SEASON OPENING GALA ★★★★1/2
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall, February 21, 22
"Gala" is a term so often used by the MSO it runs the risk of robbing the word of any sense of occasion. This season "opening" did, however, have such a festive air it's a wonder that it wasn't marketed as an extravaganza. The sense of extravagance came from marrying the solemnity and exultation of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the extraordinary strength, agility and, at times, whimsy of Circa, the cutting-edge "contemporary circus" based in Brisbane.
This marriage was a happy and productive one, brokered by conductor Benjamin Northey and Circa director Yaron Lifschitz. Northey husbanded a lithe performance of the symphony, while Lifschitz created an extremely sympathetic embodiment of the score, impressively executed by 10 performers on a platform erected in front of orchestra. The varied and involving choreography blended elements of ballet, contemporary dance and acrobatics.
MSO’s Season Opening Gala: Circa performs to Beethoven 9, .Credit:Laura Manariti
Beethoven’s imposing opening with its sense of human aspiration was mirrored by various ascending human forms. The Scherzo was accompanied by deftly executed configurations, while the slow movement featured some elegant hoop work. The finale impressed with a single male performer ascending above the stage on a drop of black fabric.
The program opened with the premiere of a new work for chorus and orchestra by MSO composer in residence, Deborah Cheetham, Dutala – Star Filled Sky. A companion piece to the symphony, the text in the composer's own Yorta Yorta language echoes the final lines of Schiller's Ode to Joy so famously set by Beethoven, exhorting humanity to seek the creator above the stars. Cheetham's introspective work evokes the open spaces of Australia, not unlike a Fred Williams landscape with splashes of colour against a muted background.
By whatever name you call it, this was a special occasion and one that bodes well for the rest of the orchestra’s season.
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