We're in the middle of a busy music week with four nights of concerts.
At the Opera House, Emanuel Ax is now four fifths of his way through the Beethoven Piano Concertos with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra while in the City Recital Hall Richard Tognetti (a man of nature it should be remembered) has expanded his Australian Chamber Orchestra to embrace, as conductor for the first time as far as I know, the symphonic world with the natural worlds of Sibelius 6 and Mahler 4.
The Beethoven is astoundingly good and about to climax with the fifth tomorrow night. Ax is such a beauty to watch - self effacing, a dazzling technique without a hint of flash or dash, delivering a quietly thoughtful and meaningful look into the development of these great concerti with complete mastery (and an incomprehensibly perfect trill) supported by and supporting the orchestra in glowing form. Robertson and Ax have something going.
Tognetti's approach to the Sibelius and Mahler affected me significantly. I was in fact rivetted. We were sitting on the first floor opposite Mr Tognetti (having changed seats and nights to accommodate the Beethoven 3 and 4) and he is quite something to watch communicating the when and the how, especially the how, with his orchestra - scratch you could say with a hint of being somewhat, and inappropriately, demeaning - which had been boosted with (mostly younthful, fresh and generally gorgeous) players from all around the world:
Amsterdam Sinfonetta
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
University of Newcastle (on Hunter I think) Conservatorium of Music
Estonian National Opera
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Tapiola Sinfonietta
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Camerata Salzburg
Macau Orchestra
Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Synergy Percussion
Taikoz
Did I say the word 'world' already? This was a lovely and warm and heartfelt bringing together.
The Sibelius was unusually vigorous, even muscular, without any sacrifice in the beauty of the ACO string sound (its very beautiful) and the light he shone onto / into a work I find pretty evanescent brought textures and shapes that had escaped me. This was crystalline snow in the brightest of light. One could venture to say antipodean in approach.
The Mahler 4 - again there was a measured and studied careful beauty in the parts, such that while the parts may not have ever been more than their sum, nor perfectly balanced, the sheer beauty of and joy in the music making made me want to go again and wallow in them.
But Beethoven called. And as the very contented audience left the Concert Hall the next night after the Beethoven 3 and 4, fireworks exploded appropriately over the house and harbour. Alas not for Mr Ax, who deserved no less, but apparently because we had won a football match, something Mr Robertson had kept us informed on at interval and at the close of the concert.
