BY CHRISTOPHER WAINWRIGHT
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Tate CBE and featuring Jayson Gillham (piano)
Great Classics 4: A Hero’s Life
Works by Wagner, Beethoven, and Strauss
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, 29 October
For some conductors and orchestras, when there are moments to be loud, play fast and be dramatic, they do so, and in doing so, one forgoes the pleasures of clarity, refinement and the finer details.
In this Adelaide Symphony Orchestra 80th birthday concert, Jeffrey Tate never allowed this to occur. To watch him conduct is a conducting masterclass in itself. He brings invaluable life experience and the welcomed conviction to do things a bit differently. In doing this, the audience was privileged to hear something truly unique and to marvel in what it takes to achieve such rare refinement.
For such a special occasion, the concert began with one of Tate’s great loves Wagner, and the Prelude to Act 1 of The Mastersinger of Nurenberg. From the opening bars, one realised one was in for a treat! Tate had the wisdom to select a slightly slower-than-frequent tempo, and to create an even more majestic and regal prelude. The tempo, Tate’s precise conducting, and the gradual building of the themes and drama gave the work refined clarity, precision and allowed one to marvel in small details – such as the blending of the brass, Wagner’s counterpoint, and the characters of the various themes. At no time was the music’s dramatic impetus allowed to takeover and thus, one was able to fully revel in a beautifully balanced, joyous and considered performance.
Joining the celebrations was rising star Australian pianist Jayson Gillham, who has a wonderful command. Gillham wastes no energy and has a clean and precise technique, which shone through in the clarity of his phrasing, articulation and dynamics. What he brought out of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was a work in which drama, lyricism and bravura were perfectly balanced. Gillham’s artistic approach was matched and complemented by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s controlled and considered musicianship. A particular highlight was the second movement, where one was able to luxuriate in the wondrous depth of dynamics, lyricism and pace which Gillham created.
The final work, not performed in Adelaide in more than 25 years, was Richard Strauss’ tone poem Ein Heldenleben – celebrating and demonstrating the flaws of a hero and his life. A work which perhaps encapsulate Strauss’ self-belief as a hero is an orchestral masterpiece, where large forces are called upon, including eight horns. From beginning to end, Tate created a discerning performance, which so beautifully captured the work’s clarity, warmth, rich colours and harmonies. Somehow, created what seemed like the unattainable concept of perfection, with the work’s tension and drama perfectly in balance. A particularly impressive aspect of this performance was in the final moments, when the ASO created such a spine-tingling, restrained, soft dynamic and then gradually built the dynamics for the heroic funeral march.
If the ASO can continue to produce performances such as this spine-tingling 80th birthday gift, then the future of our orchestral landscape will be a rich and fulfilling one.
Christopher Wainwright is an Adelaide-based freelance journalist and music critic. He has worked in the classical music industry for more than 15 years in marketing, communications and management roles. Most recently, he was General Manager of the Adelaide Youth Orchestras.
Image: Jeffrey Tate (supplied).
