4 1/2 stars
Presently the Australian Chamber Orchestra are running a short and precious tour of their 2017 movie with live music “Mountain” written, directed and produced by Jennifer Peedom. It was a full house right to the back row – a fitting tribute for the ACO’s 50th Anniversary. The back of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall stage featured an enormous movie screen with musicians placed downstage. Spotlights were used to highlight soloists occasionally and, later in the performance, flashing lights were sporadically used to extend the visuals beyond the expected boundaries.
The movie is beautifully shot, recording the experiences humans have with the greatest mountains in the world. Spanning all continents, we join the bold, the brave and the nutty in their exploits which stretch beyond what we would expect to be humanly possible.
It’s an interesting project with filmmaker Peedom, composer (ACO Musical Director) Richard Tognetti and script writer, Robert McFarlane collaborating to create a finished product together in unison. Peedom explains she might show the draft edited footage of a filmed section to Tognetti and McFarlane who would then respond with words and music. Peedom then may edit the footage again to more accurately match the music.
Much of the footage pushes humans to the limit leaving the feeling of tension for the majority of the film performance with very little reprieve. One of the opening scenes is of a lone climber half way up a gigantic vertical slope with no safety ropes to be seen. At a guess, this might perhaps be Alex Honnold who is world famous for his death defying climbs. The muscles between each joint of his fingers bulge like they might belong to Arnold Schwarzenegger. He can hold his full body weight on the top joint of say 2 or 3 fingers as he contemplates where his next rock grip might appear. As he moves, a broad smile crosses his face. His love and passion for the sport is in sharp contrast to the music.
The words speak of mountains being seen as either objects of great beauty or peril. The music is very biased towards peril with a horror movie feeling of unease used through most of this early section. Is that “mountainist”?
Finally, the musical tension eases and the visuals move to Nepalese monks living around their mountain ranges. Tognetti’s contemporary compositions give way to Chopin, Grieg, Sculthorpe and lots of fabulous Vivaldi. Fascinating 100 year old footage shows climbing groups standing on peaks above the clouds. The script, spoken by American Actor William Dafoe is beautifully written yet, Dafoe is not always articulating clearly and some of the precious words are lost along the way.
There is some history given as to how the popularity of climbing and skiing began to grow. It’s fun to see the footage of tests for extreme weather equipment at their R&D phase of production. Also to see the locals patiently trekking with tourists, teaching them skills of walking across ladders using spiked boots or leading super furry donkeys carrying gear along the tracks. The faces of these locals do not contain the smiles of Disneyland staff. They look weary and unimpressed. It’s an apt visual description of the tourist industry around many parts of the world.
Vivaldi returns to accompany more scenes of the ski industry with vehicles filling the car parks, queues of skiers and the grinding wheels of the ski lifts and gondolas. There is a most joyous moment looking down on the ski slope with a large group of competent skiers plaiting their tracks as they slalom down a groomed course between the pine trees.
The visuals move on to the extreme sports including skiing down vertical slopes and moguls. There is a shot where a skier, pummelling the slope, continues his journey through powder snow which is up to his eyeballs. More extremes include a tight rope walk across the Grand Canyon with no balance pole, BMX riders who ride off the top of a cliff, free falling before reaching behind and pulling the parachute chord for them and their bike. Also, walking and riding the very tippy-top ridge of ranges, where you can feel their exhilaration, and snow boarders dropped from a helicopter at the top of a ridge. This type of sport is not for the faint hearted nor the holders of slim wallets.
The crashes, smashes and accidents appear as well as Red Bull stunt artists. More of Tognetti’s composing accompanies this power packed footage. Also surprising, violinist Satu Vänskä puts down her violin, steps up to the microphone centre stage and sings in a piece that borders on the Rock genre. She is confident in her singing and her voice fits perfectly with the visuals.
We move to a section displaying the mountains where “Epochs of lifting and epochs of erosion make, not waves of water but, waves of stone” (paraphrased). This drone footage shows the true magnificence and grandeur of mountain ranges. More of this footage might have perhaps made a better balance between peace and tension so the audience would not be so exhausted by the end. The leisure of enjoying a walk up a grassy slope or hand gliding is not included.
Snowy peaks dominated with only a few sparse shots of greenery and the wildlife who live at these kind of heights. This section is accompanied by pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska’s truly stunning version of the Adagio from Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto. It was enough to catch the breath and release the tears. Just gorgeous.
The audience were thrilled with Mountain and the ACO. It was a very successful performance. Their tour of Mountain continues until 30 October.
Related Links
Check the website for the next performance details here: https://www.aco.com.au/whats-on/2025/mountain
The Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxtWMOAHoiI
