Conducted by Leonard
Weiss
Featuring Gabi
Sultana, piano
Llewellyn Hall 24
June 2017
Reviewed by Len Power
It was a good idea for the Canberra Youth Orchestra to
present a major work by Philip Glass and contrast it with another by Gustav
Mahler. The two very different styles and
eras of music resulted in a very exciting concert.
The Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is one of Philip
Glass’s later works. It was premiered by
the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in about 2000 and was written as part of Glass’s
‘The Concerto Project’. The Concerto is
in the fourth volume of this work and employs many of the minimalist techniques
that are synonymous with his composition style.
Joining the orchestra on piano was internationally-renowned Maltese
soloist, Gabi Sultana. Under the baton
of Leonard Weiss, both soloist and orchestra presented an accomplished
performance of the Philip Glass work that was completely enthralling. All three movements were well played and the
highlight was the melodic second movement where both orchestra and soloist produced
a particularly sublime sound.
As a short encore piece, Gabi Sultana played a work by George
Crumb that sounded fiendishly difficult to play but was very entertaining. She got, and deserved, a thunderous ovation
at the end.
The orchestra played Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major for
the second half of the concert. First
premiered in 1889, it met with negative reviews at the time due to Mahler’s
unusual methods of orchestration. It’s
an exciting work and the Canberra Youth Orchestra gave it a fine performance
after a tentative start. The second and
third movements were especially well played.
This was a fine concert of great contrasts with a soloist who
gave an exciting performance and an orchestra that more than met the challenges
of these fascinating works.
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7’s ‘Artcetera’ program (9am Saturdays) and
other selected Artsound programs.