Rubiks Collective have always been premiering great ideas in new music programs. Their commitment to bringing thought-provoking creative performances, especially featuring world-wide and Australian talented female composers in their programs, has added to their enduring success. Most admirable is the team’s balanced relationship between classical instruments and the use of unconventional and varied sound sources, blending technology and audio-visual animation with stimulating music. Rubiks are always honest, full of life and artistic adventure, risk-taking and most thought provoking. Quite unforgettable programs for me, which hopefully can be repeated in the future, have been “Sculptress” (December 2019) in the Primrose Potter Salon, and, earlier this month, “A Book of Hours” in the Hanson Dyer Hall. Both concerts combined enthralling multi-disciplinary sources – film, movement, projected animation and theatrical elements – with colourful and sophisticated musical scores.
From the idea of having a musical 10th birthday present for the ensemble’s concert season of 2025, composer Matthew Shlomowitz was commissioned to write a score in collaboration with librettist Vid Simoniti. Having featured in Rubiks’ projects before, celebrated vocalist Lotte Betts-Dean was the perfect choice as leading lady in the talented team formed for “The Big Idea”.
As the four instrumentalists (Kaylie Melville, Percussion; Tamara Kohler, Flutes; Gemma Kneale, Cello, Alex Raineri, Keyboards) stood statuesque with their instruments, a long silence preceded a dramatic and authoritative entrance by the vocalist, with just a low electric keyboard chord resonating and setting a dramatic theatrical atmosphere. The personal story begun with Betts-Dean’s opening low texts, solemn and sharing emotion with reflective punctuations from silvery vibes and cello: “I… HAVE… AN… IDEA!” Alternating between short vocal phrases and recitative, we sensed the personal, the theatrical, hints of the political speaker, with instruments colourfully pairing, re-grouping frequently, or acknowledging the repeated animated flow of Lotte’s passion and intent. Cymbals, triangle and flute added brightness to Betts-Dean’s melodies, energetically climbing from low despairing tones, step wise, to shining and ambitious tonal heights.
Betts-Dean owns the stage, has an engaging presence, and displays a natural and even strength and expression across an expansive vocal range. Opening repeated phrases – “I have a big idea … I am going to go with it … I can feel it” – accompanied by climactic vibrato cello and vibes brought laughter from the audience as quirky tones, pizzicato cello and random scattered rhythms followed, leading to the texts “I have considered the pros and cons, the ups and downs, the options”. But was the musical idea too big? Away from the Rubiks instrumentalists, an insistent telephone rang. Reality check? A safer career alternative? Betts-Dean returned wearing a white coat: “I… am… going… to… be… a dental hygienist”. As the spoken idea grew into a song, Kneale swapped her cello for an electric bass guitar, Kohler’s flute was exchanged for a Mano Percussion Melodica with mouthpiece and the musical genre shifted to a mix of jazz-rock band and a Broadway soliloquy – the libretto now a mix of cabaret style patter about gold fillings, implants and incisors. Had The Big Idea been abandoned as Betts-Dean donned rubber gloves and handed toothbrushes to the audience. It was not the same splendid sounding percussive brushes featuring in Rubiks recent performance of “The Book of Hours”, but this “show” was now delightfully becoming almost theatre of the absurd.
With faded lights, our heroine re-connected us with the dreams, the ambitions and the memoirs of these musicians who have known each other for many years, and turned many ideas into projects and celebrations. The audience was most surprised when Kneale suddenly interrupted the scene with surprising repartee: “I just have enthusiasm” she sang, and as lights faded, just as success was within reach at the height of the song, the phone rings again. Slow, sustained piano chords bode bad news: the rejection, the failed grant applications, the desperation of requesting feedback and the realisation that perhaps The Big Idea was not meant to be? “Can I appeal? Can I apply again? I guess we have exhausted all the options?” “Should I give it another go?” Just single notes on the flute and long keyboard chords again reflected the personal text: “Now what to do with my life?”
Bettes-Dean returned to centre stage as the successful chanteuse – with Rubiks’ rhythmic and lively accompaniment optimistically supporting the singer’s final melodic line as it climbed skywards with a big idea (or two or three): “I could… still be… someone else… somewhere else… I guess that’s all? I could still be… me!” And, as lights faded: “I could still… be!”
Artists and collaborators of this event remained in the Salon for a congenial open panel and discussion with the audience, sharing their birthday celebrations and the shaping of The Big Idea project with composer Matthew Shlomowitz. Congratulations Rubiks Collective.
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Julie McErlain reviewed “The Big Idea”, presented by Rubiks Collective at the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Primrose Potter Salon on September 25, 2025.
