ASO 2008

In flicking through the orchestra's programme for next year, one immediately recognises the breadth of material being used to draw in the crowds - from Festival events, a cello fest in April, not to mention the return of former enfant terrible Nigel Kennedy for two concerts of Mozart and Beethoven, and the sensational Australian soprano Lisa Gasteen who is taking European opera houses by storm with her miraculous portrayals in Richard Wagner's mega dramas.

The phrase being used to promote the programme - "It's all about the music" is an apt one, though when one examines the fine print, there are changes afoot and perhaps not necessarily for the best. For whilst the Master series maintains the twelve programmes within the series, the long held tradition of Thursday night concerts has gone. And for me, Thursdays always offered that all-important performance the night before the ABC broadcast as well as a chance for those who are ageing amongst the orchestra's fans to be out of the hall by 8:30 on a quieter weeknight. Similarly there are less Showcase shows than in the past, although a few Galas have been added. Then again in these financially straitened times, Bob Dylan's famous maxim - "Money doesn't talk / It swears" becomes appropriate, yet again. But onto the content...

Looking through the items to be heard next year, it does appear that the ASO are settling down to business very seriously indeed and covering a very wide series of musical styles and tastes as they do. Things start with a bang in February with the return of 'Nige' and I presume that he will also conduct. So we can only hope that he'll learn from Zappa's notion of "Shut up and play your guitar" - well, in this case, his violin. The 2008 Festival sees the Australian premiere of American minimalist John Adams' Dharma at Big Sur - a highly approachable concerto for amplified violin and orchestra. (Some may well recall the sensation that the mounting of his now classic opera Nixon in China caused during a past festival. For modern jazz and fusion fans the music of Jan Hammer and John McLaughlin's uplifting and devotional approach to music that was The Mahavishnu Orchestra will be revisited with its original virtuosic drummer, Billy Cobham and conductor and arranger Colin Towns heading up this amazing challenge.

In the field of new and recent music, another stand out is a concert featuring music by Britain's Thomas Ades (Living Toys) and - a personal favourite who will be well known to Kronos Quartet fans - Argentina's Osvaldo Golijov. (His recent opera on the death of gay Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, Ainadamar will be a major feature also.)

For those who have a passion for South American music, things will continue to bode well with the long overdue return of Kristjan Jarvi who will conduct Piazzolla's Bandoneon concerto along with works by Debussy, Messiaen and the tango king's fellow countryman, Alberto Ginastera. Former Festival visitor and violin virtuoso Dmitri Sitkovetsky will also make a welcome return conducting and playing the Romantic music of Mendelssohn; whilst those regular concert goers will have a chance to build upon Arvo Volmer's fine unfolding Mahler cycle when he, the orchestra and vocal soloists will present the Adelaide premiere of Mahler's mighty and longest third symphony. In even more of a choral mode, audiences will be delighted to hear conductors Graham Abbott and Carl Crossin join forces in Gabriel Faure's evergreen Requiem as well works by Britten and Haydn.

It is also with great personal pleasure that I see Volmer has programmed Paul Hindemith's magnificent Mathis der Maler symphony (after his opera of the same name from the early nineteen thirties). Although he taught many fine American composers at Yale after his flight from the Nazis, he never really developed any stylistic disciples as such and although many regard much of his work as thorny and tricky counterpoint. Mathis der Maler is highly approachable, beautifully orchestrated and undoubtedly Hindemith's and indeed a truly twentieth century orchestral masterpiece.

Do not think that the orchestra has forgotten about the rock and jazz audiences it has collected over the past few years due to such excellent performances with Herbie Hancock, Burt Bacharach and others. On the rock front, though not a personal favourite, the ASO will revisit the music of Pink Floyd and the new showcase for 2007 lies in the music of Deep Purple. For those who are interested in linking classical music seriously with rock, 'Purple's brilliantly gifted keyboardist Jon Lord is a legend in the field of such work. Premiered by the band and the London Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Malcolm Arnold, Lord's Concerto for Rock Group and Orchestra continues to fascinate. In fact several years ago, the Queensland Orchestra brought Jon Lord out to work with the pop group George on the piece. Adelaide's performance - along with a selection of Deep Purple classics - will be featured around the considerable vocal talents of Zep Boy Vince Contarino.

Those into jazz will no doubt welcome the return of trumpeter James Morrison and his band as they explore the music of the great Duke Ellington and surely those at all interested in jazz vocalizing and extemporizing will surely not miss perhaps the greatest vocalist of his generation, Kurt Elling. Those who have felt that this sort of adlibbing was a thing of the past associated with the likes of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross as well as the amazing and still performing Mark Murphy, need look nor listen no further.

Brett Allen-Bayes

The full programme for the ASO's season 2008 is now available