Conductor Benjamin Northey
Horn Stefan Dohr
Organ Andrej Kouzetsov
Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
R. Strauss Concerto No.1 in E flat for Horn Op.11
Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3 in C minor, Op.78 (Organ Symphony)
Three magical musical muses to delight and excite
The recent worldwide coronavirus outbreak was no obstacle to the hundreds of Queenslanders eager to attend the first QSO Morning Masterworks Concert of 2020. The concert hall packed full, with excited students from 11 high schools seated in the balcony, as part of the educational Learning Concerts series. The QSO were presenting Musical Sorcery, a compilation of three magical musical muses to delight and excite. As the concert progressed, the students whooped and whistled as if at a rock concert, surprising the musicians with their enthusiasm and appreciation of classical music.
Tuba player Thomas Allely opened the concert with a broom in hand, warning that a new “Symphonic Electronic Eliminations Program” had been implemented for those who leave their phones on, with the penalty of sweeping up afterwards! The broom was the clue to the first piece Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which was popularised in the Disney 1940 animated film Fantasia, starring Mickey Mouse. Reticent to the hard work, Mickey bewitches the pail and broom to perform his chores in the sorcerers castle with dire consequences. The magical piece is a percussionists delight, and had five musicians tapping away on xylophones and timpani throughout the programmatic music. The long silent pauses were incredible, creating a palpable tension broken by bold brass and whirling strings. It is Dukas’ greatest masterpiece and was a “fantastical” opening to the concert, with the master sorcerer Benjamin Northey casting spells over the orchestra with his baton.
The QSO were privileged to have Stefan Dohr as the horn soloist for R. Strauss’ Concerto No.1 in E flat for Horn Op.11. Touted as the “king of his instrument,” Dohr is regarded as one of the world’s greatest horn players, and is Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Whilst performing, he lovingly cradled his instrument like a baby, rocking side to side whilst treating the audience to three movements, accompanied by the QSO featuring fanfares and cantilena’s with a brisk and lively finish. His flawless skills demonstrated a true artist, as he danced through the arpeggios. Strauss wrote the concerto at the tender age of eighteen. The musical themes are based on the valveless horn and must have been influenced by his father Franz, who was a horn musician. After three sets of enthusiastic applauses, Dohr returned with a brief jazz encore of sliding scales to satiate a horn-hungry audience.
The finale had a nod to Nigel Westlake, as he popularised Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3 in C minor by using parts of the finale in his soundtrack for the 1995 hit movie Babe. Saint-Saëns’ organ symphony is dichotomous, contrasting a slow and mystical Adagio with a melodic energetic Allegro. I had visions of creeping into the Dukas’ sorcerer’s castle during the Adagio, as the violins whirled as if bats circling the turrets. The concert hall’s spectacular organ eventually enters the scene, pulling out “all of the stops” to end with a dramatic conclusion, played majestically by Andrej Kouznetsov who hovered above the orchestra. The piece was eerie with hints of Carnival of the Animals, and the instantly recognisable phrasing of Dies Irae from the Mass of the Dead, used to great effect in The Shining by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind.
The opening Morning Masterworks concert for 2020 was a mystical musical adventure and a fabulous start to the series. You can relive or hear this concert on ABC Classic on 11 March at 12pm (AEDT) or listen to the QSO concert on Spotify via the QSO website.
Concert Hall, QPAC
Fri 7th March, 2020
Dr Gemma Regan