| David
Robertson
(Notes
from a concert conducted by David Robertson in Sydney
in March 2015)
The
SSO Chief Conductor David Robertson not only conducted
the orchestra at the Sydney Symphony Gala concert (Berg,
Bruckner, Beethoven), he gave the pre-concert talk. It
was fascinating and very dense.
Robertson
spoke of the links between the pieces by Berg, Bruckner
and Beethoven in a way that related it our experiences
today. When he said that Beethoven wrote his Ode to Joy
(Ninth Symphony) at a time when people's rights were being
suppressed and life was anything but joyful it made me
wonder whether some musical genius out there is translating
our current travails into joyful music.
The
concert was a stunner. Soprano Miriam Gordon-Stewart sang
a heart rending and passionate Maria in Act III of Berg's
Wozzeck and Simon O'Neill's tenor voice soared above the
orchestra and massed choir in Beethoven's 9th. That is
quite a feat in a hall with such underwhelming acoustics
as the Sydney Opera House.
More
about David Robertson
|
