BY JO ST LEON, LEAD STORYTELLER
Tan Dun’s ‘Wolf Totem’
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra featuring Stuart Thomson (double bass), Eivind Aadland (conductor)
Federation Concert Hall, 16 March
Jo is a Tasmanian-based musician who has previously performed Tan Dun’s Wolf Totem with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. In this review, she offers the unique perspective of having played the piece live in the Federation Concert Hall and on tour in China, and now returning to the work as a member of the audience. Here’s what happened when she listened in.
This concert was the first in a new series of concerts starting at 6pm, and running for only an hour. The TSO experimented with different formats during Covid and as Tasmania emerged from lockdown. The idea of shorter concerts was one that seemed to resonate with both orchestra and audience, and what could be better than a short concert between finishing work and dinner? Both the attendance and the quality of this first concert bodes well for the series’ future.
Holly Harrison’ short piece Jammed opened the evening. The title is a pun on the idea of something being stuck, and a jam session where the musicians improvise. The repetitiveness and the many jarring brass chords were very effective – I felt my stomach clenching with ‘stuckness’ as I listened. The musicians were not in fact improvising: they were playing intricate motifs with great precision, whilst maintaining an improvisatory feel. The skill of both composer and orchestra in achieving this was remarkable.
Stuart Thomson is no stranger to Tan Dun’s Wolf Totem. He first performed it in Hobart in March 2015, and subsequently gave many performances on the orchestra’s 2016 tour to China. Since then he has been invited back to China by Tan Dun for several repeat performances. Throughout all this, Stuart has developed a profound affinity with the work.
Inspired by a 2004 best-selling novel by Jiang Rong, which highlights the nomadic people of Inner Mongolia and an endangered wolf dwelling in the area, the concerto opens with other-worldly sounds from the orchestra that intrigue and invite the listener to venture further. The double bass then enters with a haunting, whispered theme that slowly grows to fill both the auditorium and the souls of the audience. This is how I imagine the feeling of Mongolia – the lonely wilderness that takes a hold of hearts and won’t let go.
By turns lyrical and virtuosic, the music articulates the plight of the wolf as he flees and howls his haunting melody. Stuart was more than equal to the technical challenge the work presents, and his lyrical playing was a genuine cry from the heart. This was an unforgettable performance of a great concerto.
Grieg’s Symphonic Dances seem to hold a special place in conductor Eivind Aadland’s heart; as a child he grew up just a few miles from Grieg’s home, and says he remembers cycling there to hear music on weekends. It was Grieg, he says, who was responsible for his entry into the world of classical music. This love for the composer, and his affinity for Norwegian folk music, was evident throughout this wonderful performances of the dances.
The orchestra responded magnificently to his every wish. Oboist Shefali Pryor was outstanding throughout, most notably in the sublime expressive theme that opened the second movement. The orchestra as a whole was at its exceptional best.
I wouldn’t have missed this concert for the world. It was a truly memorable evening.
Images supplied. Credit: Sam Bell.
