QSO has of late been championing the works of Melbourne based pianist and composer, Joe Chindamo. Former QSO Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor Muhai Tang returned to the QPAC Concert Hall to conduct a programme with Chindamo’s 'Palimpsest' firmly at the top of the bill.
The composer, in his excellent programme notes, declares that 'Palimpsest' takes the underlying harmonic underpinning of 'La Folia', a template used as the base for much classic music since the baroque era, and overlies it with a thoroughly modern approach. If this is the avowed intent, then the project can only be regarded as an unqualified success.
Certainly there is modernity here, with alternating periods of sound and fury, followed by calm and quiet, only to explode again into wild sounds. There is dissonance too, but it quickly fades back to harmony as the underlying fabric exerts itself once again. It feels like an adventure! Concertmaster Warwick Adeney, sporting a svelte new haircut for the occasion, starred alongside harpsichordist Jillianne Stoll, in taking on the contemplative solo parts for the piece. It was of especial interest to see the latter instrument given centre stage in a piece that was both experimental and yet comfortingly familiar.
Chindamo’s piece places the harpsichord in the centre of a small orchestra featuring only strings and tympani. Following a rarely witnessed non-interval scene change, accomplished with speed and efficiency, we were presented with a much enlarged orchestra with concert grand front and centre. The scene was now set for Schumann’s piano concerto and orchestra and conductor were joined by Eric Le Sage. Le Sage’s credentials as an exponent of Schumann are well established, and he has now recorded all of the piano works. As here, he is a regular invitee on the world’s stage to perform these pieces.
If there is such a thing as the French piano school, then Eric Le Sage qualifies as an arch exponent. Far from flamboyant, this was very subtle playing, with a notable lack of dramatic body movement belying the quality and depth of the sound produced. At times it hardly seemed like he was touching the keys at all, and that he was merely hunched over the keyboard as an artisan or even bystander, yet music of a hugely expressive range continued to flow forth. It felt almost as if he was coaxing the sound up from the keyboard, pulling the sounds forth in much the same way that a conductor may be said to draw music from an orchestra.
If Le Sage’s piano playing was subtle, Brahm’s first symphony is anything but! Bold and dramatic, it has been likened as a continuation of Beethoven’s symphonic output, and certainly the first and last movements of the work, with great drama and emphasis on tympani, support this comparison.
The first movement is loud and brash, and at times here there was just a hint that timing might not have been as tight as it should have been, resulting in a loose and imprecise feel. However, from the second movement onwards, a feeling of control emerged, so that by the time we entered the final movement, everything came together perfectly and we were set for a truly triumphant ending.
Chindamo - 'Palimpsest'
Schumann - Piano Concerto
Brahms - Symphony No.1
