be the envy of mere mortal musicians.
From all accounts Niccolò Paganini presented a striking figure in performance and he delighted in composing masterpieces for the violin that were often considered unplayable. Be that true or not, Gringolts gives every appearance that Paganini’s Violin Concerto No 1 presents no such challenges as he cuts through its intricacies with ruthless adeptness. However, his performance isn’t merely a dazzling technical display: he plays as if he is channelling Paganini himself and treats the concerto as if it were his own personal plaything. In Gringolts’ hands, the absurdly difficult double stopping looks trivial. Bernard Rofe’s arrangement of the concerto for string orchestra seems heavy and ‘thick’ at first, with an over emphasis on the violas and cellos. It really needs the woodwinds, but Gringolts soon makes one forget that. The near capacity audience can not contain their excitement and wait until the end of the concerto to show their appreciation. Instead the audience erupts into spontaneous applause at the end of the first movement. Dressed in black trousers and a loose smock shirt, Gringolts is a lather of perspiration when it is over, necessitating a change of clothes during the interval. But astonishingly he has the energy to play an encore before doing so.
The Paganini is the main event of the evening, but it does not entirely overshadow CPE Bach’s Sinfonia in C, Wq 182/3, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin and Two Cellos in C, RV 561, and Bartók’s ever popular Divertimento.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) ,with Gringolts also in the role of director, give an adequate reading of the Bach – no surprises there – and a spirited performance of the Vivaldi, in which the dialogue between Gringolts (as primo violin) and the two celli is beautifully controlled and a delight to watch as well as to hear. The ACO perform the outer movements of the Bartók with great panache, excellent dynamics, crisp articulation, and passion.
This concert is an eye opener, and the audience leave thrilled but also satisfied.
Kym Clayton
When: 2 Oct
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Master Series No 7. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 28 Sep 2018
Expressions of tenderness and love through Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, and the terror of war through Shostakovich’s Symphony No 8 in C minor. The two halves of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Master Series No 7 concert could not have been more different, and nor could they have evoked more diametrically opposed responses. The evening is a roller coaster ride of emotions, and it is almost a blessing to leave the emotion laden confines of the Adelaide Town Hall for the spring chills outside.
Benjamin Grosvenor gives a fine performance of the Chopin, but it seems safe. His prodigious talent and technical expertise tame the contrasting moods of the concerto’s three movements and the result is a deeply satisfying gestalt. The larghetto second movement is achingly beautiful and Grosvenor is able to expose its inner transcendent qualities.
Maestro Mark Wigglesworth’s reading of the Shostakovich is simply extraordinary. It is a long work –around sixty minutes long – and the central challenge is to lay bare but not fall prey to its grim and raw psychology. This particular symphony, like many others of Shostakovich, is best appreciated when one knows the context in which it was written. Symphony No 8 is not so much a response to the horrors of World War II but an indictment of Stalin’s subjugation of his own people. Through the music we experience the ugly reality and grind of the everyday life of the oppressed Russians. We bear witness to their physical and mental torture and their longing for deliverance into something better. We catch glimpses of their battered but ultimately inextinguishable spirit and pride. All of this is experienced over an unrelenting hour that feels like an eternity and also like seconds.
Wigglesworth controls the aural landscape with almost ruthless passion; the orchestra itself has never sounded finer. The whole visceral experience has one gripping the seat and clenching one’s jaw. It is almost too much, and at the end the audience is silent for a full fifteen seconds. Then the applause starts, and it builds and builds and builds and persists. It is almost inappropriate to clap, but we do. Despite the subject material, it is a masterful performance.
Kym Clayton
When: 28 Sep
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Musica Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 27 Sep 2018
The first tour of the celebrated Borodin Quartet for Musica Viva Australia – there have been seven in all, not counting the current tour – was more than fifty years ago in 1965. It stands to reason that the current ensemble members are either very old, or there have been some changes in personnel.
The fact of the matter is there have been changes in the line-up over the years since its formation in 1945, but not as many as one would think. Despite the changes, there has been no change in the ensemble’s artistry. It is fair to say that in a rapidly changing world that worships fads and fly-by-nighters, the musical signature of The Borodin Quartet has remained a constant on the musical landscape and it is one of calmness, clarity, and constancy of purpose.
The Borodin’s concert included Haydn’s String Quartet in B minor, op 33 no 1, then Shostakovich’s String Quartet no 9 in E flat op 117, and concluded with Beethoven’s String Quartet no 13 in B flat op 130.
The Haydn is full of wit and humour, and the Borodin’s extracted grace and balance from the andante third movement. The economy in the physicality of their playing carried through into the Shostakovich to the extent that the allegretto third movement looked almost under-played. But looks are deceiving, and the composition’s inherent gritty nostalgia came through.
As masterful as the performances of the Haydn and Shostakovich were, the Beethoven stole the show. The sound production was superb and the cavatina fifth movement was the jewel in the crown of the concert. Its simple beauty and lyricism was laid bare for all to see and hear, and the absence of physical histrionics from the Bordin’s playing amplified the point.
Brava Borodins, and bravo Musica Viva!
Kym Clayton
When: 27 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Corinthian Singers of Adelaide. St John’s Anglican Church. 23 Sep 2018
This was my first Corinthian Singers concert and I now wonder why it took so long. This community choir is a gem, and Anniversaries displayed the breadth of their talents despite the last throes of winter ills conspiring to make the task a little bit harder.
The church has a warm acoustic that suits languorous harmonised melody lines but the longish reverberation time is a little less forgiving for rapid staccato singing. This contrast was evident from the start in the performance of Danny Elfman’s Alice’s Theme from Alice in Wonderland. The first two stanzas were beautifully clear and articulated but the up-tempo third stanza became blurred and less satisfying. Les fleurs et les arbres suffered similarly, but Calme des Nuits, both by Saint-Saëns, was precise with near perfect French pronunciation. Bravo!
The concert comprised some eighteen songs sung variously in English, French, Latin and Russian, and they all had a tenuous connection to an anniversary of some sort: anniversary of the death or birth of the composer or lyricist, or, amusingly and exceedingly tenuously, an obscure anniversary celebrating the time since the composer started to learn the piano! Musical Director Alistair Knight revelled in the humour of such contrivances but this did not distract him from the main game, which was to let eleven (not twelve?) voices and organist/pianist Peter Kelsall bring both secular and religious music to life. And that he did.
The programme mostly comprised songs from the mid-1800s onwards, including one composed by Knight himself – a setting of the hymn Ubi Caritas. It was contrasted with an abridged setting of the same hymn by contemporary Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo (who is perhaps best known for his composition Dreamweaver for choir, piano, and strings). The juxtaposition was a high point of the concert.
Many songs on the programme were sung unaccompanied, and the highlight was the hymn Mother of God incessantly in prayer composed by Rachmaninoff. Impressively, it was sung in Russian and the audience was suitably in awe.
This was an almost perfect way to spend seventy-five minutes on a Sunday afternoon.
Kym Clayton
When: 23 Sep
Where: St John’s Anglican Church
Bookings: Closed
Master Series 6. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 21 Sep 2018
The programming for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Master Series 6 – A Time for Heroes – lives up to its name and is an eclectic mix of evocative warring themes and militaristic machismo.
Guest conductor Mark Wigglesworth is right at home with the score and conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 (Eroica) from memory. His interpretation is expansive and acutely empathetic to the Beethoven’s desire to express both the nobility of man contrasted with base self-indulgence and hubris.
The concert begins with Mars, the Bringer of War from Holst’s The Planets suite. The piece needs no introduction and Wigglesworth imbues it with uncommon menace by exaggerating the contrast between various instruments and strongly articulating the early rhythmic pulse.
This is the perfect introduction for Walton’s Henry V suite. Its five sections are accompanied by dramatic recitations from Shakespeare’s historical drama Henry V by accomplished actor Mark Leonard Winter. His performance of the famously stirring St Crispin's Day speech is a highlight and one felt the hair on the back of one’s neck stir when he ardently exclaimed “And gentlemen in England now a-bed/ Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here/ And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks/ That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.” Winter is uneven in his performance (nerves?) and not every speech rises to the same heights as St Crispin. However, it matters not at all and the audience shower him with applause fit for a king.
But, Beethoven wins the day, and Wigglesworth ensures the audience leave humming its glorious melodies.
Kym Clayton
When: 21 Sep
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed