Adelaide Festival. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Festival Theatre. 7 Mar 2020.
This year marks the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, and around the world there are more events commemorating this than you can shake a stick at! At this year’s Adelaide Festival we have enjoyed the Lyon Opera Ballet’s Trois Grandes Fugues, which celebrated Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue Op. 133, and several of his string quartets, and throughout this year the Adelaide Symphony orchestra will perform all his symphonies and his violin concerto.
It is manifestly obvious that Beethoven is, and will likely continue to be one of humankind’s most loved composers, and almost everyone surely knows that the great man was tormented with chronic deafness. What is perhaps not as well known is that his affliction nearly pushed him to the precipice of wanting to end his own life. Beethoven wrote to his brothers about his turmoil in a heart wrenching letter that is now referred to as the Heiligenstadt Testament.
So, in this special commemorative year it is fitting this especially painful time in Beethoven’s life is explored so that we can appreciate the man’s musical genius all the more. The Sound of History does just that, and presents music composed by Beethoven before and after Heiligenstadt, and also presents a modern composition that is a musical interpretation of Beethoven’s pain.
Performed by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the program comprises extracts from Beethoven’s Septet in E flat, Op.20, the Piano Concerto No.1 in C, Op.15, Symphony No.1 in C, Op.21, and Symphony No.2 in D, Op.36. These excerpts are accompanied by short contextual explanations delivered by Professor Christopher Clark from the University of Cambridge. This part of the program is intensely interesting, and exposes a number of myths surrounding Beethoven’s deafness. Clark is erudite, and his material is factual, interesting and to the point. However, the event feels too much like a lecture – replete with giant slide projections on a screen hanging behind the orchestra – and the musical extracts become more of a ‘tease’. Such feelings are pushed aside when the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra performs Brett Dean’s Testament: Music for Orchestra, which is a musical response to the turmoil Beethoven must have been in as his hearing increasingly became worse.
Throughout the evening the projection screen also captures live images of sections of the orchestra as they play. This adds an extra dimension to the whole concert experience.
Dean’s Testament is a remarkable composition. It attempts to create in sound what Beethoven must have heard as his hearing failed. It plumbs the depths of emotion to express the despair felt by the man. Dean himself was to have conducted the concert but he is a recent COVID19 victim and is currently under medical isolation in hospital. A nice touch was to project a video message from him thanking Richard Mills AM who stepped in at the eleventh hour to ‘rescue’ the entire concert.
Mills demonstrates his undoubted class with his leading of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in a ‘safe’ reading of Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 in E flat, Op.55 ‘Eroica’. Mills and the orchestra take the mighty Eroica at a measured pace with the dynamics carefully planned from beginning to end: the strength of the opening chord; the potency of the funeral march; the energy of the scherzo; and the sheer might of the finale; all are in balance. One is never surprised – it is as we expect – and the result sends the audience home confirmed in their belief that Beethoven was, is, and will always be one of the greatest.
Kym Clayton
When: 7 Mar
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Festival. Lyon Opera Ballet. Festival Theatre. 7 Mar 2020.
Trois Grandes Fugues is a compelling dance experience.
One of the most divisive pieces of music ever composed (at least by a classical composer) is set to dance, three times. The dances are performed by members of the Lyon Opera Ballet and are styled by three different choreographers (Maguey Marin, Anne Teresa da Keersmaeker, and Lucinda Childs) who are all internationally acclaimed.
The music is Beethoven’s Große Fuge (or Grosse Fugue or Great Fugue). It was originally the fourth movement from his String Quartet No.13 in B flat, Op. 130, but he was persuaded to substitute it for something that would be more acceptable to the public, and the Grosse Fugue was subsequently published separately as his Opus 133.
Beethoven composed the Grosse Fugue late in his life, when he was completely deaf. In its day it was variously described as “incomprehensible”, a “babel”, and generally unplayable. It has received similar reviews even in relatively modern times. Beethoven agreed to excise it from his Op.130 through fear of box office failure, at a time when his financial circumstances were dire (which they often were).
However, the Grosse Fugue it has also been given high praise, and Stravinsky stated that it would remain forever contemporary. Even to a modern ear, the Grosse Fugue is a challenging composition. On a first hearing, it often polarises the opinions of the listener: it is either liked, or loathed (at least initially). It is strident, and at times atonal. It has complex and ever jarring rhythms that are forever changing. Individual instrumental parts are not easy to play and it is technically demanding to navigate and interpret as an ensemble.
The Lyon Opera Ballet set each iteration of the dance to a different recording of the Grosse Fuge, and they are all very different. Unlike Keersmaeker and Marin, the recording chosen by Childs is performed by a larger orchestral ensemble rather than by a strict quartet, and is therefore aurally more dense. For this reason, the Childs interpretation, at least for this reviewer, is not as effective as the other two in foregrounding the texture of the music. By contrast, Marin’s interpretation uses only four dancers and, for the most part, each follows the rhythmic and contour lines of one of the four instruments of the quartet. Indeed, it is fascinating to visualise each dancer as an instrument and to contemplate how they interact
Keersmaeker’s interpretation is most likely the audience favourite. A significant element of the choreography is ‘fall and recover’, with each recovery exploding into something different – turns, leaps, solos, duets – all of which heightens one’s appreciation of the music. Marin’s approach is also more contemporary than that of Childs, who takes a more ‘classical’ approach.
The fascination of this event is that the dance allows the music to become more accessible. One finds much more in the music by seeing it performed by dancers rather than by only hearing it performed by musicians. That might be said of any ballet, but in this case the Grosse Fugue is altogether quite a different musical beast.
The Adelaide Festival has presented us with a masterpiece.
Kym Clayton
When: 7 Mar
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Mark Trenwith. The Factory, Garden Of Unearthly Delights. 8 Mar 2020
Let’s face it; the kids, age four to nine were hanging out to see this one. And a show called Mr Snotbottom was right up their alley. I have no issue with a performance involving bum jokes, fart jokes and a song about dog poo, but I am struggling to find three reasons to like it, therefore struggling to justify three stars.
Firstly, the volume during the introduction was just too loud for kids, and the sound dynamics pretty bad. Too much middle frequency and bad headset mics, so several kids near too me were shielding their ears. Can the crew not see this?
Secondly, both the scripting and the performances were very ho-hum, and not particularly thoughtful as to their intended audience. When we eventually got to a section about breaching Occupational Health & Safety conditions (!!!) the following line was delivered: “This goes completely against protocol. Do you understand that?”
The kids did not.
Thirdly, is the show about Mr Snotbottom or his technical crew sidekick Anthony? At first the children get to focus on one character alone; Mr Snotbottom getting dressed, attempting to put on his tie and being face-slapped for his troubles, and clearing out the noxious red underpants. The kids loved it.
But when things get to OHS and there are numerous bad ‘beginnings’ for the show, all three kids became confused and their attention wandered. A faux spaghetti western with no band and no Ed Sheeran attempts to put matters to rights, as does the song about dog poo, but by this stage it’s clear this is a show which oversells in all aspects.
It isn’t horrible.
It isn’t terrible.
It isn’t really, really bad.
It is, as my parents used to say, ‘barely bloody adequate’.
And so the conclusion is predictable and in no way edifying for the kids in the audience who missed the feel good potential of the point entirely: “The world is like a big bag of jellybeans”. Leave the brown ones until last.
Alex Wheaton
Where: The Factory, Garden Of Unearthly Delights
When: until Sun 15 March
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Adelaide Theatre Academy. Norwood Concert Hall. 7 Mar 2020
With Michael Eustice and Libby Drake at the helm determined to revive the remarkable young people’s theatre spirit of The Bunyips, the Adelaide Theatre Academy is starting to show its colours.
Peter Pan is an ambitious production, not just targeting the friends and families of young stage talent but flung right out there amid the mass attractions of the Fringe and Festival program.
Herein, what makes Eustice important to Australian theatre is his investment not only in child talent under his Theatre Bugs brand, but the experience and exposure he is giving to the rising theatre figures he has so very judiciously taken under his wing as part of the Academy.
This is really quite a big deal. Eustice is airing and grooming names which are destined to be important in the future of theatre in this fecund arts state.
This production, with its huge cast of young performers, has been directed by Ben Francis. The Adelaide arts establishment has had its eye on this singing prodigy since he turned up as a mere schoolboy with the popular retro group The 60 Four. His musical career has zoomed ever since and now, not only is he in demand as a performer but also he is teaching singing at the Academy. Now he has been given responsibility for this significant showpiece, supported as production and stage manager by Adelaide’s on-the-zeitgeist, award-winning actor Matt Houston along with the likes of Jacinta Vistola as choreographer, Kate Prescott on design, Ruby Faith on lights and even Nick Ely for graphic art. Then there’s the very able musical director Jennifer Trijo conducting a damned fine band into the bargain.
It is not easy taking responsibility for a cast of young learners but Francis has moulded this large crop into a pretty efficient ensemble. At times, their singing harmonies are just gorgeous and Vistoli’s choreography keeps the shape and movement aesthetic on stage, and the facial expressions of the assorted chorus groups - Lost Boys and Pirates - are lovely. When it comes to the flying scene, they get by skimming along on roller sneakers with a few puffs of stage smoke to suggest clouds.
Of course, among the cast is the new crop of up-and-comings. Amber Fibrosi and Emma Vanderzon are standout singers as Wendy and Mrs Darling respectively. Madeleine Nunn is a singularly appealing new talent, albeit her innate sweetness outshines the arrogant cheekiness of Peter Pan. Emma Dalton is a gorgeous Tinkerbell and Jayden Ayling impresses as Mr Darling. Jaxon Joy, as Captain Hook, has a sensational voice and when he remembers not to let it drop at the end of sentences, it promises a standout future. Among others deserving mention are Lachlan Anderson, Alexandra Runjajic, Ethan Joy, and Polly Schubert, with a big tick to every last one of the cast for spirit and discipline.
This Greg Stiles version of Peter Pan is quite a complex and demanding musical and the Academy must be admired for the sheer professionalism with which it has tackled it. Keep an eye out for its future productions.
Samela Harris
When: 7 Mar
Where: Norwood Concert Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Festival. Australian Premiere. Traverse Theatre Company. Odeon Theatre. 6 Mar 2020
Whose life is it, anyway?
Libby despairs that she is a complete loser. At 41 she is a disillusioned would-be playwright devoid of any sense of self-worth. She’s snatched from edge of the Edinburgh’s Salisbury Crags by another loser, Declan, a broken 17-year-old finding escape from a violent, working-class home by sitting and drawing on the Crags. And so an unlikely and awkward friendship begins. Gradually each character lets down their guard and confides in the other, and Libby sees an interesting cultural story emerging from the life of the boy. It sows a seed to break the curse of 20 barren writing years.
As performed by Shauna Macdonald and Angus Taylor, with direction by Orla O’Loughlin, Mouthpiece is an intense 90 minutes of achingly credible theatre. And for one who once lived, worked, and loved in Edinburgh, it resounds vivdly with a sense of Edinburgh: its crags and skies, vistas, and social contrasts. Libby lives in the elegant Georgian New Town while Declan comes from the struggling world of the housing estates on the wrong side of town. Although such cultural divides are not exclusive to Edinburgh, the city's contextual omnipresence adds a significant element to the play, which is spoken precisely in the two idiomatic Edinburgh accents denoting high and low society.
The play digs poignantly into the innocence and vulnerability of the disadvantaged as Libby proffers to Declan some of the privileges he had no idea were civic entitlements. His wonderment at her interest in him is edged by both hunger and resentment and he makes it clear that he has a dangerous streak.
Libby, on the other hand, retreats from the edge of real involvement in a damaged young human being and, tediously obsessed with the idea of being a “story teller”, chooses to leave him to his sorry destiny but to take his story. Funnily enough, Declan sees this as theft. And the age-old issue of who owns whose story emerges to keep the audiences debating long after the play is over.
While it is not historically earth-shattering, this is a very nicely observed and scripted study of humankind and is given consummate characterisation and tension by the two fine Traverse Theatre Company performers.
In a strange plot device in this work by young Edinburgh writer Kieran Hurley, the aspiring playwright snatches moments aside at a microphone to analyse the creative process. It strikes one as a bit arch albeit at times interesting.
Not once but several times audiences are reminded that the theatre experience can make their hearts beat in accord and, indeed, that the theatre is a “huge empathy machine”.
That’s one thing no one will argue. After all, it is why we are all there in the first place.
Samela Harris
When: 6 to 14 Mar
Where: Odeon Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefestival.com.au