Weereewa – Voices of the Land
Released March 2014
CD reviewed by Clinton White
.bmp)
Argentine-Australian composer and pianist Marcela Fiorillo’s
commissioned work “Suite Weereewa, Op 3” and her focus on presenting music by
Australian composers as well as works by her Argentine compatriots won her a
Canberra Critics Circle music award in 2014.
“Weereewa” got its world premiere airing at the CD launch concert in
March 2014. The euphoria and spontaneity
at that concert flow through to Fiorillo’s CD.
True to her passion for music by Argentine composers, the CD opens with
a piano transcription of “Danza Orgiástica” by Juan Carlos Zorzi, from his
ballet “Salamanca”. Its driving Latin
rhythm and melody line is as captivating as it is mysterious in its dance with
the devil.
Then Fiorillo turns to the music of the late patriarch of Australian
composition, Peter Sculthorpe. Fiorillo
is masterly in her understanding and interpretation of his typically evocative
music in two short pieces, imagining the starkness of a dry salt lake bed in
“Callabonna” and the majesty of the Tasmanian landscape in “Mountains”.
Probably the successor to the title of patriarch is Ross Edwards. In his piece, “Etymalong”, Fiorillo conveys its extraordinary mystery
and symbolism, inspired by natural sounds and sacred places.
In quite a contrast, Fiorillo takes us back to Argentina and “Three
Pieces for Piano, op 6” by Alberto Ginastera, recorded in New York in
2001. The pieces were dedicated to three
women pianists from different regions of Argentina and, so, evoke the
landscapes and cultures from those regions.
Each of them is more melodic in structure than the previous offerings on
the album, demanding much light and shade, expressive interpretation and even delivery
of little surprises, which Fiorillo does with aplomb.
Closing the CD program is its highlight, Fiorillo’s own “Weereewa
Suite, Op 3”. In writing the work,
Fiorillo authored texts to introduce each of the four movements. The narrations were translated into the
Ngunnawal language and Duncan Smith recorded them. Like the other Australian works on the album, “Weereewa”
is highly symbolic and evocative of Australian landscapes and Aboriginal
cultures. The imaginative writing and
the highly virtuosic playing convincingly conveys what obviously is deeply
meaningful and important to Fiorillo.
Weereewa – Voices of the Land is
not a CD for background listening. Don’t
bother to try to do the washing up to it.
There aren’t any familiar tunes for whistling to. The music is highly intellectual and the
virtuosic playing demands undivided attention.
So when you buy this album, give it the respect it quite richly deserves.
