A charming concert to please young and old alike
Conductor Alondra de la Parra
Host Guy Noble
Double Bass Phoebe Russell
Delibes Mazurka from Coppélia; Excerpts from Coppélia, Suite No.1
Leopold Mozart Toy Symphony in C
Bottesini Double Bass Concerto No.2 in C minor, mvt 1
Stravinsky Excerpts from Pulcinella Suite; The Shrove-Tide Fair from Petrushka
Debussy Excerpts from Children’s Corner
Newman, orch. Rosenbaum Toy Story Suite
The final concert of the 2019 Music on Sundays series was geared towards children with the theme of Toys and Puppets. Alondra de la Parra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director was at the helm in her first and only concert of this series. It was her first opportunity to meet the Sunday series host, the infamous Guy Noble, whose irrepressible notoriety precedes him. de la Parra commented on how sadly it was one of her last concerts with the QSO, as she will be returning to Berlin to continue working on Yuval Sharon’s production of Mozart’s Zauberflöte with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Guy Noble was at the time dressed as “Brains” from the 1960s children’s Thunderbirds series, so it must have been difficult for de la Parra to take him seriously during the quick conversation.
There were three excerpts from Delibes’ Russian ballet Coppélia. A Gothic tale by E.T.A. Hoffman about a mechanical doll created by Dr Coppellius, which charms a young man in order to steal his life force. It was a delightful selection which featured the national dances of the Mazurka and Czardas with a waltzing tempo. Stravinsky’s excerpts of the Pulcinella suite, continued the Russian ballet theme of the Italian commedia dell’arte-styled Harlequin doll. The music was lilting and the Vivo featured the trombone, with a brief swinging solo from Jason Redman. The Golliwog’s Cake Walk from Debussy added some early rag-time music to the concert, which was ideal to imitate the movement of the doll with its syncopated rhythms.
The QSO’s Section Principal for the double bass, Phoebe Russell, enthralled young and old alike with her incredible adept skills during the solo of Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto. Her fingers flew up and down the metre-long fret board with unbelievable speed and accuracy. She commented that the piece was of particular significance to her as it had been her 2017 QSO audition piece and her successful execution had enabled her to become part of the fabulous QSO family.
Another highlight, which had the children and adults giggling, was the comical Toy Symphony attributed to Mozart’s father, Leopold. In three movements, it utilised some very unusual instruments with the percussionists taking centre stage to play the football rattle; party poppers; a Bunning’s styled plastic red cornetto; and various whistles imitating a cuckoo, a nightingale and a quail. The music was frivolous and fun and even Guy Noble displayed his musical percussion skills by joining in at the end.
The concert finished with excerpts from Randy Newman’s Toy Story Suite, a collection of musical snippets from the popular award-winning movie. It was disappointing that the selection did not include the famous bluesy “You’ve got a friend in me,” but it was nevertheless interesting to hear Noble’s anecdotes of meeting the Oscar nominated Hollywood composer. The finale of the Sunday Series surprisingly did not close with the usual popular theme encore, which left the audience waiting for more and chomping at the bit. However, the new 2020 Music on Sunday Series starts on the 15th March with The Ballet Beautiful and tickets are already on sale.
QPAC Concert Hall
27th Oct, 2019
By Dr Gemma Regan