Always early entries in our diaries, Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) concerts at St Kilda Town Hall are eagerly anticipated. Interesting programming, distinguished conductors and – best of all – an orchestra comprising some of the most highly talented young musicians from Australia and New Zealand are guaranteed to provide a rewarding and stimulating experience for listeners. This concert was no exception.
Inspiring the players to give of their best, one of the leading Finnish conductors of his generation, Erkki Lasonpalo, was ideally suited to work with them on a program that featured a substantial work by Finland’s greatest composer, Jean Sibelius.
The four works were thoughtfully chosen, not only for what promised to be “a canvas which will paint nature pictures both grand and intimate”, but also as expressions of cultural identity rooted in folk music.
Opening the concert, Antonín Dvořák’s Silent Woods established the themes of nature and cultural identity. An appealingly lyrical work, it was originally composed for piano four-hands in 1883, then for cello and piano. Due to its popularity Dvořák arranged it for full orchestra before his 1893 New World tour. A short six-minute work, the cello begins without orchestral introduction – Joshua Jones playing the wonderfully melodious cello line confidently over pizzicato strings. A warm rounded cello sound and musical sensitivity for those soulful drawn out phrases were notable features of his performance, and he invested the more intense passages with some energetic drive. Apart from the generally impressive orchestral sound, the other notable contribution came from the horns – the first of some terrific work throughout the evening. It seemed that Dvořák’s distillation of twilight in a Bohemian forest was over all too soon.
Before the performance of Sibelius’s En Saga, Howard Penny, ANAM’s Resident Faculty, Head of Strings and Cello, had a few questions to put to Erkki Lasonpalo, the crucial one being: What makes Finnish music Finnish? Not an easy question to answer, but Lasonpalo pointed to a certain pervasive melancholy that has led Sibelius to compose even happy music in a minor key. He was also generous in his praise of the students after working with the ANAM orchestra for the past week – music to the ears of the students, Faculty and its many supporters in the audience.
Given the relationship between the two works, in some respects it was a pity that En Saga was played after Verdigris, a 10-minute work by Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski. On the occasion of Sibelius’s 150th anniversary, in 2015 the Scottish Chamber Orchestra commissioned Wennäkoski to write a work referencing his music. She found inspiration in En Saga. Also appealing was the idea of a thin superficial layer created by age – the title, Verdigris, refers to the green patina on aged copper. Responding to the essentials of Sibelius’s musical material, she explained, “Isn’t that more or less what composers do – write new layers over music history, even if their work explicitly refers to older music?” Audience members familiar with En Saga would have immediately recognised particular musical gestures; those who were not would have instantly seen connections in the opening passages of his work, Verdigris acting as a kind of “pre-echo”.
Wennäkoski turned the ricochet bowings into whispers of the tone poem’s string textures. Brief silences and quiet passages with softly buzzing winds were interrupted by explosive jabs of sound. Instead of easily discernible fragments of melody, the work was characterised by rhythmic drive, with timpani and even percussive string actions adding to the momentum. Spoken and whispered text (quotes from Sibelius’s critics) could be heard amid the waves of textured sound that brought this work of intense contrasts to a pianissimo conclusion.
What this particular sequencing of the two works did give us was a more vivid appreciation of En Saga – moments of recognition that brought the music to life in new ways. Featured ANAM musicians were particularly fine in this tone poem of contrasting emotions. The horns, which launch the work, were secure, together and made a golden sound; the clarinet solo was very well executed, as was the viola solo; the duo and quartet violinists played with confidence, and the winds players (particularly oboe and flute) impressed. Although the most salient feature of En Saga is melody, rhythmic drive and textural colour make major contributions to its appeal. The occasional clock-like rhythm that Wennäkoski picked up was just part of the rhythmic complexity.
Symphony in E minor, Op. 32 Gaelic (1896) by American composer Amy Beach completed the program. A substantial work in four movements, at around 40 minutes duration it made a nice bookend to the program with Silent Woods since Dvořák had advocated American composers find their own national voice in folk music. Instead of the recommended African American and Native American influenced material, Beach chose what she considered a more authentic source in her own Irish heritage.
Again, a horn led the way – the beginning of outstanding playing by Emma John – in a rollicking Allegro con fuoco that culminated in a stirringly decisive ending. The emphasis was definitely on the fiery part of the marking. Another horn solo opened the gentler “siciliana” of the second movement, followed by a tuneful oboe melody – Oscar Gillespie’s most appealing tone providing emotional warm and beauty. Then it was on to an energetic Allegro vivace and back again to an Andante, with plenty of gorgeous horn playing featured along the way. In the third movement, marked Lento con molto espressione, it was the turn of violinist Lydia Saviris to shine with assured, well-projected playing as a wistful Gaelic melody was shared between winds and strings, with flute, oboe and bass clarinet. All made notable contributions, with Ariel Volovelsky’s cello playing being exceptionally fine in this movement. The final Allegro di molto gave ample opportunity for the orchestra to impress an enthusiastic audience with their technical skill and musicality.
This concert can be chalked up as another major win for the cultural life of Melbourne – and Australia and New Zealand for that matter. Those at ANAM are ensuring that expert hands are nurturing our next generation of musicians.
Photo supplied.
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Heather Leviston reviewed “ANAM Orchestra with Erkki Lasonpalo”, presented at the St Kilda Town Hall on Saturday June 1, 2024.
