Exuberant, In True Amadeus Style

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday February 9, 2006

Reviewed by Harriet Cunningham

Discover Mozart Sydney Sinfonia

City Recital Hall, February 7

HAPPY birthday, Mozart! So began presenter Richard Gill, springing onto the podium to conduct the opening bars of The Magic Flute. It was a captivating opening to the first concert in Sydney Symphony's 2006 Discovery Series.

Mozart was meant to be the star of this concert, but there were several other candidates vying for attention. For a start, the Sydney Sinfonia, Sydney Symphony's "training" orchestra, celebrates its 10th birthday this year. The Sinfonia is an ensemble of advanced students who spend a year with the symphony, performing for schools and at other events and gaining experience from the mentorship of full-time members of the symphony. On this occasion they were an efficient and professional-sounding band ideally suited to the task in hand.

Also in the running was Anita Watson, a recent graduate of the Australian Opera Studio, who sang Pamina's aria Ach, ich fuhls, phrase by phrase, bar by bar, but always with breathtaking loveliness.

However, the real star of the show was Gill, maestro extraordinaire.

He and Mozart share crazy white hair and a deft sense of timing, but a 250-year-old cannot compete with Gill's energetic backchat. Rushing from podium to piano and back, he drew his audience into Mozart's mysterious language of semi-tones and keys, like a musical version of Dan Brown, but with much more style. Plus at all times he guided the Sinfonia securely through these intricate works, laying the foundations for truly fine performances from these young players.

The Sydney Symphony is onto a good thing with its Discovery concerts. The first of this year's four concerts was sold out and, from the response of the audience, most of them will be coming back for more. It's easy to see why: the concert format has been tailored to the city's time-poor, experience-hungry population, who can lap up a popular but informative program and still get out in time for dinner. But more importantly, the content - the performances, the soloists, choice of repertoire - is of an uncompromisingly high standard.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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