Cyril Jones

When it comes to bums on seats you can’t beat nostalgia. So the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra would have been delighted with the full house for its Last Night of the Proms concert last Saturday.

Were they all expats longing for the Good Old Days? Maybe not, but it was still a good enough excuse to revel in a rousing rendition of “Land of Hope and Glory” even in these days of Brexit.

Conductor Sir Andrew Davis, who “owned” Last Night of the Proms at the Albert Hall for about a dozen years, reprised his familiar presentation, including the speeches. Without being too cynical this was a concert very much on cruise control, so this is more of a guided tour than a review.

Sir Andrew kicked off with an address to point out that this was a show about, not surprisingly, “Britissshness” – and only a Brit could say it that way. He promptly got on with it, beginning with The Return to Life, a fantasy on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, by, according to Sir Andrew, “the nut-case Berlioz”. This gave the MSO chorus a chance to clear its throat.

This was followed by Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, with violinist Lu Siqing as soloist. This was a strikingly singular performance, showing superb virtuosity and a wonderful grasp of the music. Unfortunately, that was the last we saw of him.

Then came the headline act, Soprano Greta Bradman, with two arias: Rossini’s “Una voce poco fa” from The Barber of Seville, and “Vanne….Lasciami…D’amor sull’ali rosee” from Il Trovatore, by Verdi.

The Rossini requires great vocal dexterity, ranging as it does down to the mezzo range and Miss Bradman was well able to cover it. She was more at home, however, with Verdi – an affecting and sympathetic performance. Her soft notes were perfect for this aria.

We ended the first half with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Neapolitan Song “Funiculi, funicular”, a marketing piece for the construction of a crazy project to build a funicular railway up Mount Vesuvius, presumably when it was not erupting.

The second half was the Full (Last Night of the Proms) Monty. Parry’s Blest pair of Sirens, Horn’s Cherry Ripe, and even a song by Miss Bradman’s grandfather Sir Donald, entitled Every Day is a Rainbow for Me.

Suddenly, something for the colonies: Hurst’s Swagman’s Promenade featuring “Waltzing Matilda” with the chorus back in action and the audience joining in.

Then the heavy stuff: Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 rolling into Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs, round the final bend into Arne’s Rule, Britannia! before hitting the main straight with Parry’s Jerusalem.

The audience loved it – all very British. Great fun chaps, and we must do it again next year.

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Cyril Jones reviewed Last Night of the Proms presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on July 13, 2019.

This was a night for Wagner tragics.  Two world-class international soloists, Eva-Maria Westbroek, and Frank Van Aken were supported by Australian Daniel Sumegi, in an all-Wagner program, whose full title was “De Walkure Act 1. Opera in Concert”. It was at Hamer Hall on Saturday, August 25, 2018 and featured artists of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. It began with Siegfried Idyll an early example of a symphonic poem, to show off Wagner’s softer side,  written as a birthday-cum-Christmas present for his new wife Cosima, following her divorce from Hans von Bulow.  Wagner had written and rehearsed the work in private, and had it performed as a surprise on Christmas morning. The work was later incorporated into the opera Siegfried. The MSO chamber group, with conductor Sir Andrew Davis, gave a suitably gentle performance.

The main event was De Walkure Act 1, with the two Dutch soloists as Sieglinde  (Westbroek) and Siegmund, (van Aken) and an augmented orchestra. Sieglinde is Westbroek’s signature role, and she has performed it around the world, including at Bayreuth. Likewise, Van Aken has performed Siegmund many times. Bass Daniel Sumegi, had a minor role as Hunding, but it was nonetheless a compelling performance.

Performing in character on a concert stage the soloists were able to draw out the emotion and nuances of this work in a way that may not have been evident in a full-blown operatic performance. A concert version like this allows for no distractions, so there’s a laser-like concentration on the singers.

Westbroek has an extraordinary range and clarity, capable of climbing to the highest registers with ease. And unlike many Wagnerian sopranos she is remarkably versatile, embracing the Baroque and Romantic repertoires.

Superbly conducted by Davis the orchestra’s accompaniment was sympathetic, deft and sprightly.

If there’s to be any criticism, it is that the concert was poorly attended.  Maybe it was because Wagner is not Melbourne’s cup of tea. If that is so then perhaps it should not have been programmed.  Personally I don’t buy that.  A better explanation is that the concert was poorly promoted, surprisingly so given the stature of the performers.

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Editor’s note: The above comments are borne out by other Classic Melbourne writers and the audience members they chatted to  after the MSO performance. It was recently announced that Opera Australia will provide another opportunity to hear Eva-Maria Westbroek and Jonas Kaufmann (another of the biggest names in opera) for concert versions of Giordano’s  Andrea Chénier , as part of the Opera’s 2019 subscription series.

The Melbourne Symphony  Orchestra  performance under chief conductor Andrew Davis was “superb” by all accounts.   The MSO is now embarking on a broad range of concerts including for children and regional supporters, bookending September with Holst’s  The Planets and; later,  music of one of the world’s most renowned video games in the Australian premiere of Final Symphony: Music from FINALFANTASY®.

It’s always an exhilarating prospect when a youthful orchestra takes on “the repertoire”, especially if you’re in the audience. All sorts of things can happen; it might prove beyond them, they might pull it off, a new star might be born. It can be scary and exciting, both at the same time.

And when you have a world-renowned conductor on the podium, you realise the risks he or she is taking. It’s certainly a courageous undertaking. Thankfully, on this Sunday evening the ANAM Orchestra did pull it off, and we were lucky to have been a part of it! And yes, a star, actually more than one, was born.

So let’s set the scene, or more accurately, the theme. This was not actually a concert of Brahms, since only one of the three works was by him. It would be more correct to say it was about the idea of Brahms, or perhaps Brahms as an inspiration. It was perceptive and meticulous programming, because we heard the full gamut of what it was about Brahms that attracted the musical world.

We began with a contemporary composer, Wolfgang Rihm, a prolific German composer, to my knowledge not well known in Australia. He is currently musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival.

Ernster Gesang for orchestra (1996) is inspired by Brahms’ Vier Ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs). It was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra to mark the centenary of the death of Brahms. It takes over individual motifs and harmonic details from various works by Brahms but pays tribute to the great composer chiefly through its “dark and autumnal tone colours.” Rihm says he saw Brahms in a fatherly way and reveals his thoughts about his own father who had died a short time before and whom he began to understand in a new fashion, having recently become a father himself.

The work calls for a small-ish ensemble from the lower, darker end of the orchestral sound spectrum. Brahmsian fragments emerge from and recede back into Rihm’s orchestral palette. The music is mainly quite subdued in tone, and was performed with great dignity.

This was followed by Richard Strauss’ (1864-1949) Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings (1945). This was, without question, the performance of the evening, and where the afore-mentioned star(s) were born.

In October 1943 the National Theatre in Munich was destroyed in an air-raid. This was the opera house where Strauss had conducted, more than anywhere else, his own and other composers’ operas. He regarded it as the greatest catastrophe of his life. Two years later Dresden was destroyed. In March 1945 the Vienna Opera House was also destroyed. The following day Strauss began work on Metamorphosen, which is the weightiest of his remarkable Indian Summer. (The Four Last Songs were written in this period.) It was described by its subtitle “A Study for 23 Solo String.” There are ten violins, five each of violas and cellos, and three double basses. Each of these players is given individual responsibility, and all but the last player of viola, cello and bass, have moments of solo work. The texture has been described as almost self-defeatingly complex, and every line is significant. The unswerving feeling is tragic. One critic described it as not just a mourning for the passing of German culture, but an expression of the death agony of late Romanticism. It is a work whose form and emotional content demands a search for deep meanings.

It also commands deep respect from the musicians, and maturity. It would be a taxing proposition for a professional ensemble, let alone a young group. It is a tribute to them that players and conductor delivered a mesmeric performance; it was technically brilliant! Simone Young has spent many years working in Germany and clearly understood what was required of this work. Her coaxing and teasing drew out its full meaning and nuances, and the audience collectively drew its breath at the conclusion, before bursting into rapturous applause.

The soloists were Harry Ward (Violin), Mariette Reefman (Viola), Eliza Sdraulig (Cello) and Robert Nicholls (Double Bass). Their contribution cannot be over-estimated, with special praise for Harry Ward who is destined for greater things.

Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No 3 in F, op. 90 (1883), after interval, could easily have been an anti-climax, but the full ANAM orchestra paid its respects to the great man in this life-affirming work. It is the shortest of the Brahms symphonies but contains many emotional states and can be quite taxing. Ms Young recognised this at the conclusion of the second movement when she allowed the orchestra extra time to re-gather.

Its full force is displayed in the finale, where assertive, often terse rhythmic ideas content with athletic, long- breathed melodies. After boisterous heroics, the music reaches a state of repose. A bravura performance.

Simone Young has been a strong supporter of ANAM over many years, regularly returning as artist-in-residence to conduct the orchestra at these gala events. “I think it’s a wonderful institution,” she says, “…absolutely fulfilling its role which is to make it possible for elite Australian instrumentalists to complete their training in this country.” Hers is an effervescent presence on the podium, guiding and shepherding the players through the program  and into their future careers.

Reviewer  Cyril Jones attended “Simone Young Conducts Brahms” with the ANAM Orchestra at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Sunday, August 19, 2018.

The Bach family is unquestionably the most gifted musical family in history. Historians have counted at least 50 musicians and several known composers in the family group, going back 3 generations before Johann Sebastian and 2 generations after him.

Johann Sebastian was undoubtedly the most impressive, hailed today as one of the greatest composers of all time. No other extended family of composers is still having their music regularly performed over 300 years later, and it’s doubtful it will ever happen again.

Johann Sebastian had 20 children from 2 marriages, and 4 sons became composers, as well as a grandson, Wilhelm Friedrich, the last known Bach composer, who wryly observed “Heredity can tend to run out of ideas.” The genetic line can also run out and that’s what happened sometime in the mid Nineteenth Century, so no more Bachs.

Under the title “A Family Affair” The Melbourne Musicians presented the music of JS Bach and his four sons at St. John’s Southgate, an appropriate venue, given its Lutheran denomination.

It was an informative afternoon as it allowed comparisons between all five composers, with the individual characteristics of each composer evident in the chosen works.

The five Bach composers were, from the first marriage,  Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784), the favorite son who also became a famous organist and Carl Philipp Emanuel (1724-1788), the most famous of the sons; then, from the second marriage, Johan Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795), the second youngest son, who studied law before turning to music, and Johann Christian  (1735-1782) the youngest son, a composer and entrepreneur who befriended a young Mozart. And finally Johann Sebastian himself, whose “Coffee Cantata”, performed here, demonstrated his sense of humour.

It was an eclectic collection, beginning with Wilhelm’s Sinfonia in F major FV 67, “dissonant”;  a quirky work, neither here nor there, as if the composer couldn’t quite make up his mind what he was trying to do.

This was followed by Carl Philip Emanuel’s Flute Concerto in A Major Wq.172, with soloist, Bridget Bolliger.  Ms Bolliger is an extraordinary talent (she made her solo debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15) whose mastery of this work shone through. She played with confidence and authority, inspiring the orchestral ensemble around her. She is a founding director of the New Sydney Wind Quartet and Founding Artistic Director of the Sydney Chamber Festival. Melbourne deserves to hear more from her.

Soprano Sarah Lobegeiger de Rodriguez, a regular with the Melbourne Musicians, gave a charming performance of the whimsical “Coffee Cantata” by Johan Sebastian. The work makes fun of the weakness of his fellow citizens for coffee. The highlight is a beautiful aria about the joys of drinking coffee, performed here with wit and style. Maybe Melbourne’s coffee culture needs a similar work.

Johan Christoph Friedrich’s Sinfonia No.3 in D Minor shows the influence of Italian music in the mid 1700s. At the time of this work’s composition he was in charge of music at the court of Buckeburg. He composed 10 symphonies, as well as cantatas, oratorios, motets, songs, operas and orchestral and chamber music. This was a well-performed work showing good ensemble discipline, although, as with some of the other works, there were moments of hesitance and indecision.

The afternoon ended with Johann Christian Bach’s Sonfonieta No.3 in D major, which clearly showed the delineation between father and son. Johann Christian was a successful entrepreneur in London. Mozart, when aged 8, met Johann Christian in London and became an admirer of his music. Mozart arranged three sonatas from the latter’s Op. 5 into keyboard concertos. In later life Mozart “often acknowledged the artistic debt he owed” to Johann Christian.  The Sonfonietta No.2 shows strong melodic characteristics which must have appealed to Mozart. Bach’s influence on him is evident in this work.

This performance began the 44^thConcert Season of the Melbourne Musicians, all of them, to my knowledge, directed by the inimitable Artistic Director Frank Pam. He has made a substantial contribution to Melbourne’s musical world, especially its youth. The orchestra’s challenge will be to manage the transition when he eventually steps down.

Reviewer Cyril Jones heard The Melbourne Musicians’ performance of the Music of JS Bach & Sons at St. John’s Southgate, on April 29, 2018.

William Hennessy, Director of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, needs no introduction as a musician, but he is perhaps not necessarily associated with risks, although he’s admirably not afraid to take them.

This concert, the first of the MCO’s 2018 Season, had the theme “Romance”. Hennessy, in his role as Artistic Director, recast the orchestral music of Verdi, Schumann, Dvorak and Mendelssohn from large orchestra to chamber ensemble. The risk was that this “orchestra-lite” version would not have the rich, luscious beauty we would normally expect from a larger group.

It’s to his and the orchestra’s credit that this did not happen – although he still had to put together one of the largest chamber groups the MCO has ever fielded on stage. Credit also is due to Conductor Michael Dahlenburg, whom Hennessy entrusted with the baton for the afternoon. Dahlenburg is an experienced and accomplished conductor, who took the challenge in his stride.

The concert began with Verdi’s La Traviata: Act 11 Overture. Unfortunately, although it was played very well, I think the choice was a mistake. The work is a bit downbeat and didn’t really set the tone for what was to come.

It was left to Schumann to revive the Romantic spirit, and for this we had the astonishing talent of Russian pianist Konstantin Shamray. Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 54, in three parts is a magnificent work which was developed, with encouragement from wife Clara, from a Phantasie for piano and orchestra into a full-bodied work. It has since been championed by music lovers all over the world and remains one of the standards of the repertoire.

Shamray, who won First Prize and People’s Choice at the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition, is now established as one of the most exciting pianists of his generation, with a reputation for an elegantly virtuosic sensibility and insightful interpretation. His presentation is formal and could appear to some as a bit dour, but the sparkle comes from his hands.

This was a test of Hennessy’s decision to perform the work with chamber orchestra, and, perhaps surprisingly, it worked. Maybe it had to do with the Recital Centre’s perfect acoustics. For instance the reduction of the violin section to a third of a normal Symphonic size would tend to suggest a ‘tinny’ sound, but this did not happen, and Schumann’s work came through with all its intended lushness.

The second half of the concert began with composer Antonin Dvořák’s Romance for violin and orchestra Op 11. And this is where Romance met Emotion. The soloist, Markiyan Melnychenko, came from within the MCO’s own ranks, although he is already in demand on the international stage.

Of Ukrainian background and now living in Australia he has performed in 17 countries, including solo performances in New York, Washington DC and performed at the luncheon for Barack Obama’s Second Presidential Inauguration.

Dvorak’s Romance is in sonata form, scored for two flutes, oboes, clarinets, horns, strings and solo violin. It is a beautifully reflective and sonorous work, notable for its graceful and calm mood. Melnychenko’s masterful performance, together with his technical mastery of the instrument, beautifully captured the essence of the Czech soul.

The concert ended with Felix Mendelssohn’s eternally popular Symphony No 4 in A Major Op 90, Italien. Once again we had a chamber orchestra perform a major symphonic work. And once again the MCO rose to the challenge.

The work has an exuberant opening, contrasting with the religious connotations of the following Andante con moto. The third movement is a minuet and trio, and the Presto finale is a combination of two Italian folk dances, all performed with joyful flourish by an invigorated ensemble who knew they had done a good afternoon’s work.

Reviewer Cyril Jones attended Romance, the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra’s concert at the  Melbourne Recital Centre. Sunday, March 4, 2018.

In 2014 the MSO inaugurated a series of annual concerts to celebrate the Chinese New Year – a sign that an already multicultural city was embracing a new reality, the increasing influx of Chinese migrants into Australia.

This concert series is now well established, under the patronage of China’s Ambassador to Australia. And what we now see is an orchestra embracing China’s leading contemporary composers and artists. In this instance we saw and heard performers of the highest calibre, led by conductor Lü Jia, who has spent many years conducting leading Western orchestras, and who is now Artistic Director of Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Macao Orchestra and the World Chinese Orchestra.

Under China’s new “Open Door” policy toward Western culture and Western music, Chinese composers have adapted Western compositional techniques; with the result that the music is attracting a broader Western audience. The music chosen for this concert admirably expressed this evolution.

The three contemporary composers chosen for this performance were Bao Yuankai, Yang Liqing and Chen Gang/He Zanhao.

Bao Yuankai’s Chinese Sights and Sound: the Dialogue on Flowers opened the concert. Bao Yuankai is one of the most eminent contemporary Chinese composers and music educators, who has had an immense influence on younger generations of composers. The work comprises six suites, each of which is devoted to the folk music of a particular province. The score uses the techniques of Western music as a prism through which to explore and exalt the vistas and history of his homeland. A thoughtful prelude to the evening and sensitively performed.

The two solo performers for the night were Erhu player Ma Xiaohui and violinist Lu Siqing.

The Erhu (meaning “two-string’) is perhaps the best-known Chinese instrument and has remained largely unchanged over the last millennium. Besides its shape, the main differences between the Erhu and Western string instruments are that its sound box is covered in python skin, giving the instrument its characteristic timbre; and that the bow never loses contact with the instrument’s two strings, always running in a straight line between them, rather than passing over the top in an arc, as with the violin.

Traditional music performed on this instrument is usually of a delicate, or ethereal nature giving the impression of a rather fragile instrument. The Erhu is often associated with contemplative reflection and wistful melancholy, but in Yang Liqing’s Shepherdess of the Tianshan Mountain a haunting rhapsody, we heard a more impassioned and virtuosic side of the instrument.

Yang Liqing, is one of the few traditional classical Chinese musicians to have achieved an international career. And in her hands the Erhu is anything but a delicate instrument. In this eye-opening performance she demonstrated the instrument’s full potential. This was a presentation by a master, showcasing its virtuosic side as well as its full power. Did we really hear a hip-slapping Flamenco?

So to the major Chinese work, the violin concerto The Butterfly Lovers by Chen Gang and He Zanhao. Although it fell out of favour during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s it has regained popularity and is now a staple of the repertoire for Chinese and, increasingly, Western orchestras.

Briefly the work tells the well-known legend of the Butterfly Lovers, which dates from the Jin dynasty (265-420) and concerns Zhu Yingtai, the daughter of a rich landowner who disguises herself as a boy and sets off from her home village to study in Hangzhou. There she meets fellow student Liang Shanbo and, over the next three years, their friendship deepens. Tragedy strikes when Liang discovers that Zhu is betrothed to another man. The two part and Liang later dies of a broken heart. Before her wedding Zhu visits Liang’s tomb and when a storm erupts leaps into his open grave. When the storm subsides the lovers emerge from the grave as butterflies, never to be parted.

Violinist Lu Siqing, is no stranger to the MSO. He performed at the inaugural East Meets West concert, and together they have recently released a CD. Lu Siqing came to international prominence when he became the first Asian violinist to win the Paganini competition of 1987. He has since performed to acclaim in some of the world’s most prestigious concerts halls and collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras.

This was a profound, almost mesmeric presentation by a showman, delivered with style and panache, but always deeply respectful of the work. The MSO, again led by Lü Jia, appeared energised by his performance. He demonstrated enormous flair and it’s easy to see why he’s become an audience favorite. On this night he played the “Miss Crespi” 1699 Stradivari violin, loaned by David Li, a Chinese-Australian Arts philanthropist. In these Chinese works Lü Jia expertly coaxed the orchestra into revealing their nuances.

In May this year Lu Siqing will accompany the MSO on a six-city tour of China, under the direction of Chief Conductor Sir Andrew Davis. Prior to that date a Television recording of Saturday’s concert will be presented on Chinese television, which is sure to revive the MSO’s profile in China following earlier tours.

The final work of the night was a perennial (Western) favorite, Robert Schumann’s Symphony No 1 in B flat, Op. 38, Spring. Deftly handled by Lü Jia the work befittingly straddled the cultural differences.

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Reviewer Cyril Jones attended the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Chinese New Year Concert on Saturday, February 24,  at Hamer Hall.