Nicola Benedetti performs Marsalis
An SSO review by Shirley Politzer
Karen Kemensek
Good vs evil, jazz vs classical and Russian folklore is what was presented at the Sydney Opera House for the Emirate Master Series concert, with all the music composed from 1910 onwards.
American conductor Karen Kemensek is a specialist in contemporary music conducting but no stranger to classical or opera either. She is sought after all over the world and no wonder. She conducted this concert of very challenging music (innumerable changes in tempo, style, dynamics, conflicting time signatures and beats) without fuss or flamboyance, bringing out the incredible musicianship and talents of the whole orchestra, as well as the numerous brilliant soloists within it.
John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”, scored for a large orchestra, set the tone of the night with its constant driving (pun intended) rhythm for the 4-minute piece, which Adams describes as “a fanfare for orchestra”. Composed in 1986, this piece was written to be the opener for a summer festival given by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Since that time, it has become one of Adams’ most frequently performed compositions, featuring minimalist music bursting with energy. It is this energy as well as the joy and the regular beat of the woodblock that keeps the listeners’ interest to the end.
Keeping the listeners’ interest to the end was not an issue for Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto in D major. Variety was paramount in this 45-minute concerto-comparable in length to any Beethoven or Mozart concerto. This work is in four movements, not the usual three. That symbolises the four corners of the earth that soloists need to travel when performing around the world. The concerto was composed in 2016 and includes a mix of various blues and jazz styles, some harmonically and melodically challenging music, foot stomping, whistles, a sousaphone, large orchestra, clapping, whooping and musicians standing up while playing. What was not there was the usual steady beat of the percussion section in a jazz piece.
The soloist, violinist Nicola Benedetti, for whom this piece was written and collaborated with, was the driving force. Her body and violin were fully invested in every note of the music whether she was playing a Hootenany (4th movement), a solo cadenza, playing so softly you could hear a chair squeak in the hall (yay for the great acoustics), playing at lightning speed or taking her time in the quieter calmer moments (Blues).
Benedetti displayed full control, amazing technique made to look easy, and great versatility in performance style. Walking across the stage to perform a call and response with the percussionist on drum kit at the front of the stage was unusual and effective, as was the cute ending of the piece, with Benedetti walking off the stage still playing, but softer and softer ….and softer. The audience loved it and gave a standing ovation and enthusiastic clapping to the performers, as well as to the composer Wynton Marsalis who joined Benedetti on stage for the bows. Marsalis is a trumpeter, who has brought his “Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra” to Sydney for the SSO 2023 Season. Apart from being a great musician and composer, he is also an educator and artistic director.
After the interval came “Firebird”, written by 28-year-old Igor Stravinsky for Ballet Russes (the most influential ballet company of the 20th century), Firebird is the first and most popular of the three works he wrote for the ballet the other two were Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. At the time, Stravinsky was under the tutelage of Rimsky-Korsakov to learn the art of orchestration and was unknown as a composer. The Firebird is a showpiece for the whole orchestra, which included Wagner tubas-a four-valve brass instrument created for and named after the composer Richard Wagner. It is a hybrid instrument, being a cross between a horn and tuba. It also featured three flutes which played amazing solos, three harps and some great bassoon parts.
The “seductive and thrilling” Firebird ballet, which I have enjoyed several times performed by the Australian Ballet Company, tells the myth-like story of Prince Ivan who defeats the evil sorcerer Kastchei with the help of a magical Firebird, who offers one of her enchanted feathers to Prince Ivan after he spares her life while hunting in the forest. The Firebird represents rebirth, beauty and magic. We have a happy ending to the story of the music where mortals (good) win and the supernatural (evil) lose. It was a nice way to finish the evening in addition to the surprise trumpet trio that played the last few minutes of Firebird from the side of the stage at the front.
