Category Archives: Live Performance

A Night in Vienna W.A.Symphony Orchestra

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A Night in Vienna
W.A.Symphony Orchestra

Perth Concert Hall

cond. Matthias Bamert

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

It was every concert promoter’s dream: a new concert format that so engaged the interest of the public that the response at the box office was overwhelming And how!

For its first ever Gala Night in Vienna, based on the Austrian capital’s famous New Year’s Day concerts, the WASO drew so many who wished to attend the event that hundreds were turned away.

With this level of support, the WASO beancounters are considering mounting the event on an annual basis. As well, they might think of arranging for it to be repeated on the following Sunday, say at 4pm, which would bring the presentation more in line with the Vienna presentations – and also drawing elderly folk who might balk at turning out at night in midwinter.

Front, rear and organ stalls and both galleries were packed to capacity at the weekend. Lavish floral displays on either side of the platform, below the conductor’s podium and almost completely obscuring the organ seat and keyboard in the choir stalls lent a festive air to the proceedings. So, too, did the colourful silk sashes worn by many of the women of the WASO which made a pleasing contrast to their conventionally austere, all-black garb. Male musos sported red roses in their lapels. And on each seat in the auditorium was a tiny white, red-ribboned box containing a to-die-for chocolate confection.

There were lashings of music by Johann Strauss the Younger, all time-tested favourites that, no matter how frequently heard, seem never to pall. (Strauss, incidentally, is one of the most prolific composers who ever lived; his output fills more than 43 CDs – and still coming!).

Of the music, this: even if, in the waltzes on offer, that elusive, idiosyncratic Viennese lilt was not as ubiquitous as one might have hoped, the inherent charm of these pieces – The Blue Danube, Voices of Spring and Leichtes Blut – worked their magic. In the Kaiser Waltz, principal cellist Rod McGrath’s all-too-brief solo was an object lesson in what stylish, expressive phrasing is all about. Horns did themselves proud throughout the evening, no more so than in The Blue Danube.

With Matthias Bamert presiding over events, the overture to Die Fledermaus unfolded in all its carefree splendour with oboist Joel Marangella at his persuasive best. And bracing attack by cellos and double basses made Strauss’ faux zigeuner overture to The Gypsy Baron memorable. But it was in the two-beats-in-a-bar polkas that Bamert gave us readings that had the stamp of authenticity, not least the engaging Annen-Polka and the Champagne Polka, which Bamert conducted with empty champagne glass in hand as Tim White did wonders in simulating the sound of popping corks. Here, and throughout the evening, Bamert provided an engaging linking commentary.

Soprano Sara Macliver was a glamorous presence in the celebrated Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus, her fearless attack admirable as she negotiated a tricky vocal line that was clearly defined and pinpoint-pitched. But there was some loss of vocal power in the lower reaches of the range in Voices of Spring.

Before the second half of the program commenced, WASO CEO Keith Venning came onstage and spoke warmly of the generous support the orchestra derives from its sponsors – Wesfarmers Arts, Emirates and The West Australian. A competition run via coupons in The West drew a phenomenal 52,000 entries from those hoping to win a return flight to Vienna courtesy of Emirates – and a representative of the airline presented the tickets to the lucky winner who was clearly delighted to receive the prize – and on her birthday, too! In Vienna, the winner will be hosted by the Austrian Tourist Board.

This was a first-rate instance of how effectively business and the arts can work together.

Copyright 2004 Neville Cohn


W.A.Symphony Orchestra Andreas Haefliger (piano) Matthias Bamert (conductor)

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W.A.Symphony Orchestra
Andreas Haefliger (piano)

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

Matthias Bamert (conductor)

Perth Concert Hall

 

Making his first appearance with the W.A.Symphony Orchestra, Swiss musician Andreas Haefliger was soloist in Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.

Over many decades, I have lost count of the number of times I have listened to this ageless masterpiece – in live performance, on radio and recordings – but I cannot recall a reading so startlingly forthright, even aggressive, as Haefliger’s. With its heroics, it was an unusual take on a much-loved concerto.

In the famous cadenza towards the conclusion of the first movement, the soloist weighed in with a thrustingly in-your-face treatment of the notes that took this listener aback – so much so that the poetry inherent in much of the writing took second place to muscularity. But the extended trills that play a significant part from the end of the cadenza to the conclusion of the movement were near-flawlessly spun.

Here was an interpretation that was overwhelmingly (although not exclusively) virile and passionate in its treatment of the score but rather less persuasive in evoking the tenderness and quiet reflection that lie at the heart of much of the writing. And from a seat in the 17th row, there was in the finale what sounded an over-generous use of the damper pedal which often blurred outlines and lessened the impact of Schumann’s fascinating rhythmic intricacies.

Throughout, Matthias Bamert was a loyally supportive conductor, meticulously anticipating his compatriot’s every musical intention and drawing from the WASO a response that was, for the most part, as vigorous as the playing of the soloist.

Warm applause and a floral bouquet wrapped in shiny paper elicited an encore that, coming after such a robust reading of the concerto, was a delightful surprise. In his account of Schumann’s The Prophet Bird (from Waldszenen), Haefliger beautifully captured the fragile, restrained essence of the music which, with extraordinary authenticity, evokes images of this curious fowl’s idiosyncratic body language.

Despite outbursts of unwanted and maddeningly insistent clapping between movements of Mahler’s vast and sprawling Symphony No 1, these discourtesies (which broke out like an unsightly rash) seemed not noticeably to put Bamert and his forces off their stroke as this mammoth opus unfolded. In passing: if, at the conclusion of a movement, the conductor had held his baton raised, this – based on decades of observing audience attitudes – is usually sufficient for even compulsive handclappers to get the message and hold their peace.

It is no mean achievement for a conductor to commit a work of this length and complexity to memory – and the confidence that stems from that grasp of the score seemed to rub off, as it were, on the musicians of the orchestra.

It was a good night for the strings, not least cellos and double basses who responded to Mahler’s demands with stylish aplomb. And apart from some sour notes from the off-stage trumpets early in the piece, the WASO’s brass players were on their musical toes, especially the horn subsection, all eight of whom stood as they played the closing pages of Mahler’s Titan.

As curtainraiser, we heard Carl Vine’s V which, with its fanfares and syncopated rhythms, sounded very much more convincing in the near-perfect acoustic environment of the Concert Hall than when first encountered at an open air performance at Langley Park some while ago.

Copyright 2004 Neville Cohn


Jonathan Paget (guitar) and friends St John’s Lutheran Church, Northbridge

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Jonathan Paget (guitar) and friends

 

St John’s Lutheran Church, Northbridge

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

Top violist Yuri Bashmet’s performances with the W.A.Symphony Orchestra at the weekend tended to draw attention away from a much-less-lavishly advertised event at St John’s Lutheran Church in Northbridge. And a wintry evening did little to attract what ought to have been a much bigger audience to listen to Jonathan Paget and friends. But for those who made the effort to attend, it would surely have been a rewarding experience.

Paget, on the evidence of this performance, is a young musician who will be going places. His years of study in the United States as Fulbright Scholar have added a patina of professionalism to everything he touches. Certainly, his subtle, intimate artistry did much to draw attention from a venue that wasn’t much warmer than it was outside. And, of course, the chilly dampness of the night was the sort of weather to play havoc with guitar strings so, understandably, much time was spent tuning the guitar. It was well worth the effort; Paget’s intonation was near-faultless.

His account of William Walton’s Bagatelles was the highpoint of the evening as Paget breathed life and meaning into these fiendishly tricky pieces, not least the rapid arabesques of the opening Allegro and the gently rocking rhythms and finely detailed outlines of the second, all negotiated with skill and musicality. Throughout, there was about the presentation an understated artistry that impressed, not least in Sor’s funeral march from his Fantasie elegiaque, music that tapered off to the merest wraith of pianissimo sound. And, after interval, Paget’s account of Morel’s Dansa Brasileira worked its magic in spite of the maddening rumble of traffic along the adjoining road.

It seemed a shame, incidentally, that the musicians weren’t more visible to the audience. Perhaps, if other concerts are envisioned for this venue, a raised dais could do much to rectify the current less-than-ideal arrangement and make the players visible as well as audible.

Soprano Claire Lenyk, who I have not heard before, presented six of Falla’s Canciones populares espanoles. I was impressed by both the quality of vocal tone and the seemingly effortless manner with which it was produced. This was a splendid vocal effort, a stream of consistently pleasing, unforced and musically phrased sound that held the attention throughout. The guitar accompaniment, although unfailingly loyal to the singer’s intentions, was too attenuated for a cycle that really requires the significantly more substantial sound capable of being generated at the keyboard.

At interval, hot coffee and delicious biscuits were handy armour against the chill of the night.

2004 Copyright Neville Cohn


Australian String Quartet

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Australian String Quartet

Perth Concert Hall

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

 

The Australian String Quartet’s memorable account of Beethoven’s Rasumovsky Quartet, opus 59 no 3, presented in a year which has seen a number of similar ensembles from abroad making concert tours of the country, leaves one in no doubt at all that the homegrown product is as satisfying to experience as the imported variety.asq

Certainly, the ensemble’s reading of the Rasumovsky work came across with a flair and drive that made for rivetting listening. And the controlled skill with which the fugal measures of Beethoven’s masterwork were offered as the various instrumental lines coalesced and separated was an object lesson in what fine contrapuntal playing is all about.

Now, when Beethoven turned his hand to contrapuntal writing, it invariably bore his unmistakeable musical fingerprints. The same cannot be said of Mozart’s recourse to counterpoint. And while no-one would dispute the quality, clarity and beauty of his ideas in the Adagio and Fugue in C minor, few, I believe, would claim that it sounds like Mozart at his most original. In fact, at times one is left with the impression that it was the result of Mozart attending a séance to commune with the spirit of the departed Bach, taking some advice from this greatest master of fugue – and hurrying home to get it all down on paper. I like to think of the Adagio and Fugue in C minor as Mozart’s homage to his great predecessor.

Music in very different vein – Dvorak’s String Quartet No 10 – was given a performance that very beguilingly underscored the engagingly folksy nature of the writing.

Copyright 2004 Neville Cohn


Five Sundays in Fremantle Earth Songs pi and Dominic Perissinotto (organ)

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Five Sundays in Fremantle
Earth Songs

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

pi and Dominic Perissinotto (organ)

St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle

Aficionados of new music were generously catered for at St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle where David Pye’s pi new music ensemble gave us a program of works of such recent vintage that some of it had been completed only days before.

Strictly speaking, Cathie Travers’ Mondrian’s Wood isn’t ensemble music at all. But anyone listening to a recording of it would be forgiven for assuming it was written for, and being performed by, a combo of musicians. In fact, it’s Travers alone and as a very busy one-person band, seated with her piano accordion at a bank of electronic gadgetry that might intimidate Dr Who.

 

It uses looping technology to create a near-mesmeric underlying percussive pattern with additional themes played on an electronic keyboard that are captured and pumped out again and again as required. Overarching this, is Travers’ haunting accordion music, slowly unfolding to the rhythm of a beguine. Perhaps oddly for music presented in a church, Mondrian’s Wood irresistibly evokes images of clinching couples moving slowly across a dance floor in a smoke-hazy tavern. This is a piece with a future.

pi

Prior to this, Dominic Perissinotto at the organ literally pulled out the stops for a thunderous and very nimble account of Graham Koehne’s Toccata Aurora, music in the bustlingly noisy tradition of Widor’s famed Toccata from his Organ Symphony no 5. At its most formidable climaxes, tsunamis of formidable tone burst from the Basilica’s organ pipes.

Cellist Mel Robinson’s premiere account of her piece Surrender (also a one-person presentation that sounded as if more than a few musicians were simultaneously at work) produced slightly amplified, richly resonant sonorities (over a pre-recorded vocalise) that assumed the character of a minor-mode, eastern European song of mourning.

Gossamer-delicate murmurings on the marimba ushered in wood, wind, earth, water, a work jointly composed by David Pye and Lee Buddle. Sound, initially diffuse and quiet, grew very gradually in intensity to assume more definite, dance-like rhythmic patterns and melodic features before fading into silence.

Comments on concert catering rarely figure in music reviews but it would be ungracious to omit mention of Jonathan M Patisserie’s delicious biscuits and excellent, freshly brewed Essenza Coffee provided gratis at interval and perfect as an antidote against the chill of a mid-winter Fremantle afternoon. Certainly, it gave this writer a much appreciated caffeine jolt to sustain him as he hurried along Stirling Highway to arrive in time for A Winter Musical Feast at Perth Modern Auditorium.

Copyright Neville Cohn 2004