BY JO ST LEON
TSO Live Sessions
Featuring musicians of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Longley International Hotel, 3 February
I set off for Longley, very aware as I drove that I was heading towards multiple fires and a big smoke cloud. Arriving at the Longley International Hotel, though, I could almost believe that none of that existed. Beautiful, clear blue sky above the hotel beer garden created the perfect conditions for the first TSO Live Sessions gig of 2019. Around 400 people gathered to forget Tasmania’s troubles and enjoy beer, food, sunshine, and great music. It was an idyllic afternoon.
Violinist Hayato Simpson led with style, authority, and enthusiasm his trusty band of Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra players. They presented a varied program with traditional folk music from around the world alongside Bach and Vivaldi, and a world premiere of Jabra Latham’s Antarctic Tryptich. A highlight for me was Bartok’s Romanian Dances. There was such energy from every player, and a freedom of movement and expression not often seen in an orchestra – just sheer joy and exuberance.
A beautiful rendition of The Londonderry Air brought a tear to my eye, while Kovacs’ Sholem Aleikem transported me to parts of the world I have seldom visited. Hayato presented a spirited and polished performance of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto RV281, showing both violinistic skill and a talent for directing the ensemble.
Interestingly, the works the players appeared to enjoy the most – the fourth movement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet, and the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence –were for me the least successful. Despite being well played, they required an intimacy not available with the amplification and the outdoor setting.
Who’d have thought it? A world premiere at the Longley International Hotel! Latham’s Antartic Tryptich for clarinet and strings was both atmospheric and approachable. Clarinettist Andrew Seymour performed with such skill that even in the blazing sunshine I felt the cold and saw the icicles. I wondered how a Live Sessions audience would respond to this piece – many of the audience members would have been having their first experience of the TSO. Looking around, though, they loved it: there was rapt attention on almost every face.
The beauty of concerts such as these is the freedom they give to both audience and performers. Freed from their tail suits and formal concert etiquette, the players can be completely themselves. And the little girl who danced continuously and joyously through every piece will have had an afternoon she can remember for many years to come.
READ NEXT: Jo St Leon interviews TSO maestro Marko Letonja
Images supplied.
