There's Plenty To Savour In This Musical Feast Of Italy

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday August 18, 2008

Reviewed by Graeme Skinner

MOZART IN THE CITY

City Recital Hall,

August 14

THIS was the Sydney Symphony's first performance of Rossini's juvenile First String Sonata. Whereas 10 years ago they would probably have beefed it up orchestrally with multiple strings, on Thursday night four principals, led by the concertmaster, Michael Dauth, performed this neat little work by the 12-year-old Rossini in original Italian quartet format (two violins, cello and double bass). Since the program was titled Mozart in Italy, yet contained nothing Mozart composed there, the Mozartian mini-cadenzas in Rossini's first movement must have been meant to provide the missing Italian link.

The pianist Orli Shaham directed Mozart's thoroughly Viennese C major Piano Concerto (K467) from the keyboard. With the occasional hand beat and economical gestures with shoulders and head, and eye contact, Shaham led her fellow players in a cohesive and controlled reading of the first movement. She not only avoided some of the more schizophrenic side-effects of dividing the roles of soloist and conductor but reminded me of how good and rare a thing it still is, even in these supposedly more enlightened times, to witness a woman directing an orchestral performance at all, let alone with such easy authority.

In the "Elvira Madigan" slow-movement, Shaham made sense of what is usually just passed over as a casual connection with the movie, by presenting the theme as a fragile balancing act reminiscent of the life-and-death saga of the tightrope walker Madigan herself. And if the slightly ragged last three chords of the finale would have benefited from a conductor's hand, they were a tiny price to pay for an otherwise convincing DIY Mozart!

Sadly, it was impossible to recapture the excitement that would have met the Sydney Symphony's first performance of Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances in 1946. With easy access these days to authentic Renaissance originals, we no longer need to rely on cheesy arrangements like these. Which is not to say Respighi's 1932 third set does not retain a certain "Thirties" charm of its own - the Sydney Symphony strings never produced less than a full and unanimous tone.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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