{"id":262,"date":"2019-05-11T13:28:42","date_gmt":"2019-05-11T03:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/?p=262"},"modified":"2019-05-11T13:28:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-11T03:28:51","slug":"w-a-symphony-orchestra-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-13\/","title":{"rendered":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perth Concert Hall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

reviewed by Neville Cohn<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In less than thoroughly capable hands, Elgar\u2019s Symphony No 1\ncan seem interminable. And over the years, I\u2019ve had the misfortune to suffer\nthrough a number of poor performances of this masterpiece. Not so on Thursday\nmorning, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With a W.A.Symphony Orchestra very much on form, the work\nunfolded in a way which, I\u2019d like to think, would have received the warmest\napplause from the composer himself had he through some miracle of time travel\nbeen present at the concert. And a big audience on Thursday morning did the symphony\n(and performance) honour by listening in absorbed silence, which, at work\u2019s\nend, gave way to prolonged, thoroughly deserved applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Wigglesworth is not tall in physical terms – but as an\ninterpreter of Elgar\u2019s masterpiece, he is a musical giant. I cannot imagine\nanyone failing to be both awed and moved by the quality of playing he coaxed\nfrom the WASO. From first note to last, Wigglesworth was in command in the most\npositive sense as we listened to an orchestra responding to direction by a conductor\nclearly attuned to even the tiniest details of the score.  This was particularly evident in the slow\nmovement where Wigglesworth and his forces evoked its magical essence to an\nawesome degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elgar\u2019s First is a symphony that ought to be far more\nfrequently offered in Perth\u2019s orchestral programs. Premiered on December 3rd<\/sup>\n1908, it took until 1961 for the symphony to appear for the first time on a\nWASO program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far this year, the WASO strings have, more frequently\nthan not, been in impressive form. And this was again evident at this concert. Plaudits\nin particular for the cellists who sounded at the top of their game. High\npraise, too, for the brass section which responded magnificently to the score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In passing: Elgar was\nthe son of a shopkeeper who was also a piano tuner. In the Edwardian era,\nEnglish class consciousness was at its height. And if you were not of that\nclass, you were looked down upon. Many of Elgar\u2019s music contemporaries were\nlargely a bunch of third-raters who through birth, connections and\/or wealth were\nconsidered upper class and fawned upon. They looked down on Elgar \u2013  \u201cgood gracious, the chap\u2019s father is a\nshopkeeper!\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All his life, Elgar was\nacutely conscious of being looked down upon because – quelle horreur –  he and his father worked for a living.  And the young Elgar used the books on his\nfather\u2019s music shop shelves to teach himself music theory and counterpoint.  And he certainly had the last laugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the compositions\nof those snobbish contemporaries are nowadays considered junk and almost never\nheard. Vaughan Williams was a notable and noble exception.  That Elgar, in maturity, was showered with\nhonours and elevated to the aristocracy as a baronet, must have caused his dreadful\ncontemporaries to gnash their teeth in envy. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn In less than thoroughly capable hands, Elgar\u2019s Symphony No 1 can seem interminable. And over the years, I\u2019ve had the misfortune to suffer through a number of poor performances of this masterpiece. Not<\/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-262","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\/p9Yv33-4e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":158,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/concert-w-a-symphony-orchestra\/","url_meta":{"origin":262,"position":0},"title":"CONCERT W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"August 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn. \u00a0 Cedric Tiberghien is a highly accomplished pianist. I recall with please his stunningly fine accounts of some of Messiaen\u2019s most complex works at a Perth Festival some years ago. 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":112,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":262,"position":1},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"July 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn \u00a0 I have been attending \u2013 and reviewing \u2013 WASO concerts for more than 35 years. During that time, I have experienced some of the most satisfying listening I could have hoped for. And in Mahler\u2019s Fourth Symphony, Asher Fisch and the WASO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Live Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Live Performance","link":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/category\/live-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stefanie-Ir\u00e1nyi_Credit_Christian-Debus","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Masters-4_Stefanie-Ir%C3%A1nyi_Credit_Christian-Debus_V2A2762_2-Mahler5-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":173,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":262,"position":2},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"October 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn \u00a0 Sibelius\u2019 name and reputation are inextricably linked to his symphonies. They are the bedrock of his fame. But, these aside, he was a most prolific composer. A fair number of these works could fairly be described as tripe \u2013 but there are\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":269,"url":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/w-a-symphony-orchestra-14\/","url_meta":{"origin":262,"position":3},"title":"W.A.Symphony Orchestra","author":"reviewer","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perth Concert Hall reviewed by Neville Cohn It says a great deal for the skill brought to bear on Rachmaninov\u2019s Symphony No 2 that, at work\u2019s end, I\u2019d have been more than happy to listen to it all over again. It\u2019s a lengthy work; it runs for an hour. 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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\/262","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=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozartsreviewonline.com\/oz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}