Above: Pianist Andrea Lam returned home from th. USA to play the Schumann piano concerto with the SSO. Photo credit: Jay Patel. Featured image: Visiting guest conductor Sir Donald Runnicles conducted SSO for this concert event.
There was much energy, eloquence and endurance displayed when Sydney Symphony Orchestra worked with treasured guests in its recent concert.
Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles commanded this measured and exemplary expressive event. Giant works of the orchestral and concerto repertoire were heard alongside an Australian premiere.
Andrea Lam returned home for a beautiful moment to offer us the Schumann piano concerto in superb dialogue with the orchestra.This work was surrounded by a compelling reading of Brahms’Symphony No 2 and Detlev Glanert’s Idyllium, a clever modern reflection on the same symphony in Australian Premiere to begin the event with its compelling timbral excursion.
Within this well-structured packaging and in a programme saluting the originality and diversity of Romantic gesture, there was nice opportunity for quality collaboration between orchestra and
visiting soloist plus conductor.
Central in the programme, the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op 54 was given spacious and lyrical treatment by Andrea Lam, Donald Runnicles and orchestra. The challenges of this work’s constant, close and intricate interplay between pianist and orchestra were seamlessly overcome.
This version featured a flexible, touching reading with formidable clarity. Amidst capable bravura as soloist in the foreground or in the background enhancing the textural layering, Lam was meshed
brilliantly with various sections of SSO. Her presentation of Schumann’s side themes made for a riveting and hugely varied set of storytelling, enabling us to hear this classic work anew.
Starting the concert with Detlev Glanert’s shifting soundscape full of harmonics and modern effects was a fresh accent to look back from during the rest of the programme.
Extreme contrasts between shimmering suggestion and huge outbursts showcased the control of SSO players, particularly under the guidance and expert pacing of Donald Runnicles’ approach to
Glanert’s architecture in this abstract, deconstructed glimpse at musical conours in Brahms’ Symphony No 2 in D major Op 73.
This symphony, heard after interval, proceeded in showcasing the storytelling and excellently nuanced expression of Runnicles’ bold and solid interpretation. He monopolised on the quality acoustic in the Concert Hall as well as the experience and technical excellence of this band to bring the Brahms Second Symphony to us. It dazzled us with resounding climaxes and solid unfolding of the sprawling Brahmsian narrative.
This final work by Brahms and its companion tribute by Gletnev was a stylistic contrast as well as a pairing which emphasised the intellectual outlook and big-picture expressiveness of both composers.
The approach, from Runnicles and SSO exploited the slow-burn build to moments of large tutti excitement. These instances in the original Brahms work were hurled at us with scintillating precision by conductor and orchestra.A sidestep into intimate Schumann, with fine pianism full of integrity and colour from guest pianist Andrea Lam, completed the programme effectively and Runnicles’ study of the nineteenth century orchestral voice and beyond.
A Brahms intermezzo as encore from Lam before interval matched the concert’s historic timbre plus brought the soloist and this SSO event more ecstatic ovation.
A new normal for SSO is to have a member if the orchestra introduce the concert at its start. This time the job fell to Principal Cellist Catherine Hewgill. Her introduction was as intelligent and witty as it was charming and informative. This recent tradition is an endearingly human way in which to begin SSO concerts and get a bit closer to the players. It will be a great one to continue.