The Guitar Festival Symphony Gala 2018 was a packed programme of music. There was a new work, and two other major works in this concert and first up was Manuel de Falla's Suite No. 1, from the comical and colourful ballet, The Three-Cornered Hat (El Sombrero de Tres Picos), which was written in 1916 as a commission for Diaghilev's Les Ballets Russes.
Manuel de Falla composed two orchestral suites based on the music from this ballet. Suite No. 1, from 1919, has six movements: Introduction, Mediodia (Afternoon), Danza de la molinera (Dance of the Miller's Wife - fandango), El Corregidor, The Miller's Wife, and Las uvas (The Grapes), covering act 1 of the ballet. Suite No. 2, from 1921, often played at the same time, but not on this occasion, has three movements: Los vecinos, (The Neighbour's Dance - sequidillas), Danza del molinero (The Miller's Dance - Farruca), and Danza final (jota), covering the second act.
The Ritual Fire Dance is possibly his best-known work and it has, perhaps, obscured the rest of his output to many people, although this work contains many themes that listeners would recognise, even if they were unaware of their origin.
The first suite is a showcase for an orchestra, with all of the fire and passion of Spanish music, referencing Andalusian folk tunes, and including plenty of percussion. The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is just the one to breathe new life into this exciting music, and the conductor, Benjamin Northey, ensured an enthusiastic performance. No, it does not feature guitars, but it is quite common for a performance that includes concertos to include a piece for the orchestra alone, allowing it to show its capabilities, and this was just such a case.
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's Composer in Association, Cathy Milliken, was commissioned to write a piece for this concert and DACCORD is the result. It is subtitled, 'a diary of discourse'. As well as our wonderful orchestra, conducted by the popular and very talented conductor, Benjamin Northey, the work featured the Russian guitarist, Vladimir Gorbach, and London-based Australian soprano, Jessica Aszodi. The conductor, orchestra, and soloists are to be commended on the excellent execution of this very complex work.
There were many of those devices that we have become accustomed to over the decades, such as col legno battuto in the basses, the violins being held, plucked, and strummed like mandolins, vocal gymnastics, aiming for effects and timbres rather than words, and guitar techniques such as fingering a chord with the left hand while tapping the strings against the fingerboard with the right, popular with pop/rock musicians, or slapping the open right hand on the strings against the sound hole, a Flamenco technique.
One cannot help but wonder whether there is anything really new that can be done, or whether we have reached the end point for music where composers continually take a few of these sort of effects and join them together with some instantly forgettable melodic lines and complex harmonies and chord progressions. We have been hearing this sort of thing for decades, in a succession of works that appear for one performance, and are never heard of again. Where, if anywhere, I wonder, do we go from here, seemingly stuck in a holding pattern just doing more of the same? Only time will tell.
Following the interval, Rodrigo's Concierto Madrigal, for two guitars and orchestra, written in 1966, was performed by the orchestra with the Beijing Guitar Duo. The work consists of ten parts, or movements: Fanfare, Madrigal, Entrada, Pastorcico, tú que vienes, astorcico, tú que vas, Girardilla, Pastoral, Fandango, Arietta, Zapateado, and Caccia a la Española. The original madrigal theme is stated by the flute in the second part, followed by eight variations.
I couldn't hep but recall hearing this work in the late 1960s and I briefly mused on the fact that, at the time, it was actually quite a new piece. My age is showing. This proved to be the biggest hit of the evening, though, and the duo, again, had listeners in the palms of their hands with an inspired and inspiring rendition of the work.
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra responded wonderfully to Northey's vision for the work, with impressive balance between the sections and great clarity in the playing. The Beijing Guitar Duo, Meng Su and Yameng Wang, had already won friends and influenced people the night before in their own concert, and consolidated that in this stunning performance, clearly enjoying the superb playing of the orchestra. The audience left no doubt that this was the piece that made the evening, with tumultuous applause following this exceptional performance.
With the applause showing no sign of abating, the duo returned for a brief encore, a movement from Tan Dun's Eight Memories in Watercolour, which proved so popular at their concert last night. This was, unsurprisingly, followed by even more applause. They return on Sunday in the closing finale, along with a cavalcade of great performers, including Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, so there is still plenty to look forward to this year.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Friday 10th August 2018.