European sensibilities across the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries were on full display in the Mozart at Night concert given by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney.
The longest piece of the evening was the Schoenberg Transfigured Night (Opus 4) given in its string orchestra version. The performance displayed both delicacy and passion mirroring the work’s narrative of love, transgression and forgiveness. It is hard to believe that this romantic music was one considered outlandishly modern! The Dehmel poem that it responds to is much more dated, in its rather turgid take on the fallen women and the generous loving man.
The young Schoenberg responds dramatically and cathartically with music of ripe yearning that seems to articulate a post Wagnerian sense of reconciliation and forgiveness. The SSO strings under conductor Roger Benedict captured the ebb and flow of this surging music, gradating each section (stanza) with precision and energy. The radiant ending of the piece did its magic once more: one glorious arc of forgiveness, the benediction sublime.
The lunar aspects of this work and its tread through the ‘bright lofty night’ were then contrasted with the astringent poetry of Britten’s Les Illuminations (Opus 18) and the savage parade of Baudelaire’s jagged rhythms and erotically charged imagery: ‘avec les poses e les tendresses bestiales’. This work has its peace and catharsis to, in the final section, Depart, always moving in its quiet wistful tread.
The young tenor Brenton Spiteri gave all the required impetuosity but within a careful delineation of text and musical rhythm, aided by controlled breathing and a warm tone. His boyishness suited the music. Originally written for soprano, this song cycle is a triumph of daring and a tribute to Anglo-French sensibilities. The wide-ranging nature of the music, its restless energy and swelling surfeits creates a brilliant breathless world that matches and enhances the poetry of Rimbaud. The attack and intensity of this music was triumphantly realised by the chamber orchestra.
First up in this concert was the young Mozart represented by his playful Serenata Notturno K239. Two concertino quartets drawn from violins, viola, cello and double bass engage in some playful riffs on party music (the double bass tackling Gershwin was particularly apt). The sprightly march, grand minuet and highly variegated rondo were all nimbly played by the orchestra and helped us reflect on how the juvenile and the amorous can always supply an invigorating élan to our listening experience, under the cover of a European darkness.
Mozart in the City Series –City Recital Hall Angel Place – June 2, 2016
European sensibilities across the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries were on full display in the Mozart at Night concert given by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney.
The longest piece of the evening was the Schoenberg Transfigured Night (Opus 4) given in its string orchestra version. The performance displayed both delicacy and passion mirroring the work’s narrative of love, transgression and forgiveness. It is hard to believe that this romantic music was one considered outlandishly modern! The Dehmel poem that it responds to is much more dated, in its rather turgid take on the fallen women and the generous loving man.
The young Schoenberg responds dramatically and cathartically with music of ripe yearning that seems to articulate a post Wagnerian sense of reconciliation and forgiveness. The SSO strings under conductor Roger Benedict captured the ebb and flow of this surging music, gradating each section (stanza) with precision and energy. The radiant ending of the piece did its magic once more: one glorious arc of forgiveness, the benediction sublime.
The lunar aspects of this work and its tread through the ‘bright lofty night’ were then contrasted with the astringent poetry of Britten’s Les Illuminations (Opus 18) and the savage parade of Baudelaire’s jagged rhythms and erotically charged imagery: ‘avec les poses e les tendresses bestiales’. This work has its peace and catharsis to, in the final section, Depart, always moving in its quiet wistful tread.
The young tenor Brenton Spiteri gave all the required impetuosity but within a careful delineation of text and musical rhythm, aided by controlled breathing and a warm tone. His boyishness suited the music. Originally written for soprano, this song cycle is a triumph of daring and a tribute to Anglo-French sensibilities. The wide-ranging nature of the music, its restless energy and swelling surfeits creates a brilliant breathless world that matches and enhances the poetry of Rimbaud. The attack and intensity of this music was triumphantly realised by the chamber orchestra.
First up in this concert was the young Mozart represented by his playful Serenata Notturno K239. Two concertino quartets drawn from violins, viola, cello and double bass engage in some playful riffs on party music (the double bass tackling Gershwin was particularly apt). The sprightly march, grand minuet and highly variegated rondo were all nimbly played by the orchestra and helped us reflect on how the juvenile and the amorous can always supply an invigorating élan to our listening experience, under the cover of a European darkness.
Mozart in the City Series –City Recital Hall Angel Place – June 2, 2016
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