Musica Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 7 Nov 2019
The Skride Piano Quartet is a relatively new ensemble having been formed barely three years ago by sisters Baiba (violin) and Lauma Skride (on piano). They are accompanied by Julian Steckel (cello), who only joined the quartet very recently, and Lise Berthaud (viola).
All four artists are individually accomplished and have busy concert diaries, but individual talent alone does not necessarily make for a successful ensemble. However, in this case, the Skride Piano Quartet richly deserves its accolades and reputation as a “supergroup”. Their whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and the technical virtuosity, sensitivity, thoughtfulness and unfussed nature of their music making is quite simply a joy to behold.
The ‘Skrides’ are touring Australia with two programs for Musica Viva, and the Adelaide audience enjoyed pieces by Beethoven, Brahms and a new composition by Adelaide based composer and music pedagogue Graeme Koehne. As with all Musica Viva concerts, the programming is varied and thought provoking.
Beethoven’s Piano Quartet no 1 in E-flat major, WoO 36 is infrequently heard in concert halls and was written when Beethoven was only fifteen years old. Being such a youthful composition, it is at times ‘raw’ and lacks the musical sophistication of the master’s later works, but its very nature gives license to the performers to ‘cut loose’ and let their individuality shine. Lauma Skride was ebullient on piano from the outset and encouraged sprightly readings from the strings. In the allegro con spirito second movement Lauma extracted delightful bell-like tones from the Steinway.
For many in the audience, Koehne’s new composition Socrates’ Garden was the highlight of the program, and this tour sees it making its world première. Commissioned for Musica Viva by Tom Breen and Rachel Kohn, and inspired by their 40-hectare garden estate in the Blue Mountains, Socrates Garden is a tonal meditative work that is fundamentally driven by melody and an infectious recurring leitmotif. It begins delicately with broken chords on the piano and is then joined by the violin and then the outer strings. The listener is quickly soothed into contemplative thought and the music inexorably encourages deeper questioning and striving towards more sophisticated and refined ideas before settling towards a conclusion. Koehne was present at the concert and acknowledged the audience’s deep felt appreciation in his usual self-effacing way.
The concert concluded with a garden-fresh reading of Brahms’ Piano Quartet no 1 in G minor, op 25, which features the ever popular so-called ‘Gypsy Rondo’ in the final movement. Aspects of the composition garnered some reasonably terse criticism in its day, but the Rondo alla Zingarese guaranteed its instant and lasting success. The Skrides avoid a heavy handed approach, which can often dog performances of Brahms’ music, and phrasing and dynamic balance throughout were thoughtful and well-constructed with Brahms’ rich melodies always at the forefront.
Yet another enjoyable concert presented by Musica Viva.
Kym Clayton
When: 7 Nov
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 27 Sep 2019
It is uncommon, even difficult, for a musician or an ensemble to play a well-known piece of music so well that the performance is truly memorable, but that is exactly what the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra has done with its recent performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No.9 in E minor, Op.95, From the New World. The performance was exceptional.
Guest Conductor Douglas Boyd was at one with the essence and broadly pastoral nature of the popular work. His phrasing was explicit and exemplary, and the at-times unusual rhythms and pentatonic traits sounded perfectly natural. The principal players in the orchestra shone when it was their turn to feature the many catchy, irresistible and unforgettable melodies that suffuse the work. The woodwinds were superlative, and Peter Duggan on Cor Anglais was singled out by Boyd for his exceptional virtuosity in the hauntingly beautiful Largo second movement.
The concert began with a world première performance of Cathy Milliken’s Weave, which she describes as a concerto for orchestra. The composition is well named and describes how the various thematic material blends and weaves into each other as they are passed around the various instruments in the orchestra. All sections get a work out without one dominating over the others. The composition is episodic and the music washes over you creating thoughts and impressions that are ephemeral. The piece ends as it begins with transitory impressions that fade in from nothingness and disappear in the same way. The piece was an unusual inclusion in a Masters Series programme.
Highly respected violinist Anthony Marwood gave a safe performance of Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor, WoO23. The composition has a fascinating history. When it was written in 1853 it was considered exceptional, but not in a nice way, and it had to wait some eighty years before it was first performed in 1937 in Nazi Germany. The piece is lyrical and well suited to the slower tempo taken by Marwood, but it also lacked the spirit evident in brisker interpretations. Marwood was able to plumb the melancholy that is inherent in the composition. Ewen Bramble as principal cello for the performance was gently melodic and combined most beautifully with Marwood.
Kym Clayton
When: 27 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Town Hall. 6 Sep 2019
On a cold early spring evening, hearts were warmed and spirits uplifted with sublime performances by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra of Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No.5 in D and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat.
There is a program of sorts attributed to Symphony No.5 in D – one of humanity striving for betterment as in The Pilgrim’s Progress – but, as suggested in James Koehne’s program notes, “…we should avoid ascribing to it an excessively programmatic or narrative reading: the music can happily be left alone to communicate for itself.” And communicate it did! Internationally renowned conductor (and music commentator) Mark Wigglesworth manifestly has a deep understanding of the English symphonic tradition and this reading of Symphony No.5 in D is significant, especially in the beautiful slow third movement, in which he coaxes delicately articulated phrasing from all sections of the orchestra. There is perfect aural balance, and the woodwinds and horns are at the top of their game.
Stephen Hough makes a welcome return to Adelaide and from the very first notes he plays on the mighty Steinway – a brief but impossibly beautiful passage in dialogue with the horns – it is clear this performance is also going to be special. The piano part in Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat is less virtuosic than Brahms’ first piano concerto, but it presents significant technical challenges. It must be tackled head on without holding back and risking it being underplayed. Hough admirably rises to the challenge and in the fourth movement he handles the rhythmic contrast and the wit of the jazz-inflected Hungarianesque folk tunes with aplomb. The communication between Hough and Wigglesworth was palpable and when the piece ended both were greeted with exuberant wolf whistles (even from ‘mature’ ladies!) more frequently heard at pop concerts!
Wigglesworth is rapidly becoming a favourite with Adelaide audiences, and the ASO management has been astute to secure him as Principal Guest Conductor. Long may the association continue.
Kym Clayton
When: 6 Sep
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Concerts @ Kent Town. Wesley Uniting Church, Kent Town. 14 Aug 2019
There is much to like about Concerts @ Kent Town. The ambience is calm and the music is enjoyable, at times stirring. Moreover, the program often includes gems that are infrequently heard in a concert environment. Today’s program was certainly of that ilk.
Organist David Heah ‘s program was eclectic and showed off the capability and beauty of the Dodd pipe organ as well as the diversity of sound scapes able to be produced. Heah’s selection included comparatively recent compositions as well as pieces that have delighted audiences for many years.
Grayston (Bill) Ives’ 1982 composition Intrada is quintessentially English and was commissioned for Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. It goes without saying that it is regal, but it also includes thematic material that is almost reminiscent of folk tunes, and Heah expertly draws this quality to the forefront. Sibelius’ Intrada Op.111a was composed for Swedish royalty some fifty years earlier and it too is majestic. Heah uses the Dodd to full effect and his registrations create the desired orchestral feel inherent in the composition.
Buxtehude’s Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in C, BuxWV137 is altogether quite different and Heah’s light handed treatment allows the melody in bass line to be clearly heard.
Heah’s performance of Jehan Alain’s Choral Dorien is sublime. It is contemplative and almost mysterious as its tonality changes and reaches for something almost unattainable before fading into the nothingness.
The concert also featured bass baritone Alex Roose. His warm and beautifully articulated voice was perfect for Ralph Vaughan William’s song cycle Songs of Travel. The cycle is based on poetry from Robert Louis Stevenson and is almost an English response to Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, or Schubert’s Winterreise, but without the robust Germanic ambience.
Roose is sensitively accompanied by Damien Mansfield on piano who never dominates and allows Roose’s fine voice to gently fill the Wesley Uniting Church. Roose’s warm smile is also the perfect accompaniment to some of the more sensitive songs, such as Let beauty Awake, and there is every sense that Roose well understands the text as well as the music – he is a consummate story teller. His rendition of In Dreams sees a convincing and clear performance of difficult chromatic passages, and his vibrato in The Infinite Shining Heavens is almost creamy!
Roose has an enviable performance history and he was the State Opera of South Australia’s Emerging Artist in 2018. Emerging? Roose has well and truly arrived and we need to hear much more of him.
The concert rounded out with a blistering performance by David Heah of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Postlude in D. If one was in any doubt about the capabilities of the Dodd organ, they were quickly dispelled. Postlude is flamboyant but grounded in traditions even though for such a relatively short piece it changes tonality frequently. The audience left stirred!
Kym Clayton
When: 14 Aug
Where: Wesley Uniting Church, Kent Town
Bookings: Closed
Musica Viva. Adelaide Town Hall. 22 Jul 2019
The famed Choir of King’s College, Cambridge is synonymous with choral excellence. Quite simply, it is a superior ensemble that routinely demonstrates the very best that the sung human voice can offer. There are many outstanding choirs in the world – Adelaide can boast its own Adelaide Chamber Singers – but few can lay claim to nearly six hundred years of continuous tradition from which exudes profound respect for authentic performance and for the very practice of choral singing itself.
Entrepreneured by Music Viva, the choir is touring Australia and is presenting two separate programs, depending on the characteristics of the performance venue. Because the Adelaide Town Hall is fortunate enough to house a mighty J.W. Walker & Sons pipe organ, Adelaide enjoyed a program that featured robust organ solos as well as principal works from the English choral catalogue. (The same program will only be played in Perth and Brisbane.)
The concert begins (and ends) with two different settings of Psalm 122, I Was Glad. At the start Purcell ‘s 1685 setting gave the choir opportunity to meticulously handle spiky rhythms and diverse dynamics. At the conclusion of the concert, Hubert Parry’s 1902 setting allowed the choir to show the near capacity audience exactly what they are about: superb musicianship, deep understanding of the nature of the text being sung, strong voices with clarity, articulation and control across all registers.
As good as the bookends of the concert are, the excitement in the program lies in a world première performance of Singing the Love – a setting of Psalm 100 – by much loved Australian composer Ross Edwards. Edwards was present at the performance and introduced his composition from the podium. In his usual shy and self-effacing manner, he hinted the composition was as much ‘joyful noise’ as anything else! Noise? Anything but! Yes, it is very different at times, and its contrast with the more traditional pieces on the program couldn’t be more stark, but its innovativeness and references to Australian idiom, and the freshness that it evoked from the choir makes it a highlight of the evening.
The generously long program featured many other favourite pieces from the choral repertoire. There are additional pieces by Purcell, Finzi’s melodic yet discursive Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice which again demonstrated the choir’s ability to beautifully balance the dynamics across the full quarter-hour of the piece, and Wesley’s The Wilderness that highlighted the breadth of individual vocal talent in the choir. Stanford’s For Lo, I Raise Up, demands robust singing over a thunderous pipe organ but then turns on a dime and features the delicateness of a boy treble. It is also a highlight of the program.
And then there’s the organ! Henry Websdale gives an authoritative performance of Bach’s chorale prelude Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist, BWV671, while Donal McCann thrills the audience with a rousing rendition of the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonata No 3 in A. It is hair raising stuff!
The choir looked resplendent in their suits and academic gowns, but traditional decorum flew out the window when they performed an encore with an arrangement of the Beach Boys’ I Get Around. It whipped up the audience and many were heard to be quietly whistling it as they left the auditorium when the evening came to a close.
Kym Clayton
When: 22 Jul
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed