BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Much to the bother of some purist performers, saxophone and classical music are set to collide this week in a concert of works new and old.
I say ‘to the bother’ because, having studied classical saxophone, I know there’s a chance you might be thinking one of the following statements when I tell you Joseph Lallo will use the instrument to perform Haydn:
- Yeah, but saxophone isn’t *really* a classical instrument.
- I love saxophone! Have you heard Kenny G?
- Oh, classical saxophone? How nice. What’s that?
- *Silence*
^ all true stories. All stories that require your urgent attention in this momentous June 5 event.
In Collide’s upcoming concert Momentum, Melbourne saxophonist Joseph Lallo will team up with cellist Yelian He and pianist Yasmin Rowe to bring you Haydn like you’ve never heard him before.
You’ll also hear a whole range of other works, too – including two Australian compositions by Keyna Wilkins and Nicholas Russoniello, embedded in a program of Bruch, Glinka, Rachmaninov, and more.
Here’s why you should start taking sax seriously, Joseph tells CutCommon ahead of the gig.
(And, seriously, listen to the musician – he’s the artistic director of the 2018 Melbourne International Saxophone Festival, worked as artistic and programming assistant for the 2015 World Saxophone Congress and Festival in Strasbourg, and is the associate saxophone teacher at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music – after having given masterclasses at conservatoriums right across Australia and the world. Take that seriously.)
Joseph, tell us all about Collide (which, by the way, may just have the most beautiful instrumentation in the entire world).
It’s so beautiful! For a long time, it’s been a secret dream of mine to perform in a trio with cello and piano. I saw Yelian and Yasmin in concert about a year ago. I was blown away. They are so joyous when they perform, it’s infectious.
When we started talking about the idea of Collide, we realised we shared a common idea of what performing is about, and a love of so many different styles of music. In this concert, we’re performing a huge range of music; from Haydn and Bruch right up to new music from Australian composers.
We want to play exciting music. I guess the name says it all – it’s a collision of styles, colours, sounds, and ideas.
Your ethos for this concert is indeed to “splash new colours” on classical works (as well as introducing new ones). Tell us a little more about your vision here – why do we need to make the old…new?
By the very nature of our instrumentation, these works will have a new colour. There are many composers we adore, and numerous works we want to play. It’s as if we’re on an adventure to discover whether the original visions of composers such as Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, or Mozart could be just as appropriate with our sound. Just as the modern piano is now common in the interpretation of early music, we also feel the push to find works that take both us and the audience to a new time and atmosphere.
In choosing your program, why did these new Australian compositions stick out as being ideal choices for you here?
Both Australian composers, Keyna Wilkins and Nick Russoniello, fit perfectly with the idea of Collide. They incorporate so many different styles into their music, from tango to classical to modern, yet the end result is something that’s their own, something personal and different.
Keyna is a wonderful improviser, and her compositions have a such a sense of freedom and exploration. We will begin our fortyfivedownstairs recital with Titan Tango, which begins with a cadenza for each of us; a kind of introduction to us as individuals.
Nick is a phenomenal sax player, so his music draws sounds out of the instrument you would never expect!
How hard was it to find a program that brings together the extremely specific trio of saxophone, cello, and piano?
All of our more classical works were arranged by us, mainly from the repertoire for violin/clarinet/flute, cello, and piano. There’s actually some amazing music written recently for cello and saxophone, like Svante Henryson’s Off Pist, which we will be performing:
At the moment, there’s very little music written for saxophone, cello and piano, so we’re trying to change that!
There’s a bit of an elephant in the room, here, and it starts with S. Let’s put it to you straight: how do you play Haydn on a saxophone?
I really think the saxophone is perfectly suited to performing this music. This instrument has such enormous versatility and expressive range. It can play the soft dynamics of the clarinet, all the way to the strong and brilliant sounds of the trumpet. We can play vibrato like a string instrument, and create tone colours as varied as the voice. This means that the saxophone can execute all of the expressive intricacies of classical music, but the best thing is to come and hear it!
A fellow saxophonist, I’ve been on the receiving end of a fair dose of instrumental prejudice myself. How have you managed to convince your listeners that, actually, ‘classical music’ on saxophone should be taken seriously?
It’s certainly been a long and difficult path paved by some great Australian players before me. For me, I think the only way I can convince an audience that it should be taken seriously is by taking it seriously myself. Since leaving high school, I’ve been able to devote my life to practising, studying and performing the saxophone. Since coming back to Australia from six years in France, it’s been so exciting to play with musicians like Yelian and Yasmin, who have careers as international soloists.
If we can do our best to create quality and interesting performances, we hope the audience recognises that too.
What do you feel saxophone offers to classical works that extends their original instrumentation? That is, how can sax make something even better?
I don’t know if I could say it makes these works better, but it makes them different and brings these works to life in a new way.
I think more than anything, we’re musicians more than instrumentalists. Our chosen instruments are our medium of expression and artistry. I think the reason the three of us practice so much is get as close as we can to express on our instrument exactly what we hear in our imagination.
I don’t think bridging this gap is possible, but it sure keeps us working.
So how’d you enjoy working with living composers on Collide?
It’s something we absolutely love! These composers were so open with how to perform their music. Keyna knows our instruments so well that her music unfolded very easily for us.
It’s just the beginning for us; we have a program in late September entirely of music from living Australian composers. It’s wonderful to create with them, and have them as an integral part of our interpretive process.
What will listeners learn when we watch you in Collide?
We will put all of our energy, concentration, and expression into performing this music; and we hope that this engages and interests our audience. We hope they will see and hear something different. We look at music as a catalyst – for thought, ideas, questions, or even arguments! We hope they feel something in the moment and leave with something to think about.
Want to win a double pass and two free glasses of wine?
Joseph Lallo (saxophone), Yelian He (cello), and Yasmin Rowe (piano) will present Momentum with Collide at 7pm June 5 in fortyfivedownstairs.
Subscribe to CutCommon by 6pm June 4 (that’s Monday). Then email us with your phone number. That’s it. You could win yourself tickets (and drinks) at the door. Prize valued at more than $60.
Good luck!
Images supplied.
