Mark’s Score: 4 /5 stars
The WPO is at present considered by many to be one of the premier community orchestras in Sydney. Established in 1996, it has been under the baton of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Lee Bracegirdle since 2018. The orchestra comprises of up to 50 regular members offering four programs a year, supported by an 8-10 week rehearsal period per season. The musicians are of all ages and include amateurs, students and professional – attracting collaboration from some of Australia’s finest guest artists.
WPO’s newest patron is the well-regarded composer Elena Kats-Chernin. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in January 2019 “for distinguished service to the performing arts, particularly to music, as an orchestral, operatic and chamber music composer. She joins the accomplished pianist Rachel Valler who in December 2015, was inducted as the WPOs sole Honorary Life Member as well as a Patron to the Orchestra. In 1995 Valler was awarded the OAM for her services to music. Previous WPO patrons have been Margaret Whitlam (AO) and Peter Sculthorpe (AO, OBE).
For this concert WPO has merged elements of Georges Bizet’s (1838-1875) L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1 (1872) & No. 2 (1879), written for full symphony orchestra in four movements. From the second suite we heard the 4th movement (Farandole) arranged by Ernest Guiraud, four years after the composer’s death. The first suite’s Prelude is delightful and a very popular piece containing a surprising central saxophone solo – an instrument not yet a generation old at the time. Followed by an energetic Minuet, then a solemn Adagietto for strings alone and coming to fruition in a haunting Carillion with a repeating pattern from horns and violas mimicking church bells. The added extra finale incorporates the original music from the Suite No. 1 Prelude culminating in a rousing fanfare dominated by the bass section.
The joy of classical music concerts is to be surprised and educated by works you do not know. Danish composer Friedrich Kuhlah (1786-1832) is a case in point. His Concertino for Two Horns (performed by French Horn soloists Cindy Sims & Laurie Liskowski) was a revelation – more in the watching than the listening. To my mind the French horn is not the sexiest instrument on the planet in shape or sound. However what is fascinating is to observe the strength and control needed to master this instrument.
Rounding off the event were selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet, Suites 1 & 2. The ballet and its music had such a troubled beginning nearly 85 years ago, undergoing considerable rewrites up to its unsuccessful premiere in 1938 and then only achieving acclaim at the Kirov in 1940. Read about it here:
What WPO presented was a varied amount of incidental ballet music enjoyable in its own right though for me lacking its full impact without the actual dance. The more famous pieces: Overture, Balcony pas de deux and Dance of the Knights were not included. Notwithstanding these omissions the music was athletic in feel and cinematic in style, and its very modernity the polar opposite to fellow countryman (Tchaikovsky’s) score for his R & J. It revealed to me perhaps some of the mental fragmentation Sergie Prokofiev (1891- 1953) may have been suffering at the time. He had departed Russia in 1918, only to return in 1935 on accepting this commision from the Bolshoi. No wonder its gestation was so stymied by the ludicrous original happy ending, artistic squabbles & vetoes, under the watchful eye of the authorities.
St Columba’s is a quaint church on busy Ocean St that manages to instil on arrival internal peace and tranquility even amongst the summer heat, the din of traffic and bustle of a settling audience. The program on offer connected well with the WPO mission statement “ to bring musical enrichment to the community, providing a professional attitude towards innovative and enjoyable concerts”. Their programs often mix well-known works with new, rediscovered and experimental pieces. Conductor Thomas Tsai is well placed to lead these fine WPO musicians as he has an extensive track record with youth orchestras.
Their 2020 season is now available and well worth investigating. Long may they have a home at St Columba’s.
Mark G Nagle – On Sounds
