Organic Saint-Saens
Oh, boy – did the Concert Hall of Sydney’s iconic Opera House get an acoustic workout in Saturday afternoon’s Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Saint-Saens Organ Symphony concert!
Anna Lapwood
The concert started with a sparkling walk-on by Anna Lapwood, official organist of the Royal Albert Hall and the soloist for the Saint-Saens. Her black dress with sparkling diamantes was matched by her sparkling introductory talk in which she waxed lyrical about the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and its enthusiasm, cohesion and love for what they do.
Guest British conductor Alexander Boody makes his debut with the SSO, having already appeared with Teatro alla Scala, Orchestra della Santa Cecilia, Opera Nationale, Paris, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and many other famous orchestras.
Opening the concert was Olivier Messiaen’s “Les Offirandes Oubliees”, written by the then 22-year-old, regarded as one of the 20th century’s greatest composers. The three-part,13-minute composition was not gleefully anticipated by this old-fashioned classical music audience member, still bearing painful memories of the discordant “La Creation du Monde” he suffered through many years ago. Boody’s interpretation and the orchestra’s response made the experience worthwhile, if not entirely enjoyable. The orchestra’s ability to evoke tones and feelings relevant to the religious themes was impressive and moving, with the hushed finale leading to a silent pause before the appreciative applause.
After the rearrangement of the orchestra, the conductor returned, accompanied by violin soloist Maria Duenas, the 23-year-old Spanish violinist and composer, winner of the 2021 Yehudi Menuhin Competition, acknowledged as one of the most promising musicians of her generation, carrying her 1734 Nicolo Gagliano violin and dressed spectacularly in a white strapless gown.
Her and the orchestra’s rendition of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 was so impressive that words are insufficient to describe the reaction, indeed the intimacy between soloist, conductor and orchestra. The program was recorded for the ABC, to be played on ABC Classic FM at 1pm April 11. It is a pity that the recording is only audio, because the audience’s enjoyment was enhanced by the balletic movements of the conductor and the statuesque visual image of the soloist’s seemingly effortless rendition and her technical brilliance in the difficult passages. After three rapturous curtain calls, she played a solo encore that had even the orchestra open-mouthed.
After the interval, we were treated to a performance of Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3, which was, yet again, better than this reviewer has experienced. Alexander Boody managed the orchestra magnificently, going from hushed pianissimos to blazing fortissimos, blending the sonorous organ, the twinkling piano (Saint-Saëns wrote it for two pianos), and the traditional symphony instruments. I was drawn to the parallel between Beethoven’s incorporation of choristers in his Ninth Symphony and Saint-Saëns’s blending into a symphony vis-à-vis the traditional concerto. The appreciative audience recalled Maestro Boody three times, and he acknowledged each of the major orchestral contributors. Anna Lapwood’s introduction was spot-on.
This concert certainly ranks among the best ever for this very happy subscriber. The ABC broadcast will be essential listening.
