Considering The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO)
just turned 80, I think it’s fairly safe to say that most Sandgropers don’t
remember life without it. WASO is the state’s largest and busiest performing
arts company, providing the heartbeat of WA’s musical life. The fact that the
Concert Hall was packed to capacity at the same time that 6 billion other
people were watching the opening of the Olympic Games is clearly a testament to
this.
Conducted by Brett Kelly, who cleverly introduced the evening
by saying “welcome to one of two big events happening across the world tonight”,
WASO at the Movies provided a wonderful night of toe-tapping, tear-inducing
entertainment. The program was a varied affair, with pieces ranging from the
1935 film score to Captain Bloodwith Errol Flynn, to The Shagadelic Suitefrom
the Austin Powers movies. It opened with the Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare, which
certainly set the mood and reminded everyone that the program was an homage to
the musical delights of the silver screen.
The stand out performance for me was the Concerto for organ
and strings (Adagio) from Gallipoli. This was the piece that moved me to tears.
It’s such an affecting piece of music and the aching solo by first violin,
Graham Pyatt, was exceptional. I was moved also because I, like so many
Australians, know the iconic film so well. I was transported back to 1996 in Gallipoli, Turkey,
with my best friend, tears streaming down our faces as we watched the movie on
a tiny television in a rural hostel on the eve of ANZAC day. I’m quite sure I
was not the only one so affected on the night; the strings reached out with
their quiet anguish to touch everyone in the hall.
Classicist composer, Phillip Glass’ Movement III, from the
movie The Hours, was another treat. Glass is known for his compositions with
repetitive structures and the repeated fragments of melody in this piece create
a tension and hypnotism that lends itself wholly to the tone of the
film. This was the first piece to introduce guest musician Jana Kovar on the
celeste, an instrument that looks like an upright piano, but contains tiny
bells struck by hammers and operated by a keyboard, producing a heavenly (celestial)
sound (just think of the bell sounds from Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy from The
Nutcracker).
WASO did a wonderful job with The Man from Snowy River Theme
by Bruce Rowland. The French horns provided the goosebumps while the trumpets
raised the blood pressure. The crisp sound from the trumpets, particularly
first trumpet David Eton, was a delight.
The theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark, by John Williams,
belonged to the brass, and they did it proud. It’s one of those orchestral
scores that’s hard to forget and it was the one my husband and I took away with
us, humming it with gusto all the way home.
The only piece that didn’t work well for me was the Chariots
of Fire theme. The orchestra used snare drums to replicate the synthesized repetitive
beat of Vangelis’ original piece, but the tempo of this difficult melody
seemed too fast and out of sync with the piano.
Despite conductor Brett Kelly risking making an enemy of
half of his audience (women) by practically apologising for the addition of a
piece from a “chick flick” - Shakespeare in Love - as if it was a thing one
should be immanently ashamed of, it was a wonderful piece that built into a
rich harmony about harvesting hope for the future, and was beautifully
performed by the orchestra.
The Star Wars Main Title is always guaranteed to get the
blood pumping. It certainly showcased the trumpets, David Elton, Evan Cromie, Peter
Miller, and guest musician Jenny Coleman. The music by John Williams has that
lush, intricate sound he’s known for. The use of leitmotif (where an idea is
represented by a repeated melodic phrase) is so effective (as it is in Raiders)
that this was perhaps the only piece where I let the music fully evoke images
from the film, rather than enjoying the score for its musicality alone (as I
did with Pirates of the Caribbean).
If Raidersbelonged to the brass, then the Concert Suite
from Babe and The Shagadelic Suite belonged to the percussionists. Why do
percussionists always look cheeky, like they know something the rest of us
don’t? Principal percussionist Tim White surely has the best job in the world.
He gets to bang about on all manner of weird and wonderful looking instruments,
not least of which was what I can only describe as an empty Milo tin he used at
the beginning of The Shagadelic Suite. (Sorry Tim, I don’t know what it’s
called.) He artistically rammed his hand in and out of the tin, which in turn
graced us with - how shall I put it – highly amusing fart-like noises. It was a
hoot, trust me. It was a treat to watch him striding around the back of the
orchestra playing a multitude of different instruments with artistic ease, clearly
enjoying every moment.
This was a thoroughly entertaining program. It’s always such
a pleasure to let the talented and dedicated WASO artists bathe you in a
blanket of harmonic rapture. Their musicality and professionalism does WA
extremely proud, and they shone under the rigorousness of conductor, Brett Kelly
– whose baton snapped in half midway through the evening - surely the mark of a
true maestro?
WASO at the Movies
Venue: Perth Concert Hall Dates/Time: 8pm, Friday 8 & Sunday 10 August
Tickets: $60.00 - $75.00
Bookings: WASO on 9326 0000 or www.waso.com.au
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