ASO at Harts Mill ~ Music Review

[MUSIC – Australia, NZ, Cuba]

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO)
Hart’s Mill, Port Adelaide
Sat 19 Oct

ASO at Hart’s Mill was promoted as ‘a musical journey inspired by the iconic Wonderwalls art that decorates the streets of Port Adelaide.’ In truth the only visual artist that was acknowledged in any way was Guido Van Relten.  His glorious image of two classical faces dominates the southern wall on the inside of Hart’s Mill, and served as a perfect backdrop to the stage.

What a joy it is to see an orchestra! So many people to look at, so many things to see, so many instruments to enjoy, the tuning ritual, the conductor’s welcome, the conductor’s antics, the orchestra all standing to acknowledge audience applause. The ASO may have been far away from their home base but the orchestral rituals remained in place in the rustic setting of Harts Mill.

Things kicked off with Jamie Goldsmith’s magnificent welcome to country – sombre, sonorous and grand. Much more effective and moving than scores of spoken welcomes to country.

The night’s program featured three soloists, the first of which was Adelaide based multi-instrumentalist and composer, Adam Page. Excelling on tenor saxophone, Page launched the Australian premiere of Call of the Wild, a collaborative piece written with New Zealand born composer Ioannis Psathas. And what a masterpiece it is. It soars and floats, ebbs and flows, storms and dances through many unpredictable moods reflecting perhaps the unrestrained caprice of nature. Page’s saxophone was warm, rich, tender and strong; sometimes leading the way; sometimes blending into the greater sound. From birdsong to Arabian nights we were led through a panoply of musical emotions – an exhausting and inspiring concerto.

Recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacy was up next playing three short pieces based on the music of J.S. Bach. These re-imagined pieces are the result of collaboration with Elena Kats-Chernin, and were a fitting contrast as recorders and strings created a quieter interlude.

The third soloist on the program, Cuban trumpeter Lazaro Numa, brought a radical change in style playing music similar to that made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club. Like so much Latin music these pieces were primarily about rhythm. A battery of percussion instruments were added in front of the orchestra and together Numa and orchestra played three pieces arranged by pianist Mark Simeon Ferguson that had the brass section re-engaged. The final piece featured something rare – several members of the orchestra singing the chorus – in Spanish even! Lots of energy here, but frankly it’s strange to listen to this kind of music sitting in rows of seats, and the mix wasn’t great so it all just sounded a bit too busy.

But all in all this was a great event. Wonderful to see the ASO out ‘among the people’, and to see Hart’s Mill take a further step towards being a significant arts venue in Adelaide. Kudos to all those with the vision and drive to make this happen.

Conducted by Benjamin Northey.

4 stars

Michael Coghlan

This was the only performance of ASO at Hart’s Mill.

#The Clothesline