The latest Sydney Symphony Orchestra subscription concert was thoughtfully programmed around the topoi of merriment and cheerful public amusement, even if (as is often the case with slightly archaic, commedia dell’arte-type entertainment), sarcasm and even a teardrop was never too far away. Three simple musical stories were explored through the art of highly sophisticated composers, and the resulting narratives made the evening thoroughly enjoyable.
We have to look back to the Baby Boomers to find the first audiences of Walt Disney’s brilliant, animated classic Fantasia, with its first segment based on Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; an astonishingly vivid orchestral Scherzo. The parodistic (or is it macabre?) mayhem caused by the young apprentice’s incompetence gives a chance for multiple orchestral solos, all exceptionally played on this occasion. Lionel Bringuier, making his Australian debut, conducted this minuscule tone poem with light-footed elegance but not quite the precision it needed. Perhaps it was just the initial feeling of getting settled, but the pianissimo violin pizzicati sounded unfocused (that subtle refinement of ensemble also caused occasional problems later).
The popular German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott returned to Sydney, this time as the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. A concerto in all but its name, this is an extremely demanding composition which should, however, ideally sound insouciant and even easy. The theme is almost Mozartian in its engaging simplicity – it is called rococo for a reason after all – but all the subsequent seven variations hide considerable musical and technical challenges. (In fact, the composer wrote eight variations and in a slightly different order, until a “friend” of his, by the name of Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, rewrote the work in the composer’s absence for the premiere performance. A trust clearly misplaced…)
Müller-Schott presented this delightful composition with facile fingers, a beaming smile and great musicianship, although some of the fast runs were less than immaculately executed. When he was playing in the same hall with the same orchestra a few years ago, his projection seemed to be undermined by a heavy orchestral accompaniment. No such problems this time, there was clarity and strength in his tone, well supported by the orchestra, even if that meant adjusting Tchaikovsky’s dynamic markings repeatedly.
Stravinsky’s ever-joyful ballet Petrushka, based on traditional Russian puppet theatre, sounds at times deceivingly simple (with one of the main melodies charmingly and purely mixolydian), while elsewhere distinctly modern (for example, with Petrushka’s “calling card”, a highly dissonant chord of simultaneously played C major and F sharp major triads). Once considered an almost impossibly complex orchestral work (along with the other two early Stravinsky ballets), in our time it is a staple part of any good orchestra’s repertoire. The Sydney Symphony welcomed the challenge with noticeable excitement and Bringuier’s now confident and graceful leadership helped them to a memorable collaboration. The many tempo and character changes were impressively explored and, similarly to the Dukas, the plentiful opportunities for orchestral solos excelled with their refined and reliably high standard of playing.
