‘It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing'

By Zoltán Szabó, 29 February 2016

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“a sonic encyclopaedia of Swing”

Reviewed at Sydney Opera House: Concert Hall, Sydney on 27 February 2016

Bernstein, Fancy Free

Bernstein, Prelude, Fugue and Riffs

Marsalis, Swing Symphony

Wynton Marsalis, Director

David Robertson, Conductor

Francesco Celata, Clarinet

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Benedetti shines in Marsalis concerto with Robertson and the NY Phil

David Wolfson, 13th November

Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto in D is a sprawling smorgasbord of a piece, held together by Nicola Benedetti’s ferocious commitment and personality, along with a Mallonee premiere and perfect Petrushka.

****1

A big night for Polish music with David Robertson and the NY Phil

Susan Stempleski, 27th September

Stepping in for an indisposed Marta Gardolińska, the guest conductor leads a virtuosic performance of Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra paired with Leila Josefowičz playing Szymanowski’s Second Violin Concerto.

****1

Robertson conducts the German premiere of Srnka's Superorganisms

Elena Luporini, 13th February

At the Philharmonie, David Robertson steps in for Kirill Petrenko for a concert all about the wonders of nature, featuring Varèse, Srnka and Beethoven.

****1

An American in Paris: the Philadelphia Orchestra plays Betsy Jolas

Cameron Kelsall, 18th October

Alongside works by Bernstein and Copland, conductor David Robertson and pianist Nicolas Hodges give the US premiere of Jolas's cheeky concerto bTunes.

***11

David Robertson steps in to conduct exuberant Mahler in Toronto

Michelle Assay, 24th November

David Robertson makes a successful debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, substituting for Michael Tilson Thomas, in a hyper-romantic programme of Berg and Mahler.

****1

A good walk spoiled: anemic Beethoven and Haydn in Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 17th November

Guest conductor David Robertson led ponderous accounts of the "Pastoral" Symphony and Haydn's Cello Concerto no. 1, alongside a new work by the promising American composer Reena Esmail.

**111

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Marsalis in Sydney: "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing"