This West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s concert featured works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Wagner, obviously covering quite a spectrum, without any immediately obvious connective tissue. Mozart’s Symphony no. 29 in A major is one of his most popular early symphonies, “early” in that he was 18 when he composed it but of course that was more than half way through his life. The Tchaikovsky was the Variations on a Rococo Theme, said to be a nod to Mozart in its classical style and orchestration. Any links between these and music from Wagner’s Parsifal and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg can only be guessed at, but anyway it served to demonstrate the orchestra’s versatility.
Under its principal conductor Asher Fisch and regular concertmaster Laurence Jackson, the Mozart began with a quite hushed approach, gradually swelling to a very full sound. The whole performance was notable for a nuanced approach to the dynamics throughout, with highly disciplined playing. After the cheerful Allegro moderato, the Andante was notable for smooth legato playing from the strings and a mellow contribution from oboes and horns, with a rich, resonant conclusion. The Menuetto and Trio were crisply played, and the Allegro con spirito provided a robust conclusion with horns to the fore.
Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations is not one of his catchier efforts, but more of an exercise in classicising elegance. The version performed was that of cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, for whom it was written. It was chosen to highlight the soloist, Chinese Australian cellist Li-Wei Qin, who was born in Shanghai, grew up in Melbourne and is an international performer and prize winner. He established an excellent rapport with Fisch and the orchestra, playing with intensity and precision. He really came into his own in the third movement (Variation 2, Tempo della thema) and in subsequent movements, especially Variation 5 (Allegro moderato), Mary-Anne Blades (flute) was a significant partner. Qin’s Bach Courante encore certainly made us wish for more of the same.
After the interval however it was off to another sort of German experience, starting with the Act 3 Prelude and Good Friday Music from Parsifal. This was a nice combination moving from the intensely mystical (if not downright dismal) to the aural coming of spring. The now augmented orchestra played beautifully and, again, it was noticeable that Fisch and the band have managed to overcome the acoustical difficulties of Winthrop as a venue; the strings shimmered, the clarinets (led by Allan Meyer) and flutes (now led by Andrew Nicholson) were audibly melodious and the brass was appropriately authoritative without being overwhelming. Similarly with the Meistersinger selections, starting with the Act 3 Prelude, followed by the Dance of the Apprentices functioning as a Scherzo and culminating in a majestic Act 1 Prelude. The WASO would now seem to be in peak and polished form under Fisch’s expert guidance.
