Fertile Vine produces rich flavours

BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Rory Macdonald, conductor Piers Lane, piano Kathryn Stott, piano Federation Concert Hall, Hobart May 19

THE concert began with the almost completely unknown Love Scene from Engelbert Humperdinck’s incidental music for The Merchant of Venice.

It is a lovely piece in the Wagnerian idiom, with notable writing for horn and harp. The orchestra responded well to Rory Macdonald’s direction.

Carl Vine’s Implacable Gifts: Concerto for Two Pianos, jointly commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, received its premiere in Perth last week. This was the second performance.

The composer has said that its existence resulted from an attempt to control and give structure to the myriad of musical ideas that come unbidden into his mind. It is a wonderfully rich work in four movements, with the pianos competing violently at the start, beautifully reflective and delicate in the middle movements, with a thrilling and satisfyingly titled Inevitable Conclusion finale.

Pianists Piers Lane and Kathryn Stott were splendidly co-ordinated and understanding, with excellent orchestral support, including some glittering percussive effects.

Macdonald’s conducting of Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67 was certainly exciting, but it was achieved with tempi so fast that articulation and rhythmic stability suffered, especially in the first movement.

Elsewhere there were quirky interpretative choices that were disruptive, seemingly random, and tended to weaken structural integrity in this iconic work.

The final movement came off best, but then Beethoven’s triumphant assertion of C major at the end is always a winner.