The Queensland Symphony Orchestra have presented another magnificent morning masterwork with an encore presentation of Mystical and Majestic on Saturday evening.
The QSO opened with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 to their usual full house, as they have enjoyed record ticket sales this year. The handwritten score for Prokofiev’s original Concerto No. 2 was mysteriously burned by a tenant in his flat in Petrograd and so had to be rewritten, fortunately in an improved form and with greater depth by a frustrated young Prokofiev. Due to its demanding nature, it is rarely played, with a preference for Prokofiev’s easier concertos. Fortunately, the QSO and the guest pianist, Denis Kozhukhin relished the challenge presenting a flawless performance.
Despite the concerto being renowned as fiendishly difficult for the pianist, Denis Kozhukuin approached the piece with dynamism and apparently infinite energy. Starting with Andantino, an expansive piece of discordant sliding violin with flute complemented by a frenetic piano solo where Denis pounded the keys with vigour, his fingers seamlessly flitting across the keys in all four movements. The following Scherzo was classic Prokofiev, with a stream of piano semi quavers and an intermittent tinkling melody, like a creeping mouse, reminiscent of the Tom and Jerry score. The Finale opened with big brass and had a false ending which appeared to signal the start of another movement. The Russian-styled melody teleported the audience to visions of soldiers marching through a bleak and snowy winter landscape.
A full complement of the QSO plus Organ, two Harps and three percussionists were required for Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, TrV 176, Op. 30. It was popularised by Kubrick's Space Odyssey 2001 with the opening movement, Sunrise. Zarathustra was written by Strauss when he became inspired by the philosophical writings of Nietzsche with Zoroastrian influences. Zoroaster was a prophet of the sixth century BCE and taught the dualism of an eternal struggle between the two gods who represent light and darkness.
The piece is divided into nine parts challenging the evolution of humanity, superstition and religion. The opening lowest C on the organ resonated the entire Concert Hall whilst the trumpets played the iconic, yet simple, C-G-C theme as a representation of primeval nature in the invocation to the sun. No matter how many times you hear the piece, it does not compare to hearing and feeling it live in a Concert Hall designed to resonate with orchestral music, it was spectacular and a piece that evokes feelings of wonder and awe. Each subsequent movement, although good, seems to meld into one after hearing the iconic piece. The Dance Song was a classic Strauss Viennese waltz, considered to be a Straussian joke, as it contrasts with the nature of the other movements. The final movement, the Night Wanderers Song highlighted the fluttering flute with the harmonies of the two harps to a soft and stilling conclusion, mimicking nature at the end of the night before dawn.
Concert Hall, QPAC
Conductor Guy Braunstein
Piano Denis Kozhukhin
Prokofiev, S. Concerto No.2 in G minor Op. 16
Strauss, R. Also Sprach Zarathustra, TrV 176, Op. 30
Dr Gemma Regan