<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even in so zany and improbable a treatment of Bach originals\nas Luther Henderson\u2019s arrangements for brass ensemble of some of the Master\u2019s\nPreludes and Fugues from the \u201c48\u201d, the sheer\npower and universality of the great composer\u2019s musical ideas are wondrously\napparent. Titled Well Tampered (note\nspelling!) Bach, it was aural delight from go to whoa. I recall once listening\nto some of Bach\u2019s work played on an ocarina \u2013 and again marvelling at how\nmeaningfully it came across even on so improbable an instrument. In the\nextracts from the \u201c48\u201d, members of the WASO\u2019s brass section were consistently\non their mettle in the opening concert of WASO\u2018s chamber music festival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I particularly relished a jazzy version of Bach\u2019s Prelude\nand Fugue in C minor (from Book 1). It came across like some New Orleans take\non the original. I relished every moment. I rather think that if Bach himself had,\nthrough some miracle if time travel, been at the Ballroom on Saturday, he\u2019d have given the players a wave of approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a non-Bachian offering as well: Joshua Davis\u2019\nSouth American Tango Suite: delightful, toe-tapping material that allowed\nWASO\u2019s brass players to demonstrate their abilities with verve and precision.\nTuba playing was excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the much loved Brandenburg Concerto No 5, soloists Semra\nLee-Smith (violin) and Andrew Nicholson on flute gave point and meaning to\nevery phrase. But higher decibel levels were needed for the harpsichord part to\nmake a meaningful contribution. It was too discreet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To get proceedings underway, we heard a magnificent brass\nfanfare – a sonata (composer unknown) from\nBankelsangerlieder dating from around 1684 – with players positioned on the\ntiny balcony at the rear of the stage. \nIt was a thrilling utterance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the intermission, concertgoers took their ease\noutside the Ballroom in the area fronting the venue where drinks and snacks\nwere on offer. There was also a giant chess board for those who might have\nwanted a game or two during the intervals. And there was music, too, with\nflautist Nicholson offering streams of glowing tone on his golden instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, we listened to Brahms\u2019 Clarinet Quintet. Here, Allan\nMeyer was at his impressive best, producing a stream of sound that would surely\nhave pleased even the fussiest of listeners. As WASO\u2019s principal clarinet for\nyears, Meyer has brought distinction to innumerable orchestral works. It was a\njoy to listen to him in Brahms\u2019 masterpiece. As if drawing inspiration from\nthis sonic magic, the string players sounded on very best form, not least\ncellist Louise McKay who was strikingly attired in crimson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also on the bill was Haydn\u2019s String Quartet in D minor, opus\n76 No 2, an offering enhanced by seriousness of purpose on the part of all four\nplayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Government House Ballroom reviewed by Neville Cohn Even in so zany and improbable a treatment of Bach originals as Luther Henderson\u2019s arrangements for brass ensemble of some of the Master\u2019s Preludes and Fugues from the \u201c48\u201d, the sheer power and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-performance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Yv33-3J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":120,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/the-best-of-bernstein\/","url_meta":{"origin":231,"position":0},"title":"The Best of Bernstein","author":"reviewer","date":"July 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"W.A. Symphony Orchestra Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn \u00a0 If, as a result of unavoidable circumstances, \u00a0I\u2019d come very late to the WASO\u2019s concert at the weekend and managed to listen to only the last work on the program, I\u2019d have gone home well satisfied. 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His flawless fingers are up to any challenge \u2013 and this was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Live Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":231,"position":2},"title":"W.A. Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"October 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn \u00a0 Vaughan Williams\u2019 Fifth Symphony is seldom heard in this neck of the woods. Prior to the weekend, its most recent performance here was as far back as 1999 when Vernon Handley presided over events. It\u2019s a very welcome return. In less than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Live Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/concert-814336__340-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":252,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":231,"position":3},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"April 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn At the weekend, a thrilling concerto performance that brought many in the audience to their feet - and a dance score given magical treatment that reached for, and touched, the stars - \u00a0were presented for concertgoers who filled almost every corner of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Live Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Classics-2_Martin_Jaime_PC_Sonia-Balcells_a_300-9-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/a-night-in-vienna\/","url_meta":{"origin":231,"position":4},"title":"A Night in Vienna","author":"reviewer","date":"July 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn A Night in Vienna was made memorable by Asher Fisch\u2019s gratifyingly meaningful direction as his forces, much on their musical toes, served up memorable moments from Richard Strauss\u2019 Der Rosenkavalier. I savoured every moment of this magical music given point and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Live Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":225,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":231,"position":5},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"February 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn Over the decades, I have lost count of the number of times I\u2019ve listened to Gershwin\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue. Many of these performances were impressive \u2013 but Shuan Hern Lee\u2019s account of the much loved Rhapsody was in a class of its own:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Live Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lee","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rev-Lee.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}