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ASO Symphony under the Stars Saturday 13 March, Elder Park The ASO Symphony Under The Stars concerts have become an annual tradition and their choice of repertoire has generally been populist to say the least. However with Kristjan Jarvi things were bound to be different, and different they were. The idea of commencing such an event with Schoenberg’s arrangement of the Brahms G minor piano quintet was an audacious choice. It is a fine work and was very well played, as one has come to expect from the orchestra. After a short excerpt from Sir Edward Elgar’s popular Enigma Variations, expectations and ears were stretched with the world premiere of Gene Pritsker’s Concerto for Bass - Lost Illusions. This three-movement work was one that attempted to dissolve distinctions between musical styles and forms, and in it, the quizzical tone of Zappa, hip-hop rhythms and electronics coalesce in a fascinating and virtuosic soundscape. It was impeccably played but not really the sort of repertoire that one would have expected to be aired at such an event. Soloist Mat Fieldes, Jarvi and the ASO certainly ‘pushed buttons’ and it was music to which one could not remain indifferent. Duke Ellington’s descriptive Harlem suite followed and was given an excellent performance with highly deserved praise going to the percussion and brass. This jazz was the real thing and Jarvi and his forces swung exuberantly. The audience responded more enthusiastically to Leonard Bernstein’s popular ‘Symphonic Dances from West Side Story’, and again Jarvi showed his excellence in jazz and Stravinsky leading a punchy performance where all sections of the orchestra excelled. And of course the concert ended with the usual fireworks and a clear cut, no nonsense performance of Tchaikowsky’s 1812 Overture complete with cannon effects.  |
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