Tag Archives: Mozart

Mozart’s Requiem – Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

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8th March, Hamer Hall, Melbourne

This was certainly a concert of grand ambitions, marrying Mozart’s epic Requiem mass with Bartok’s masterpiece, the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste. Though not immediately clear, it is possible to find common ground between these pieces; both deal with the juxtaposition of forces as an integral part of their sound palette. They tread a similar path in their exploration of a dark, dramatic soundscape, though musical language is of course incredibly varied. Not so with the opening piece – Wagner’s Prelude to the Mastersingers of Nuremberg – which felt rather out of place on the program despite beautifully rich sonorities from the brass.

Both in the Bartok and the Mozart, the conductor and orchestra seemed to take a little while to get into their stride. The opening Andante tranquillo of the Bartok, in particular, seemed rather angular and a little bereft of melodic direction. However, this was more than made up for as the piece progressed, with brisker movements displaying cheekily discursive playing from the strings. Edward Gardner demanded a wonderful range of dynamics, and both he and the orchestra fully embraced Bartok’s stereophonic vision. The wonderful thing about this music is an exploration of colour, and this was always the central focus. The third, Adagio movement was stunningly eerie, and on more that one occasion I found myself amazed at the sounds Bartok and Gardner achieved by the combination of instrumental timbres. Gardner’s verbal introduction to this piece was great – informative and passionate. I really hope that it encouraged some less-experienced listeners to really give Bartok’s music a go!

For most of the audience, of course, the Requiem was the big event (I have to admit, it was for the Bartok that this concert was so prominently marked in my diary), and the orchestra didn’t disappoint. Though taking the first few movements to really settle into a feeling of absolute cohesion of intention, both choir and orchestra performed with a sense of drama and gusto. Tempos seemed on the brisk side, but this only seemed to add to the urgency and foreboding in the choral movements. Soloists Elena Xanthoudakis, Sally-Anne Russell, Andrew Staples and Matthew Rose were many not quite as spectacular as I would have liked on their own, but more than made up for the when singing as a quartet. Particularly impressive were the Recordare and Benedictus, where the blend of voices was stunning.

Ian Bostridge Sings Mozart and Schubert – Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

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Friday 7th December

Despite my reservations about a program consisting mostly of Mozart in what has to be described as a very large concert hall, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s collaboration with British tenor Ian Bostridge and conductor Bernard Labadie was highly enjoyable. Labadie’s reputation is for conducting Baroque and Classical repertoire, and it is because of this that the program had such a strong focus on the works of Mozart.

The selection of five Schubert songs was undoubtedly the highlight of the evening. Bostridge appeared totally at ease with the music, exploring the intricacies of colour and melody in Schubert’s writing. The orchestral accompaniment – arranged by Webern – augmented the possibilities of vocal shading while still maintaining the intimacy of piano writing. Though at moments the proximity of a chamber music venue would have better allowed for Bostridge’s subtleties of colour, the Hamer Hall acoustics delivered superbly, and a pleasing balance of instruments and voice seemed effortless on the part of the performers. The brooding Ihr Bild (Her Image) was particularly striking, and Bostridge’s upper register in these songs was outstanding.

The excerpts from Mozart’s opera Idomeneo which preceded the interval, while equally stunning technically,  felt somewhat out of place in the overall arc of the concert. Bostridge executed the arias with passion, ringing Italian, and particularly impressive cadenzas. However, the flow of this segment was unconvincing, with the music seeming to loose rather than gain momentum heading into the interval.

Framing the vocal works, Mozart’s symphonies no. 31 (Paris) and the famous no. 40 were played with buoyancy and delicacy. The opening movements of both works erred on the side of dainty when they could maybe have used a little more umph. It was clear that Bernard Labadie’s musical focus was with the minute gestures rather than the greater arc of the music, which gave the second movement of the Paris symphony in particular a dazzling clarity of sound and musical contour. Lower voices carried beautifully, with even the gentlest of cello pizzicatos clearly audible. It was maybe a little surprising, then, that the woodwind were not more present in the mixture, and that inner-voice melodies in the concluding symphony were occasionally unclear. Both works gained momentum heading into the final movements, with Labadie demanding crisp articulation and bubbling energy.

A concert on the light side thematically perhaps, but nevertheless performed with flair and sparkle.

A Sunday Afternoon Concert – South Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

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Sunday 25th November

There is no denying it, community orchestras are tricky. Tricky because they are at once one of the most important ways of nurturing classical music in the community, and one of the most varied groups of musical individuals one will ever meet. And while Lynette Bridglands is doing a lot of great things with the South Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as shown by their final concert for 2012, choosing an appropriate program for such an ensemble is challenging.

Rossini’s Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers got the concert off to a good start, with oboist Sophie Johnson playing the opening solos expressively and with a stunning tone. She just needed to do it louder! Woodwinds lines were well-played, with good intonation and sense of ensemble, but the strings – in particular the first violins – were somewhat lacking in both dynamics and conviction. This, I feel, is one of the first golden rules of community orchestra playing: the concertmaster really must be a charismatic and musical leader capable of injecting some umph into their fellow musicians. Concertmaster David Chan, while clearly very capable technically, didn’t give this, and as a result many of the string players erred on the side of playing a little quietly and with a little less enthusiasm so that they wouldn’t be caught making a dreaded mistake. As a result, upper strings melodies were rather lost, and the sections that were played somewhat under tempo really felt like it.

Elgar’s Sea Pictures was without a doubt the highlight of the concert. Mezzo-contralto (though with an impressive high register too) Helen Hill was splendid both in her interpretation of the music and her presence on stage. The orchestra handled Elgar’s writing well despite any technical difficulties, as they were able to take the lead from both conductor and soloist in terms of colour and musical intention. An encore of Land of Hope and Glory was fitting and fun, leading all buoyantly into the interval with a tune to hum.

The second half presented two very challenging works, though each for its own reasons. Here, I wonder whether it would have been prudent to reduce the program length a little (or maybe even adding a slightly easier second Pomp and Circumstance March to the first half) than attempt to tackle the weight of both Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier Concert Suite and a Mozart Symphony.

It was clear here that most members of the orchestra are at a high technical standard on their instrument. However, I think that one of the most important considerations of community orchestra programming (and also for youth orchestras, but for slightly different reasons) is recognising the difference between what the ensemble can play in terms of notes, and what they are capable of playing well in concert. Der Rosenkavalier, in particular, was challenging in this respect, and the resulting impression was that most players were still getting to grips with their own parts and not listening terribly much to the ensemble as a whole. Lines were muddy, and at times a central melody was difficult to pick, although the piece picked up momentum as it moved into the waltz.

Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, the Haffner, is challenging for another reason – it needs incredible finesse. Here, the orchestra were clearly enjoying themselves, and the result was a light, buoyant reading, though a little under-tempo. It felt that this would have been just that bit more polished – especially in terms of the strings’ commitment to some of their more challenging lines – had the group spent just a little more time on each of the movements.

Conductor Lynette Bridgland is an enthusiastic and skilled musician, and has clearly put a lot of work into the South Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. However, if community orchestras are to continue to attract audiences and players, I feel that they need to balance their programs a little better. Pick a handful of pieces that are that bit easier, and play them with real conviction and umph, adding a single challenging work that really has a lot of time spent on it. Maybe this will upset a few of the more highly skilled players in the ensemble, but orchestras are a team, and the greatest skill of being an orchestral musician is that of being a team player.