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| Christina Wilson - Louise Page Photo: Helen Musa |
Lake Burley
Griffin Boat Cruise,
Canberra
International Music Festival – May 17.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
This was the
fifth and final concert in the “Amazing Space “series presented as part of the 2013
Canberra International Music Festival.
This extraordinary series of concerts has interwoven the arts of architecture
and music so creatively and successfully that its become the talk of the
current festival. This series has the potential to become the unique and defining
aspect of the C. I.M.F. which separates it from other such festivals and as
such, properly promoted, could have visitors flocking to Canberra to share
these amazing experiences.
Is there a more
sublime way to spend a couple of hours on a typically chilly, sunny Canberra
autumn day than cruising in a snug beautifully appointed cruiser on Lake Burley
Griffin, being informed by passionate experts about Canberra’s unique architectural
features and scenery while listening to songs by Purcell, Schubert, Britten and
Offenbach, exquisitely presented by a trio of our most accomplished and
treasured artists in singers Louise Page and Christina Wilson and pianist Alan Hicks?
As the boat
pulled away from the jetty, Actew Water supremo, Mark Sullivan set the tone
with some entertaining and informative facts about the creation and purpose of
Lake Burley Griffin, or as he described
it, “the silt sedimentation pond”. Between
songs, architects Stuart McKenzie and Ann Cleary shared fascinating tidbits about
Canberra’s design, and while we tucked into the delicious buffet, Dianne
Firth enlightened us to the special features of the ceremonial jetty at Government
House.
Colin Milner
shared a fascinating Canberra connection to a pretty Peter Sculthorpe song sung
by Louise and Christina, and then while we cruised towards it, Dianne Firth gave a
brief history of the Canberra Carillon.
Arriving at
Aspen Island, our boat paused to allow us to experience a special performance
by carillonist, Lynn Fuller, before moving on to Reconciliation Place where
everyone dis-embarked to thrill to a stirring rendition of Malcolm Williamson’s
“Canberra Fanfare” and Janacek’s “Fanfare from Sinfonietta” performed by the
Canberra Festival Brass, conducted by the Festival’s indefatigable Artistic
Director, Chris Latham.
As the
cruiser turned its bow for home, Page and Wilson, accompanied by Hicks,
added the final icing to the cake for their already blissed-out audience with a
charming encore duet, a romantic arrangement of Henry Mancini’s “Moon
River”.
(An edited version of this review appears in the digital edition of "CITY NEWS").