World-class from Down Under: Australian World Orchestra at the Proms

Zubin Mehta conducts the Australian World Orchestra

Siobhan Stagg, Zubin Mehta and the Australian World Orchestra

Zubin Mehta conducts the Australian World Orchestra

By Alexander Hall, 24 August 2022

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“Mehta sees the Second Symphony of Brahms through sepia-tinted spectacles”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 23 August 2022

Webern, Passacaglia, Op.1

Webern, Six Pieces For Orchestra, Op.6 (revised version, 1928)

Debussy, Ariettes oubliées (arr. Brett Dean)

Brahms, Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.73

Dvořák, Slavonic Dance no. 8 in G minor, Op.46 no.8

Siobhan Stagg, Soprano

Australian World Orchestra

Zubin Mehta, Conductor

Zubin Mehta and the Australian World Orchestra in Sydney

Zoltán Szabó, 2nd September

Zubin Mehta conducts a trio of Strauss tone poems as the Australian World Orchestra arrives back in Sydney.

*****

From little things, big things grow: The AWO returns to Sydney

David Larkin, 2nd May

On their return to Sydney, the Australian World Orchestra under Riccardo Muti offer a subdued reading of Brahms’ Symphony no. 2 and a thrilling account of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 4.

****1

Australians around the world unite with Simon Rattle at the helm

Zoltán Szabó, 31st July

The idea of bringing together a country’s best players from all around the world to show off their combined might is all too familiar for football fans during any FIFA World Cup. It is far less common, indeed, almost unknown in classical music.

*****

Rites of reunion: The Australian World Orchestra visits Sydney

David Larkin, 3rd October

At the end of yesterday’s concert, there was a lot of hugging on stage. This was only to be expected. The high-quality music-making to which the audience had been treated was, for the players, a brief and unrepeatable experience, for some of them a nostalgic pilgrimage back to their homeland.

****1

Shared language and living history: Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Phil

Chanda VanderHart, 19th March

Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman and the Vienna Philharmonic meet in repertoire they know intimately, illuminating it through mutual understanding.

*****

Coming home to Bruckner: Zubin Mehta’s late-style Eighth in LA

Laurence Vittes, 9th November

At 89, the former Music Director returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to conduct Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, revealing the music’s interior world.

****1

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Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, where he had a career in academic administration and teaching. He reviews for Bachtrack and Opera Today, and has also reviewed for Classical Source. A connoisseur of the great orchestras of the world, his musical memories stretch back to Karajan/Berlin Phil, Mravinsky/Leningrad Phil, Bernstein/Vienna Phil, and he has seen most of the great conductors from the past, including Böhm, Klemperer, Kubelik, Ormandy and Szell.

World-class from Down Under: Zubin Mehta and the Australian World Orchestra at the Proms