We are in the front row and just a metre in front of us, so close if we reach out we could touch them (but we wouldn’t) are two rock stars of the classical music world – Bridget Bolliger with her 14 carat gold flute and Dimitri Ashkenazy with his slightly battered but beloved clarinet. I confess, I am a little star struck and so happy we dived for those front row seats at St Columba’s. Bolliger and Ashkenazy sway like Indian snake charmers as they mesmerise us with Danzi’s Sinfonia Concertante for Flute and Clarinet in B Flat Major, Op 41 and we are all hypnotised by the ease and enjoyment they bring to such a technically demanding piece. The small audience is madly enthusiastic so we are then treated to an encore of Saint-Caens Tarantelle op 6. Spider bitten, (and I suspect, suffering a little from a bit of le petit mort) we retire for an interval of bubbly and lemon cake.
Their visit is made possible by the support of the Woollahra Council. Would that all councils understood the benefit of arts in the community; for without community arts groups we have no professional arts groups. It is in these community groups that students refine and practice their skill, experienced artists, tired of the exigencies the nomadic life that goes with this profession, continue to practice their passion and amateurs are able to articulate their love. Together, they also bring art to those who may not be able to access it in often more elite and expensive circumstances.
Lee Bracegirdle delivers a good-humoured conductor who helpfully tells a little background story to each piece. Nicely gossipy, he frames out what we will hear. The opening choice was a happy one. Even the most musically inexperienced recognise Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro overture, played with joy (if not total accuracy form the horns). The second half of the program was Brahms’ Symphony No 3 and the orchestra handled the 3rd and 4th movements well, slightly better than the 1st and 2nd. The cellists were on their game and the wind section was solid. The 3rd movement would be the most recognisable of the four. Indeed, the orchestra seem more comfortable with work in a minor key although at times Bracegirdle needed to gather back in rather strongly with the help of the 1st violin and concertmaster Rob Nijs. Always encouraging, always smiling at this orchestra, Bracegirdle’s affection for his orchestra permeated the performance.
The WPO are back Saturday December 1st and Sunday December 2nd. To appropriate a rock journalist, go out and do yourself a favour. These groups are the backbone of our artistic lives.
So here is to those who free time is spent indulging their love of an art form, without expectation of anything other than giving pleasure and forming bonds that only a shared love of the arts can bring.
Kate Stratford – On Sound
